Code of Conduct
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In 2015, we started ocean + main business on the pledge that we would put people, planet and purpose first. Our goal at ocean+main is to not only protect the environment, fight climate change and preserve resources, we also commit to supporting a healthy, thriving workforce so that everyone benefits when making our products. We strive for dynamic and continuous improvement in our practices to benefit the environment, our customers, our employees and society in general. We believe people do their best work when they feel safe and have opportunities to grow and thrive. It is in this spirit that we have created our Employee Code of Conduct, as well as our Vendor Code of Conduct. We hold ourselves and our suppliers to these standards to ensure our impact on people and the planet is a positive one throughout our entire supply chain. We are continuously looking for new ways to deepen our practice, and are proud of what we have accomplished so far. Thank you for joining us in this journey!
All my best,
Mary Price Creative Director/Founder, ocean + main
Employee Code of Ethics
ocean+main was founded on the principles of doing good with a desire to create calm for people and the planet. The people componenet includes individuals both inside and outside our organization. Since you are here, you probably share the same ideas! Supporting our Mission to do Better for People and the Planet: Our mission is to reduce our negative impact and increase our positive impact on people and the planet. As part of our team, we expect you to consider the idea of calm. Are your actions and decisions helping create a sense of calm for both the business, for you and your co-workers and for our larger environment as a whole? From paper waste to how we treat each other, our goal for you, the business and planet is to create more calm. All our decisions and actions at ocean+main are based on two defining pillars: Protecting Biodiversity and Inclusion. Protecting Biodiversity – how can we reduce our impact on the natural world. More nuanced than the term ‘sustainability’ our ultimate goal is to protect and replenish our natural world. Inclusion – Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance. Our goal is to provide a workplace where all people feel included, safe, protected and seen at all times. As a member of the ocean+main team, we expect you to filter your decisions and actions through that same lens. Share your ideas! If you have ideas that will help us achieve our goals to support people and the planet, we’d love to hear! Many times, we have implemented your ideas into our business practices. Ideas to support our mission include but not limited to:
As the business and our team grow, we look forward to including a compensation structure that rewards individual contributions to our mission. Respecting others: Our company culture is based on respect as well as local and federal laws. And it can be simplified into 7 core pillars:
Please note: All these pillars apply both to our individual employees and the organization as a whole. If you have any concerns about the ethicality of the organization’s behavior, please voice your concerns to hello@ocean-and-main.com Respect is treating people like you want to be treated. For example, giving your coworker personal space, taking note of their personal boundaries, demonstrating empathy, and showing kindness are all signs of respect. At ocean+main, we expect everyone to treat others with respect at all times - even in the face of workplace disagreements. And the following will not be tolerated and may trigger disciplinary action:
If you feel that your team members are not showing you respect, please talk to your supervisor or HR at hello@ocean-and-main.com. Integrity is conducting your business as if it were your own. For example, imagine you're in a situation where you can cut a corner and think your supervisor won't notice, such as not marking discrepancies in inventory. Integrity is taking the extra minute to calculate the missing products and marking them down according to protocol. At ocean+main, the following will not be tolerated and may trigger disciplinary action:
If you feel that your team members are not showing you respect, please talk to your supervisor or email HR at hello@ocean-and-main.com. At ocean+main, we define a conflict of interest as any personal activity that doesn't align with the company's best interest or goals. And as such, these circumstances can cloud the employee's judgment or commitment to the company. And consequently, negatively affect the organization. For example, conflicts of interest might include:
Note: This is just a few examples and not an exhaustive list. If you have questions about other activities that constitute a conflict of interest, please contact [HR]. By justice, we're referring to upholding the objectivity of our workplace. Meaning, that all individuals have equal opportunities to succeed at ocean+main - regardless of protected characteristics (race, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation included). And that all employees in the same position are evaluated against the same expectations. AKA no favoritism. This applies to prospective candidates as well. For example, if you're involved in the hiring process, you should ask all candidates the same set of questions. That way, it's easier to make decisions based on capability and potential, not appearance. To help uphold this pillar, we ask that all employees be able to justify their decisions and leave a paper trail whenever possible. This will help expedite any HR investigations if a potential issue arises. If you feel that you have been discriminated against in any way, please contact us immediately. You are required to follow all local and federal laws - both inside and outside of work. This includes, but is not limited to, all laws around assault, bribery, fraud, corruption, privacy protection, and cybersecurity. Depending on your role at ocean+main, you may have laws that pertain specifically to your position (such as accountants and medical professionals). In these cases, these laws will be outlined in our business playbook. And you are responsible for knowing and following them. When drafting up contracts, clauses, or disclaimers, please check with [our legal team] before distributing them. If you have any questions about the legality of activity - your own, a coworkers, or a business partner's - please reach out to HR immediately. We expect you to fulfill all your job obligations and responsibilities outlined in your interview and freelance contract and to communicate your progress to supervisor proactively. This includes:
At ocean+main, the following may trigger disciplinary action:
We have teams for a reason. Work is a lot easier when people are looking out for you, your progress, and your projects. So, we expect all our employees to act as a team player. This looks like:
If you have concerns about someone on your team's behavior, please talk to your supervisor.
Incubating Talent and Supporting Local Workers
ocean + main encourages a locally based and diverse workforce with a particular focus on providing employment opportunities for people of color in the Los Angeles area. ocean + main is intent on continuing to offer opportunities to this often marginalized group, ensuring equity for all of its employees and contractors. All forms of discrimination are prohibited.
Equal Opportunity Employment
Wages & Benefits ocean+main was instrumental in helping recent groundbreaking legislation, The Garment Workers Protection Act, to be signed into law. This landmark legislation ensures that garment workers in California earn at least minimum wage and outlaws contracts for piece work (where workers are paid per piece completed rather than the time spent working). The Garment Workers Protection Act also ensures accountability for brands and manufacturers that will penalize illegal pay practices.
Ocean+main is fully committed to offering a livable wage and work life balance to its employees and vendors.
Respecting fundamental rights and principles in the workplace
ocean + main strives to offer its employees a fulfilling working environment in order to encourage trusting and collaborative relationships and opportunity for its workers. In keeping with this ethos, ocean + main does not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment, bias or intimidation and does not tolerate any form of harrassment, be it physical psychological, or verbal.
If you believe you’ve been bullied, harassed, abused or discriminated against by anyone at ocean + main, or by an ocean + main partner, vendor, or contractor, we strongly encourage you to immediately report the incident to your supervisor or manager. Supervisors and managers who learn of any such incident should immediately report it to the manager. The manager will promptly and thoroughly investigate any complaints and take appropriate action.
Work-Life Balance + Flexible Work from Home Opportunities
ocean + main promotes a work-life balance by offering flexible work hours as well as work from home opportunities, thereby reducing commute times and enabling employees to balance personal life and work. Additionally, ocean + main strives to create a balanced and nurturing workplace where each individual may be given the space and support to reach their fullest potential. Working from home offers the added bonus of reducing carbon emissions, furthering ocean + main’s commitment to environmentally sound business practices. Drugs and Alcohol
Safe and Healthy Workplace WE LOVE OUR CUSTOMERS
Sustaining the quality and safety of products ocean + main strives to offer its customers quality eco luxury products, by using highest quality deadstock or eco-forward textiles and the highest level of artisanship in each garment. ocean + main cares about the health and safety of its customers, with a strong focus on eco-forward and chemical free textiles, and in the design and manufacture of its products. Respecting customers Our customers deserve clear and transparent information about our products and practices. ocean + main is committed to communicating with full transparency about its efforts to create beautiful, eco-friendly and ethically made luxury garments. ocean + main is also dedicated to customer privacy and all personal information submitted by its customers is treated with utmost confidentiality.
OCEAN + MAIN VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT ocean + main strives to maintain the highest level of ethics in all of its business practices and holds the expectation that our vendors operate in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. Additionally, we expect them to abide by our Vendor Code of Conduct and to ensure constant improvement of working conditions throughout our supply chain. ocean + main works hard to seek out vendors and suppliers who hold the same values: a deep commitment to human rights in our supply chain, an unfailing dedication to eco-forward practices and materials as well as an emphasis on transparency and accountability. Our vendor code of conduct details the standards we expect our vendors to adhere to. Failure to do so will result in termination of ocean + main’s partnership with them. Law and Code Compliance ocean + main vendors and suppliers are expected to comply with and will be monitored to adhere with the following:
LABOR RIGHTS Child Labor ocean + main is dedicated to eliminating child labor throughout its supply chain and adheres strictly to the United States Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA, 1938) and the International Labor conventions. The United States Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, also known as the child labor laws, were enacted to ensure that when young people work, the work is safe and does not jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities. International Labor conventions set the general minimum age for admission to employment or work at 15 years (13 for light work) and the minimum age for hazardous work at 18 (16 under certain strict conditions). It provides for the possibility of initially setting the general minimum age at 14 (12 for light work) where the economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed. Therefore, ocean + main will not allow for any workers to be employed under the age of 15 or under the age for completion of compulsory education, whichever is higher. Workers under the age of 18 must not work in hazardous, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions or materials, and juvenile workers (ages 15-17) shall not perform work under circumstances that are likely to compromise their health, safety or morals. Adequate protection against such hazards must be provided to all juvenile workers (ILO Conventions: 138, 182).
Forced Labor Under no circumstances will ocean + main tolerate any forced labor in its supply chain. No supplier or vendor shall use involuntary or forced labor (i.e., indentured, bonded, prison or labor obtained through slavery or human trafficking). At no point shall any worker in ocean + main’s supply chain be denied access to and/or control of their citizenship and travel documents nor should they be denied full freedom of movement. All labor contracts should be written and made fully available to them in their native language before leaving home. The contracts should clearly detail the terms of the employment and workers shall be informed of these terms before leaving home. At no point should workers pay for their job and if third party employment agencies are used, ocean + main will hold the vendor responsible for employment eligibility fees of all the workers, including all recruitment related fees. ocean + main requires suppliers to monitor any third-party they enlist to recruit or hire employees to ensure no individual is compelled to work through force, deception, intimidation, coercion or as punishment for personally held views. (ILO Conventions: 29, 105, 182)
Health & Safety ocean + main is committed to a safe, healthy, and violence-free work environment. Behavior or actions that pose a health, safety or security risk to fellow employees, our extended workforce, or visitors is prohibited. Ocean + main expects its vendors and suppliers to provide their employees with a safe and healthy workplace, free of hazardous conditions that might cause accidents and injury while working. Suppliers and vendors have an obligation to adhere to all applicable laws of the countries in which they operate regarding work environment, sanitation and safety. Suppliers and vendors that provide employee housing must maintain clean, safe and adequate sleeping quarters, bathing and toilet facilities. (ILO Convention: 155) Harassment, Abuse and Disciplinary Practices: ocean + main expects that every employee in its supply chain must be treated with respect and dignity. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, psychological or verbal abuse or to monetary fines or humiliating acts as a disciplinary measure. Discrimination Ocean + main does not tolerate unlawful discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, veteran status, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy status, sex, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other categories protected by law in its supply chain, nor does it allow for individuals with disabilities to be denied inclusion in the workplace based on their disability.
Wages & Benefits Every worker holds the right to being paid weekly wages that provide for his/her basic needs and for some discretionary income. Ocean + main expects vendors and suppliers to the appropriate prevailing wage or, at least the minimum wage, whichever is higher. Additionally, ocean + main’s vendors and suppliers must comply with all legal requirements on wages, and offer any benefits required by law or contract. Where legally mandated minimum compensation does not meet workers’ basic needs and provide some discretionary income, each vendor and/or supplier of ocean + main shall endeavor to take appropriate actions that seek to progressively provide for the worker a level of compensation that does. (ILO Conventions: 25, 131) Overtime Wages Employees must be compensated for overtime hours in addition to regular working hours at the rate legally required in the country of manufacture. In countries where no such laws exist, employees shall be compensated at a rate exceeding the regular hourly compensation rate by at least 125%. (ILO Convention 1 and 30) Hours of Work Ocean + main suppliers and vendors shall not require workers to work more than the regular and overtime hours as permitted by the law of the country. The regular work week shall not exceed the maximum hours permitted by the law of the country of manufacture or 48 hours, whichever is less where the workers are employed. Vendors must apprise ocean + main of the need for additional hours in order to work together to reduce the frequency of excessive overtime. Vendors and suppliers must allow workers a minimum of 24 contiguous hours of rest in every seven-day period. All overtime work must be consensual. Vendors and suppliers of ocean + main shall not require overtime hours on a regular basis. (ILO Convention: 1)
Freedom of Association & Rights to Collective Bargaining All of ocean + mains suppliers' and vendors’ employees must be free to form and join organizations of their own choosing, including trade unions and other worker organizations that participate in collective bargaining without fear of harassment, interference, or retaliation. Ocean + main suppliers and vendors must create and maintain effective, respectful, and transparent grievance processes to resolve disputes, address and respond to complaints and ensure effective communication between employees, employee representatives and management. (ILO Conventions: 87, 98, 135) Community ocean + main encourages all suppliers and vendors and their employees to engage in local community charity efforts that further environmental and social justice causes by volunteering time and/or providing other types of support. Ocean + main was founded on the principle of serving people, planet and purpose, and seeks long-term partnerships with suppliers and vendors that share these values. Animal Welfare Ocean + main suppliers and vendors must maintain respect for animal welfare and work progressively towards engaging in healthy and compassionate practices towards animals based on the highest level of available technology and standards. Subcontracting ocean + main’s suppliers and vendors must not engage any subcontractor to perform any work for or on ocean + main’s products, materials or components without prior written approval from ocean + main, and only after meeting the minimum requirements set forth in this Code of Conduct. This applies to scenarios where the vendor may engage unauthorized subcontractors as a solution for capacity challenges or to avoid excess overtime. If ocean + main approves a subcontractor, the supplier or vendor is required to furnish in writing the physical locations of all facilities that contribute to the production or transit of ocean + main materials.
Environment ocean + main expects suppliers to have and maintain policies and procedures to ensure minimal environmental impacts. This includes but is not limited to the use of resources including water use, and mitigation of the release of chemicals, greenhouse gas emissions and use of hazardous materials. All applicable local and national environmental laws and regulations must be adhered to by ocean + main suppliers and vendors in the place where they do business. Additionally, ocean + main expects that vendors and suppliers engage in efforts to deepen their sustainability practices and ensure environmental responsibility, adhering to all written environmental policies and standards. Ocean + main suppliers and vendors must continuously monitor their energy and natural resource usage, emissions, discharges, carbon footprint and disposal of wastes and disclose them to ocean + main as requested. Traceability The only way to ensure social and environmental responsibility and the integrity of our products is to have transparency and traceability into all levels of our supply chain. ocean + main and our suppliers and vendors are jointly responsible for ensuring claims around the integrity of our product from the farm through the finished goods factory level. To this end, ocean + main requires suppliers and vendors to map and continuously track and monitor all levels and all locations of their supply chain. They must also be transparent with information about any owned and/or subcontracted farms, mills, plants, factories and other sites that are involved in the production of our products.
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