There are four fundamental criticisms that can be leveled at all of the company codes of conduct. In the first place, all of these company codes are limited in their content. Others are much better and refer to such issues as discrimination, job safety, health, the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining, but then fail to mention anything about wages. This also makes it difficult to determine whether a company is actually abiding by its own code. Reebok's code isn't even such a bad one, but as soon as we find grossly underpaid Reebok workers, we quickly realize that Reebok can go any which way with the wording in their codes.
Good codes have comprehensible texts with no escape clauses.
The best texts should refer, for instance, to the ILO Conventions or other international treaties. Thirdly, it's often not very clear in company codes just how far the accountability of the company goes. A good code must address all the employees who produce for the company, regardless of where they live or what their status is. The code must cover the entire subcontracting network. And lastly, we come to the crucial point of implementation and monitoring.