B&Q PROPERTIES LIMITED

Policies described

Freedom of workers to terminate employment Freedom of movement Freedom of association Prohibits any threat of violence, harassment and intimidation Prohibits the use of worker-paid recruitment fees Prohibits compulsory overtime Prohibits child labour Prohibits discrimination Prohibits confiscation of workers' original identification documents Provides access to remedy, compensation and justice for victims of modern slavery Other

Training described

Your whole organisation Your front line staff Your suppliers

Worker engagement and working conditions

Your suppliers Professional auditors Workers within your organisation

Social audits

Audit conducted by your staff Third party audit arranged by your organisation Third party audit arranged by your supplier Announced audit Unannounced audit

Grievance mechanisms

Using anonymous whistleblowing services, such as a helpline or mobile phone app

Other monitoring

N/A

Actions addressing ILO indicators

Other

Demonstrated progress

We track audit findings and progress on remediation to monitor the effectiveness of our ethical audit programme. During 2021/22, nine production sites of finished GFR did not comply with our minimum standards. We were able to work with eight of these sites to resolve the non-conformances. The remaining site has uploaded evidence of their corrective actions, and at the end of the reporting period these were still pending auditor review with some items requiring a follow-up audit.

Reported risks and mitigations

• Risk: Child labour: In 2021, during an ethical audit at a glove factory in China an auditor found two children aged 11 in the packing area of the factory. We worked to resolve this risk.
• Area: Within your supply chains
• Tier: Tier 1 suppliers Tier 2 suppliers
• Group: Children
• Location: China
• Mitigation: A member of our Responsible Sourcing team immediately visited the supplier together with the auditor to carry out a further investigation. The investigation included a document review, interviews with factory management and the children’s family, checking surveillance videos, and obtaining attendance proof from the children’s school. We have worked with the factory to ensure it improves its safety and control procedures to prevent unauthorised access to the factory.
• Risk: Fire safety: During an audit at a production site in Turkey, the auditor found that there were not enough fire exits for the size of site and number of workers. We worked to resolve this risk.
• Group: Other vulnerable groups
• Location: Turkey
• Mitigation: During an audit at a production site in Turkey, the auditor found that there were not enough fire exits for the size of site and number of workers. Following the feedback from the audit, the site installed additional fire exits and the follow-up audit confirmed this business-critical non-conformance had been closed out.
• Risk: Poor record keeping: At a production site in China in 2021, the auditor identified falsified, duplicate and incomplete working hour / time records and inconsistencies between records.
• Mitigation: During an ethical audit at a production site in China in 2021, the auditor identified falsified, duplicate and incomplete working hour / time records and inconsistencies between records. The factory was required to improve its record keeping systems and practices and a follow-up audit confirmed it had addressed this non-conformance.