Glossary

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

 Accreditation

A designation given by the FLA Board of Directors signifying that the labor compliance program of an FLA Participating Company or Participating Supplier is found to be in substantial compliance with FLA requirements. Labor compliance programs become eligible for accreditation at the end of the companys 'initial implementation period,' and are considered for re-accreditation every three years. The FLA retains the right to retract or postpone FLA accreditation if it finds that a company has not sufficiently met or maintained its FLA obligations and to continuously improve its program.

 Agent

Individual or business that acts on behalf of a company to locate and negotiate with production facilities. Agents often represent companies that do not have buying offices in particular countries, or are used to supplement a company's staff. Because they are often based locally and have established relationships with factories, agents are sometimes called upon to play a role in a company's internal compliance programs.

 Annual Company Report

Participating Companies, Participating Suppliers, and Category B licensees use templates provided by their FLA to report on their compliance activities during the past year. These annual submissions, in addition to the outcomes of all FLA independent external monitoring visits, are the basis of the FLAs online public reporting on company activities.

 Applicable Brands

Those brands that an FLA-affiliated company seeks to include in the FLA. Some companies own many brands, and upon joining FLA may request the opportunity to roll out the FLA program progressively among the distinct brands consistent with FLA charter requirements. Access the FLA Charter for further details. See Brand.

 Applicable Facilities

Those facilities used by a company to produce its applicable brands or college / university licensed goods. See Facility.

 Assessment Portal

Houses multi-lingual, online tools to assess a companys status in building its labor compliance program in line with FLA requirements (e.g. the Licensee Profile and Self-Assessment (LPSA) focuses on Category C Licensees). Tools on the portal are also used to assess factory conditions. Users may access the site to complete assessments and monitor progress or to view the results and progress of their business partners(e.g. a university may login to view the results of its licensees or a company may login to view the results of its factories). A username and password is required to complete most self-assessment tools. To register on the portal please go to the Assessment Portal and select new user and select the right user category (licensee, licensor, facility etc). Accessed at: http://ap.fairlabor.org/en

 Audit

The individual or team of individuals who carry out internal or independent external monitoring. The terms auditor and audit team are also used to refer to the individual(s) conducting monitoring. An "FLA-accredited" monitor refers to a monitoring organization or firm that has been accredited by the FLA on the basis of its independence and professional qualifications to conduct monitoring of applicable facilities on behalf of the FLA. A monitoring organization is accredited to conduct monitoring in specific regions for a period of two years.

 Audit Instrument

Comprehensive document used to collect information from audits of production facilities, measuring compliance with the FLA Workplace Code and FLA Obligations of Companies. FLA accredited monitors (see list on website) are trained on the use of this tool, and may be accessed for use by FLA-affiliated companies during their own internal monitoring visits. Access the FLA audit instrument among the tools provided in the training portal.