Responsibility

At Ace & Tate, we started our journey as small brand with the aim of providing quality eyewear at a fair price, while being good to the people who work with us. To build a trusting relationship with our community, we know how important it is to be open about the factories we work with. It’s our responsibility to make sure our suppliers conduct business in an ethical, legal and socially responsible manner and maintain a supply chain free from child labour.

To uphold our high standards and closely held values, we thoroughly assess each potential supplier. Firstly, our team visits the supplier’s head offices and factories and meets the director, the managers and the workers involved in production. The supplier must then provide valid audit certification that meet our ethical and environmental standards, which we also investigate with our own third-party auditors.

Only after careful investigation and consideration will we commence a partnership. To seal the deal, the supplier must adhere to and sign our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Code expresses what we consider to be appropriate business conduct by our suppliers and in respect of child labour, it states:

‘Suppliers shall not employ minors. We define minors as those persons who have not yet reached their 15th birthday, Employees under the age of 18 years are not to be involved in night work or work that is hazardous or likely to have a negative impact on the employee’s physical or mental development. Aspects related to prohibition of child labour will be developed according to Conventions 138 and 182 of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Employment contracts should be drafted in a language easily understood by workers.’

And we don’t stop there. To keep us friendly with our suppliers and most importantly, ensure working conditions remain at a high standard, we visit factories multiple times a year. We have a zero tolerance policy regarding child labour and if it was ever discovered in our supply chain, we would take immediate action with the supplier.

Ace & Tate