While the Association may adopt special country guidelines in some of these circumstances, one of its goals is to promote and encourage positive change in those countries, so these standards become fully recognized, respected, and enforced. The charter requires companies to take steps to ensure that employees have the ability to exercise these rights without fear of discrimination or punishment, including ensuring that factory owners understand and recognize these rights and will not take action to prevent workers from exercising them. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse. No person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment, including hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement, on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political opinion, or social or ethnic origin. Employers shall provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with, or occurring in the course of work or as a result of the operation of employer facilities.
Employers recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees' basic needs.
Employers shall pay employees, as a floor, at least the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide legally mandated benefits. In addition to their compensation for regular hours of work, employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture or, in those countries where such laws do not exist, at a rate at least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate. In addition to complying with all applicable laws and regulations of the country of manufacture, companies must comply with this code and the FLA's principles of monitoring, applying the higher standard in cases of differences or conflicts, and must require their licensees, contractors and suppliers to do the same.