MODERN SLAVERY ACT STATEMENT
Statement of ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL and other relevant group companies (hereinafter “Essilor”) published in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”) entered into effect on October 29th, 2015. The Act requires manufacturers and retailers doing business in the United Kingdom and supplying goods or services, with an annual turnover exceeding £36 million, to disclose information regarding their policies to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains and within their businesses.
Essilor is the global leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of ophthalmic lenses and equipment for eyecare professionals. The company’s mission is to improve lives by improving sight. To this end, Essilor develops solutions to correct and protect the visual health of all 7.4 billion people in the world. Essilor is headquartered in France and has approximately 64,000 employees in 130 countries. Essilor had a turnover of 7,115 million Euros in 2016.
For purposes of the Act, “modern slavery” is a term used to encompass slavery, forced and compulsory labour, and human trafficking. It includes both adults and children being forced to work against their free will.
Essilor is committed to delivering high standards of corporate governance and managing the group in a socially responsible way contributes to this commitment. Essilor aims to employ the highest ethical and professional standards and to always comply with the local laws and regulations applicable to its business. More specifically, Essilor is committed to ensuring its operations and supply chains are free of human trafficking and slavery. Our employment policies and procedures uphold this principle. Essilor also requires its suppliers to take all necessary steps to demonstrate that their operations and their supply chains comply with these requirements.
Essilor maintains written policies that strictly prohibit the use of slavery or human trafficking in its direct supply chains. This includes the Essilor “Code of Ethics” in which we communicate our ethical principles and associated expectations to our supply chain. Our Essilor Supplier Charter requires all Essilor suppliers to sign up to a sustainability clause which details all requirements around forced labour, slavery and human trafficking.
We understand that our biggest exposure to Modern Slavery is in our products supply chains, where we have undertaken activity to minimise the risk of Modern Slavery. Within these areas, new suppliers and factories are subject to due diligence checks in the form of ethical and compliance audits conducted by or on behalf of Essilor.
Our written policies and procedures by which we should treat employees include: (i) transparent fair behaviour, such as protecting human rights, (ii) compliance with legislation, including fundamental rights at work – in particular freedom of association and elimination of discrimination throughout employment.
Training is fundamental to raising awareness of these issues. Essilor conducts training for its employees to emphasize the importance of acting with integrity and in line with its own internal “Code of Ethics”. We have trained our key staff in Modern Slavery and human rights through on-line and on-site trainings and developed an internal policy which is available to all of our employees which provides further guidance on how to identify, manage and report such risks.
This Statement will be reviewed annually and updated as required.
This Statement was approved and signed by:
Hubert Sagnières
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer