Frequently Asked Questions

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is an international network of universities, civil society organizations, and companies  that promotes human rights at work. FLA members collaborate to ensure that workers in factories and on farms are paid fairly and protected from risks to their health, safety, and well-being.   

FLA evaluates companies’ business practices against the highest international labor standards to ensure they advance workers’ rights; offers accreditation programs for companies committed to improving working conditions in their supply chains; supports workers by addressing instances of significant and persistent noncompliance with FLA standards; and collaborates with organizations around the world on strategic projects that increase understanding of labor issues in global supply chains and test innovative ideas to improve working conditions. 

FLA is led by a 19-member Board of Directors that includes an independent chair and six representatives from each of the organization’s three caucuses: universities, civil society organizations, and companies. Board members are elected by their caucus to three-year terms based on their commitment to promoting adherence to international labor standards and improving working conditions worldwide. The board selects its chair, who also serves a three-year term, by a supermajority vote. 

FLA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Geneva, Switzerland; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; and Istanbul, Türkiye. FLA has a diverse, international team spread across 13 countries that is committed to improving working conditions in global supply chains through its programs.  

FLA is funded primarily by member dues. Other sources of revenue include monitoring and assessment fees, grants, and fees to participate in strategic projects or access subscription-only resources, such as the Fair Compensation Dashboard. 

One of the most important components of FLA’s multistakeholder model is the Civil Society Organization Caucus, which includes labor unions and ensures that the perspective of workers is integrated into FLA’s standards and programs. 

 In addition, the Third-Party Complaint (TPC) system allows workers and worker representative organizations to report violations of labor rights in FLA member or affiliate facilities, helping, for instance, with reinstatement of unfairly dismissed workers and recognition of trade unions.  

 Beyond official investigations, FLA staff often are instrumental in assisting members with grievances before they become official investigations, and have worked with unions and worker organizations, factories, and member brands to effectively resolve labor grievances.  

FLA provides a collaborative platform for its members to work with — and learn from — global brands, leading universities, and civil society organizations that are committed to improving the lives of workers in global supply chains.   

For socially responsible companies, FLA provides guidance, resources and practical tools, such as the Fair Compensation Toolkit, that help companies develop and implement systems to protect workers in their global supply chains. Through the process of pursuing Fair Labor Accreditation, companies also align their efforts with international frameworks, including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines, European Union mandatory due diligence laws, and various environmental, social and governance assessments.  

 FLA’s University Caucus members demonstrate their commitment to fair labor standards and human rights in the supply chains of their branded merchandise. Through FLA’s Collegiate Licensee Program, universities build the social compliance capacity of licensees to help prevent and address labor violations in supply chains producing products that feature university logo and trademarks.  

Members of FLA’s Civil Society Organization caucus help shape programs and policies that amplify workers’ voices and hold companies accountable. 

The systems and frameworks FLA Participating Companies use in their journey toward Fair Labor Accreditation also support compliance with mandatory human rights due diligence regulations.  

For example, many components of FLA’s Principles of Responsible Sourcing and Responsible Production overlap with requirements of the German Supply Chain Act, which establishes human rights and environmental due diligence standards to ensure that German companies responsibly manage their global supply chains. 

Participating companies are FLA members that have committed to protect workers by developing processes that prevent, identify, and remediate labor rights abuses in their supply chains. These companies are on a rigorous, multi-year path to achieve Fair Labor Accreditation.  

Once a company sufficiently demonstrates to the FLA Board of Directors that it meets a set of milestones that mark progress in fair labor standards, it achieves Fair Labor Accreditation. Fair Labor Accredited companies are expected to continuously work to remain aligned with FLA’s standards.  

FLA Collegiate Licensee Affiliates are required by FLA University Members to join FLA’s rigorous knowledge-building program that promotes understanding of labor standards  as they produce the clothes and products that bear university logos. 

FLA welcomes participation from organizations committed to promoting fair labor around the world. Members include civil society organizations, companies, and universities committed to protecting workers’ rights through adherence to international labor standards.  

To learn more about the requirements for each category of membership, visit Join FLA.  

 FLA also offers knowledge-building programs designed to provide training, tools, and resources that help collegiate licensees and single-factory suppliers develop a sustainable social compliance program to improve working conditions and protect workers’ rights.  

As part of the Fair Labor Accreditation process, participating companies are required to report on their social compliance programs annually, and FLA-approved assessors evaluate the implementation of FLA’s Fair Labor Code across their supply chains on a regular basis. All FLA reports are shared publicly, keeping members and affiliates accountable for their commitments.  

In addition, all farms and factories used by FLA member companies or affiliates participating in FLA’s knowledge-building programs are subject to Fair Labor Investigations, which allow third parties, FLA members, or FLA itself to launch an investigation of alleged persistent or serious noncompliance with FLA standards. 

All current FLA members are listed in the Member section of FLA’s website. A list of former members is available upon request. 

Pursuit of Fair Labor Accreditation is limited to manufacturing and agricultural companies approved for membership by the FLA Board of Directors. Companies that produce university merchandise but do not meet the criteria to become a member are eligible to join FLA’s Collegiate Licensee Program as affiliates.  

Fair Labor Accreditation is a rigorous, multi-year process that evaluates a company’s systems to improve labor conditions in its farms or factories based on five milestones. Each milestone represents key building blocks of an effective social compliance program that improves working conditions and worker well-being, ranging from a high-level commitment to fair labor practices to implementation of monitoring processes, grievance mechanisms, and remediation systems. Once a company meets all milestones and is accredited by the FLA Board of Directors, it must continuously work to maintain alignment with FLA’s standards.  

Fair Labor Accreditation demonstrates that a company has processes in place to prevent, identify, and remediate labor abuses across its in-scope supply chain in alignment with international human rights frameworks. It does not mean that labor violations never occur in the production of a company’s goods, but rather that the company is committed to eliminating, as far as possible, any violations and providing access to remedy should they occur. 

Fair Labor Accreditation for manufacturing companies sets a company on a concrete path to improving labor conditions in its Tier One and owned manufacturers, focusing on the key building blocks companies need for an effective social compliance program that improves working conditions and worker well-being in factories. 

Fair Labor Accreditation for agriculture companies is designed to verify and strengthen working conditions in the agricultural tiers of a company’s global supply chain, with a focus on traceability of high-risk commodities across countries of operation. Agriculture benchmarks recognize the special circumstances of agriculture work, which ranges from farms with informal labor structures to farms that have formal employment relationships. 

FLA shares public reports and assessments related to FLA members, including manufacturing and agriculture assessments, accreditation reports, investigations, and more.  

FLA also provides resources to help interested individuals understand global labor rights issues and take action to improve labor practices in supply chains worldwide, including issue briefs related to emerging or noteworthy developments in the areas of labor rights and global supply chains; in-depth guidance related directly to implementation of FLA standards and principles; and wage trend reports.  

In addition, FLA regularly issues press statements related to labor rights and distributes a quarterly public newsletter highlighting recent FLA resources, initiatives, and progress on key issues. 

Undergraduate and graduate students at FLA member colleges and universities in North America are eligible to apply for the FLA Student Committee, where they deepen their understanding of labor rights in global supply chains and access professional development opportunities. Student committee members can also choose to contribute to the annual Student Committee Journal: Social Responsibility Topics of the 21st Century.  

FLA also provides administrative support for the Eric Biel Fellowship for International Labor Rights, which honors late FLA Senior Advisor Eric Biel. The Biel Fellowship provides an opportunity for students in law or graduate school to pursue practical work experience as they develop their skills to contribute to the advancement of international labor rights in the business and human rights space. 

Consumers can support fair labor by researching and making informed choices about the companies that make the products they purchase. They can also take initiative by filing a Third-Party Complaint, supporting civil society organizations working for labor rights, or participating in consumer forums that help raise concerns about unfair labor practices. 

The FLA works on behalf of laborers in factories and on farms in global supply chains. Our Fair Labor Investigations team investigates allegations of noncompliance with our standards in production facilities used by FLA member companies, suppliers, or university licensees only. If your complaint falls within this scope, you can notify FLA of a violation of our standards via email at tpc@fairlabor.org or visit our “Contact Us” page and select “Third Party Complaint.” 

Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to individual requests that fall outside of the scope of Fair Labor Investigations — for example, wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, or other employment issues in the retail, food service, hospitality, or trucking industries. 

If you are facing a workplace issue, a first step might be to seek advice or assistance from a labor, employment, and/or equal opportunity agency within your city or state. The US Department of Labor has a page with resources for each state. You may also wish to visit the Labor Laws and Worker Protection section of usa.gov or consult an employment attorney. 

If you are a licensee of any college or university that is an FLA member, your company is required to join FLA’s Collegiate Licensee Program, which is designed to help licensees learn about and mitigate labor risks within their supply chains. 

The collegiate licensee program page includes useful information about registration and renewals, including answers to questions about FLA requirements, benefits, and costs.