FOR THE PEOPLE
FAIR LABOR & RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
As a certified B Corp, we’re in business to make a positive impact. We are proud to be part of a global movement toward a more inclusive and equitable economy. Our responsibility extends from taking care of our employees to creating higher standards of living for the people in our supply chain. We’re committed to fair labor practices, and we proudly back this up with an accreditation from the Fair Labor Association. To ensure we’re sourcing responsibly, we build long-term partnerships with our suppliers and work with them to improve social and environmental performance. We’re continually enhancing our standards to increase transparency and traceability throughout our supply chain. Check out our 2025 Goals to learn more.
FOR THE PEOPLE
IMPROVING WORKING CONDITIONS THROUGH FAIR LABOR
In 2020, Burton became an accredited member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a nonprofit that promotes human rights at work. FLA is an international network of companies, universities, and civil society organizations collaborating to ensure that millions of people working at the world’s factories and farms are paid fairly and protected from risks to their health, safety, and well-being. Earning Fair Labor Accreditation is a rigorous, multi-year process. It includes evaluation in areas ranging from the commitment of our company’s leadership to fair labor standards, to our implementation of systems designed to ensure that our factories provide decent and humane working conditions. Burton’s Code of Conduct and Supply Chain Sustainability Standards follow the FLA Benchmarks and align with the International Labor Organization, UN Guiding Principles, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. These policies outline specific expectations around labor practices and ensure that we do business with suppliers who align with our values and share our commitment to respecting workers’ rights.
LOOKING OUT FOR WORKER WELLBEING
We build deep, long-lasting relationships with our suppliers and factories to ensure we’re doing right by workers throughout the supply chain. This allows us to work in close partnership to develop positive labor practices and raise the standards of living for the people that make Burton products possible. We actively engage with suppliers to help implement the workplace standards outlined in the Burton Code of Conduct and monitor our partner suppliers regularly. We also recognize that our sourcing decisions can have a direct impact on worker well-being, so our social impact team works closely with quality and supply chain departments to align our purchasing practices with our brand values.
FAIR COMPENSATION FOR ALL EMPLOYEES
As a brand committed to making a positive impact, we recognize fair compensation as an essential element of responsible sourcing. We monitor our suppliers to ensure factory workers are given legally mandated minimum and overtime wage standards. But we recognize that these wages do not always cover basic needs. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has declared living wages a fundamental human right—and we agree. We’re making progress with wages, and our goal is for all Burton employees, contractors, and workers at our major supplier factories to be paid a living wage by 2025. As Fair Labor Association members, we calculate ‘living wage’ using the Global Living Wage Coalition’s (GLWC) living wage benchmarks, which use a globally recognized and respected methodology to determine living wages.
FOR THE PLANET
TRACEABILITY & RESPONSIBLE MATERIAL SOURCING
Burton only partners with trusted suppliers that operate ethically and source materials responsibly. To increase supply chain transparency, we share our active factory list annually and do our best to trace materials all the way back to the raw input level. Our Burton Materials Verification Policy outlines standards for sourcing, material certifications, traceability, and verification - and our suppliers agree to hold themselves and any vendor they work with to these strict standards. As a global company, we know that dynamics on the ground can change quickly. So, we stay ahead of the game, working with labor rights organizations and third-party risk intelligence tools to continually monitor our global supply chain at the facility, region, and country level. These processes help us ensure that our materials and products are responsibly sourced and ethically made.