News about Our Work - © FEMNET 24 May 2024 Zalando focuses on growth instead of social values This year's Annual General Meeting of Zalando in mid-May provided an opportunity for a critical examination of the company by FEMNET and the umbrella organization of critical shareholders. The focus of the discussion was on the sustainability and social justice of the online mail order company. Zalando generated sales of 10.1 billion euros in the past fiscal year and, according to its own statements, built up a "considerable financial cushion". According to the company, this is to be fully invested in "strategically important areas". At the Annual General Meeting, shareholders were therefore once again called upon to waive their dividend in favor of business growth. At the same time, despite these large gains, there are no significant improvements in social standards in supply chains. No contact with the employee side Zalando still does not collect data on the existence of trade unions and works councils in its production facilities. This indicates that contact with the employee side is not actively sought, which means that reliable occupational safety cannot be guaranteed. However, direct contact with the employee side is indispensable for the consistent implementation of labour rights. Without data, no conclusions can be drawn about violations and appropriate countermeasures can be initiated. As a result, the company prevents reliable monitoring of the implementation of its ethical standards and cannot guarantee that important information reaches the workers. An example of this is the submission of the list of pollutants used. Zalando only shares this list with suppliers, but not factory workers. Implementation of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) is in need of improvement Improvements are also needed in the area of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), according to FEMNET and the umbrella organisation of critical shareholders. Zalando's own LkSG report states that the risk analysis needs to be improved. Accordingly, the answers of the board member Dr. Sandra Dembeck to the questions about the effectiveness of the measures based on them are unsatisfactory. Although there is various data for the evaluation of these measures, there is a lack of industry-wide comparative values for a meaningful evaluation, according to the board member. The way in which the LkSG standards are checked by suppliers should also be viewed very critically. The audits commissioned by Zalando are announced in 98% of cases, which allows factory operators to prepare in detail and, if necessary, adapt to the agreed standards. However, this prevents an independent examination and evaluation of the work situation, as systematic violations can go undetected during registered audits. In addition, Zalando does not require workers to be questioned outside the factory by trusted persons in order to give them the opportunity to respond in a protected atmosphere." Lack of gender-specific data At the last Annual General Meeting last year, FEMNET e.V. and the umbrella organisation of critical shareholders already asked about the gender-sensitive collection of salary information. As a result, Zalando announced the collection of data on the gender pay gap. However, the data collection was not carried out. Reasons for the delay in this project are not given, only the lack of this data in the auditing formats is pointed out. Prospect of living wages at Zalando's own brands? It is positive that Zalando's new sustainability strategy includes the goal of striving for a living wage within its own brands. It seems that these efforts do not go beyond membership of the ACT (Act on Living Wages) initiative. It remains to be seen what steps Zalando will actually take to implement it. Even after this year's General Assembly, there is no clear improvement in working conditions. In particular, there is still an urgent need for action on the part of Zalando with regard to ensuring living wages and the lack of gender-specific data. Despite the financial resources available, the company does not yet seem to have invested sufficiently in areas of sustainability, especially in social aspects.
