Gap
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Clothing
International clothing and accessories retailer for men, women and children. Operates about 3,400 stores worldwide. OrotonGroup held exclusive Australasian franchise rights for Gap's brands from 2013 across Australia and New Zealand, but in 2017 announced it would close the franchise business.
| The Gap Inc | USA | website | ||||
Company Assessment
| PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
| The Gap Inc | ||||
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This company received a score of 61/100 (retrieved 14-Feb-2018) in the Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI), a system for evaluating supply chain practices in China, particularly in regards to environmental management and water pollution. Scores are calculated using government compliance data, online monitoring data, and third-party environmental audits, as well as trends in the environmental performance of factories in the company's supply chains.
[Source 2018][More on Habitats]
CDP's 2016 report "Out of the starting blocks" reveals which companies around the world are doing the most to combat climate change. This company is included on the A List.
[Source 2016][More on Climate Change]
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs. They work in partnership to improve the lives of workers across the globe who make or grow consumer goods - everything from tea to T-shirts, from flowers to footballs. This company is a full member.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
In 2016 KnowTheChain benchmarked 60 large global companies in the ICT, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear sectors on their efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking in their supply chains. This company received a score of 77/100.
[Source 2016][More on Workers Rights]
The 2018 Fashion Transparency Index looks at how much brands know about their supply chains, what kind of policies they have in place and importantly, how much information they share with the public about their practices and products. This company scored 54%, signifying that it is publishing detailed supplier lists and the vast majority of policies, procedures and future goals. The average score was 21% and the highest score was 58%.
[Source 2018][More on Sustainability Reporting]
This website by German NGO Earth Link rates companies on their corporate policies against child labour, production monitoring and accusations of child labour. This company received at least one green mark, and no red marks, indicating good performance in one or more of these areas.
[Source 2013][More on Human Rights]
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
[Source 2017][More on Workers Rights]
Responsible Sourcing Network's 2014 report Cotton Sourcing Snapshot: A Survey of Corporate Practices to End Forced Labor includes survey results and ratings of 49 companies reflecting actions they are taking to stop cotton from Uzbekistan picked with forced labor from entering their supply chains. The survey offered a maximum of 100 points across 11 indicators in the categories of Policy, Public Disclosure, Engagement, and Implementation & Auditing. Only five companies scored over 50 points, 19 companies scored under 25 points, and two companies scored zero. Although this company scored under 50 points, it was given a special mention in the report for its efforts to address the issue of Uzbek cotton.
[Source 2014][More on Human Rights]
This company has signed the Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not use Uzbekistani cotton. (Uzbekistan is the world's fifth largest exporter of cotton and has for decades been criticised for using the forced labour of its schoolchildren to harvest that cotton by hand under appalling conditions. This practice is organised and controlled by the central government).
[Source 2016][More on Human Rights]
B- grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2018', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour, and exploitation in their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, knowing suppliers, auditing and supplier relationships, and worker empowerment.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
Oxfam Australia's 2016 Naughty or Nice list ranks the biggest and most popular clothing brands on what they are actually doing to protect and support the women making our clothes, especially on whether brands are bold enough to bring the list of factories that make their clothes out of hiding. This company has been dubbed 'Nice', as they have published a full list of their supplier factories.
[Source 2016][More on Workers Rights]
The 2017 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 98 of the largest publicly traded companies in the world from the Agricultural Products, Apparel and Extractives sectors on 100 human rights indicators. This company's score was in the 40-49 band range. The overall average score was 28.7%.
[Source 2017][More on Human Rights] |
The Forest 500 identifies, ranks, and tracks the governments, companies and financial institutions worldwide that together could virtually eradicate tropical deforestation. Rankings are based on their public policies and commitments and potential impacts on tropical forests in the context of forest risk commodities (palm oil, soya, beef, leather, timber, and pulp and paper). This company received a score of 1/5.
[Source 2016][More on Forests]
This 2016 report from the Asia Floor Wage Alliance finds evidence of widespread exploitation in GAP supplier factories in India and Indonesia.
[Source 2016][More on Workers Rights]
Public Eye Awards are given to companies with the worst record in terms of environmental pollution and human rights violations. Gap has refused to sign the binding agreement, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Instead, it is actively undermining serious reform by promoting a non-binding corporate-controlled program.
[Source 2014][More on Workers Rights]
In 2016 Rank a Brand assessed 37 major cotton-using companies on their commitment and performance with regard to sustainable cotton by looking at each company's cotton sourcing policies, use of sustainable cotton, and traceability. This company scored 0.5/19.5, making it one of the weakest performing companies.
[Source 2016][More on Human Rights]
This company appeared on Global Exchange's 2014 list of Most Wanted Corporate Criminals for refusal to sign the Accord of Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, refusal to compensate victims' families, workers' rights violations, and unsafe building conditions.
[Source 2017][More on Human Rights]
The average worker in the Bangladeshi garment industry is getting paid only one third of what is considered to be a living wage. Low wages and long working hours have been found to play a key role in parents' decisions to take their children out of school and let them work in various jobs. This company was identified in SOMO's 2017 report 'Branded Childhood' as contributing to this situation.
[Source 2017][More on Workers Rights]
This 2013 report by the Workers Rights Consortium reveals that the majority of Haitian garment workers are being denied nearly a third of the wages they are legally due as a result of the factories' theft of their income. Wages for garment industry workers in Haiti are already among the lowest in the world. This company was named as being complicit in this wage theft.
[Source 2013][More on Workers Rights]
This company is one of the top 5 companies sourcing from Cambodia, where the minimum wage is just 21% of what Asia Floor Wage calculate to be a living wage for the country. Cambodia's garment workers endure excessive overtime, low wages, malnourishment (sometimes leading to mass fainting), violence and intimidation.
[Source 2014][More on Workers Rights]
As You Sow's 2017 report, Mining the Disclosures, is a deep analysis of 206 companies' human rights performance in relation to sourcing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This company's score was below 40% (Weak).
[Source 2017][More on Human Rights]
Female migrants employed in garment factories in Bangalore, India are recruited with false promises about wages and benefits, and are subjected to conditions of modern slavery. They work under high-pressure for low wages, and live in hostels with poor living conditions while their freedom of movement is severely restricted. This company was identified in the 2018 report "Labour Without Liberty" as sourcing garments from these factories.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
This company received a score of 38.6/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]
This 2016 investigative report by the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) reveals how migrant garment workers in Bangalore, South India endure appalling living conditions, low wages and restricted freedom of movement. This company pledged to take serious action after being named in the report as sourcing from Bangalore.
[Source 2016][More on Workers rights]
This company acknowledges the need for a living wage but are doing little so far to make it a reality, according to this 2014 report by the Clean Clothes Campaign which grades companies on their efforts to ensure workers in its supply chain receive a living wage.
[Source 2014][More on Workers Rights]
Rank a Brand searches the websites of brands for the answers to carefully targeted questions. From this they calculate sustainability scores based on the themes of environment, climate, labor issues, and transparency. Brands owned by this company received a 'C'.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting] |
Greenpeace launched their Detox Campaign in 2011 to expose the direct links between global clothing brands, their suppliers and toxic water pollution around the world. As a result, many companies have joined Greenpeace's Detox Program, which requires companies to adopt a credible, individual and public commitment to phase out the use and release of all toxic chemicals from their global supply chain and products, by 1 January 2020. This company is yet to make a commitment despite pressure from Greenpeace.
[Source 2016][More on Habitats]
According to Greenpeace's 2013 report "Toxic Threads: a story of big brands and water pollution in Indonesia", this company had a business relationship in the recent past with PT Gistex Group, the company responsible for discharging a wide range of hazardous substances directly into the Citarum River in Indonesia.
[Source 2013][More on Habitats]
Maid in India', a 2012 report by two Dutch NGOs (SOMO and ICN) revealed how workers in the South Indian garment and textile industry continue to suffer exploitative working conditions while making garments for Western brands. While some recent improvements have been made, thousands of girls work under recruitment and employment schemes that amount to bonded labour. This company was shown to be sourcing from one or more of the four garment manufacturers investigated. While they did respond to a review request, it is unclear whether they are taking sufficient actions to address the problems. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2012][More on Workers Rights]
This 2011 investigative report into the Ocean Sky Apparel Factory in El Salvador reveals how workers are: paid well below living wage, illegally forced to work overtime, given unsafe drinking water, fired for attempting to unionise, and cursed at and humiliated. Their customers include Reebok, Puma, Columbia and GAP. (Listed under information due to age of report)
[Source 2011][More on Workers Rights]
This 2011 report reveals young women sewing US$26.95 toddler denim shorts for GAP earn just 20 to 28 cents an hour, working 12 to 14 hour shifts, with only one day off per month. J.C.Penney and Phillips-Van Heusen are other major labels sewn at the Hameen Factory in Bangladesh. Twenty-nine workers died in a fire in this factory in Dec 2010. Management gave just $2,083.33 in compensation to the families of the dead workers. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2011][More on Workers Rights]
This 2011 report by the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) examined working conditions in 83 factories in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Investigations found that widespread violations and abuses of workers' rights continue to be the norm, such as underpaying workers, long hours, forced overtime, and repression of the freedom of association. This company's brands were found to be made in one or more of the 83 factories covered in the research. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2011][More on Workers rights]
In 2011, a group of major apparel and footwear brands and retailers, including this company, made a shared commitment to help lead the industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020. It includes specific commitments and timelines to realize this shared goal.
[Source 2017][More on Habitats]
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target.
[Source 2017][More on Climate Change]
This company is a member of the CanopyStyle initiative, which came about when research found that millions of trees are used every year to produce dissolving pulp, a key ingredient for fabrics such as rayon/viscose. The campaign seeks to phase out the use of endangered forest fibre in fabric.
[Source 2018][More on Forests]
This 2010 report by As You Sow, "Toward a Safe, Just Workplace: Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Programs", provides a scorecard and report focus on company programs such as: factory auditing, remediation, continuous improvement, collaboration, company management accountability, and transparency. This company received a B rating. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2010][More on Workers Rights]
Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation established to advance the human rights of workers by promoting decent work conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility through the voluntary SA8000 Standard.
[Source 2014][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company has announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy.
[Source 2014][More on Animal Rights]
This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.
[Source 2018][More on Animal Rights]
This company is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in March 2011 by a group of global apparel and footwear companies and non-profit organizations (representing nearly one third of the global market share for apparel and footwear). The Coalition's goals are to reduce the apparel industry's environmental and social impact, and to develop a universal index to measure environmental and social performance of apparel products.
[Source 2018][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary initiative which encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for cotton farmers, small and large, worldwide.
[Source 2017][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company is a partner of Better Work, an initiative of the UN's International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation which brings diverse groups together - governments, global brands, factory owners, and unions and workers - to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive.
[Source 2016][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
Textile Exchange (formerly known as Organic Exchange) is a US-based non-profit organization which operates internationally and is committed to the responsible expansion of textile sustainability across the global textile value chain, with a special focus on organic cotton.
[Source 2013][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a legally binding, five-year commitment to improve safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment factories. The Alliance aims to improve worker safety in the Bangladesh garment industry by upgrading factories, educating workers and management, empowering workers, and building institutions that can enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. However it lacks an important enforcement mechanism included in the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and unlike the Accord, the Alliance has not received the endorsement of the ILO.
[Source 2016][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
Gap has an extensive Social Responsibility section on its website, including a Code of Business Conduct and a Code of Vendor Conduct.
[Source 2013][More on Sustainability Reporting]
The United Nations Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of 10 values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. However it's non-binding nature has been widely criticised, and many signatory corporations continue to violate the Compact's values.
[Source x][More on Sustainability Reporting]
The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company is almost fully aligned with the Transparency Pledge.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]
The ICTI CARE Process is the toy industry's ethical manufacturing program aimed at ensuring safe and humane workplace environments for toy factory workers worldwide. This company is a member of the 'ICP Committed Brands Program' which means they only contract from factories that have an ICP Seal of Compliance. However human rights groups including SOMO and China Labor Watch have criticised ICTI Care, with investigators finding serious labour rights violations occurring in ICTI-certified factories.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657) requires companies operating in California to disclose their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chains. KnowTheChain.org has examined this company's disclosure statement and concluded that it addresses the majority of SB 657 requirements. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
[Source 2013][More on Workers Rights]
Project JUST examines the manufacturing practices and ethics of fashion brands. Follow the link to see this company's profile.
[Source 2016]
This company is listed on the Facing Finance website as a company that manufactures weapons or profits from violations of human rights, pollution, corruption, or international law. Follow link for further details.
[Source 2015]
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
[Source 2014] |
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Company Details
| Company Structure | Public company |
| Revenue | US$15.6 billion in 2013 |
| # Employees | 136,000 in 2013 |
Contact Details
| Address | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Website | www.gap.com |
Products / Brands
Gap|
Athleta Sportswear Banana Republic Menswear (casual) Banana Republic Womens Fashion Gap Menswear (casual) Gap Womens Fashion Old Navy Menswear (casual) Old Navy Womens Fashion |
