Joining the Ethical Trading Initiative - Companies

Companies

Joining the Ethical Trading Initiative

Membership Criteria
Membership Fees
Application Process - including downloadable application forms
Other documents relevant in relation to joining ETI

Membership Criteria

The list below summarises the commitments a corporate member is expected to make when joining ETI. Full details are available in the booklet Purpose, Principles, Programme and Membership Information.

1.	Commitments
1.1	The Company gives its membership of ETI, the ETI Base Code and its implementation process an informed and explicit endorsement.
1.2	This commitment is communicated throughout the company and to its suppliers and sub-contractors (including closely associated self-employed staff)
1.3	A member of senior management is assigned responsibility for the implementation of compliance with the code.
1.4	The code and the implementation process are integrated into the core business relationships and corporate culture.
1.5	The Company will ensure that human and financial resources are made available to enable it to meet stated commitments.
2.	Monitoring, Independent Verification and Reporting
2.1	Member companies accept the principle that the implementation of codes will be assessed through monitoring and verification; and that performance with regard to monitoring practice and implementation of codes will be reported annually. e.g. see Monitoring Corporate Performance for the latest Annual Reporting Guidelines.
2.2	Companies will engage with other members in the design, implementation and analysis of pilot schemes to identify good practice in monitoring and verification and share this experience with other members.
2.3	Company members will draw on this experience in establishing where relevant with other ETI members’ work plans to implement programmes of monitoring, verification, and reporting, and will report progress against these programmes to and through the ETI in an agreed format and timing.
2.4	Workers covered by the code shall be provided with a confidential means to report failure to observe the code and shall be otherwise protected in this respect.
3.	Awareness Raising and Training
3.1	All relevant personnel are provided appropriate training and guidelines that will enable them to apply the code in their work.
3.2	Suppliers are made aware of the code, and the company’s commitment to sourcing from suppliers who observe the standards in the code.
3.3	Workers whose work is covered by the code are, where possible, made aware of the code and implementation principles or procedures.
4.	Corrective Actions
4.1	Member companies commit themselves, on the basis of knowledge gained from monitoring to: negotiate and implement agreed schedules for corrective actions with suppliers failing to observe the terms of the code, i.e. a continuous improvement approach; require the immediate cessation of serious breaches of the code, and; where serious breaches of the code persist, to terminate any business relationship with the supplier concerned.
5.	Management Procedures, Pricing and Incentives
5.1	Negotiations with suppliers shall take into account the costs of observing the code.
5.2	Understanding and implementation of company policy with respect to its code of labour practice shall constitute a positive performance measure when assessing appropriate personnel.

Membership Fees

Annual membership fees cover the period 1 April – 31 March. New members will be invoiced on a pro-rata basis. The current fees (last revised in December 2003) are:

Companies with turnover from £1 million to £100 million:
fees from £2,000 rising on a scale to £6,000.
Companies with turnover from £100 million to £1 billion:
fees from £7,300 rising on a scale to £12,500.
Companies with turnover from over £1 billion:
fees from £25,000 rising on a scale to a maximum of £30,000.

An exact quote will be confirmed as part of the membership application process.

[1] VAT is chargeable and is not included in the figures above

Application Process

The Secretariat will be happy to provide advice and assistance on completing the membership forms which can be downloaded below:

ETI Membership Application Form [PDF, 24kb]
ETI Membership Application Form [MS Word, 57kb]

Where appropriate, meetings and presentations can be arranged to help potential members with the process.

Once satisfactorily completed, the Secretariat will present the application to ETI’s Board of Directors who will formally assess and decide on acceptance.

Because the Board typically meets quarterly and there may be circumstances where further information or clarification is required from the applicant before reaching a final decision, the application process can take several months.

The Secretariat can be contacted at any time to provide updates and to assist prospective members with the process. All organisations interested in applying for ETI membership are invited in the first instance to contact:

Niaz Alam,
Deputy Director
email: niaz@eti.org.uk.

quicklinks

Companies

Membership Criteria

Membership Fees

Application Process

Other relevant documents