Created in partnership with the Helpdesk on Business & Human Rights
In 2020, L’Oréal Group made two commitments regarding living wages: 1) In its Employee Human Rights Policy, L’Oréal commits to pay all its employees at least a living wage covering their basic needs and calculated in line with best practices, as soon as possible. 2) In the L’Oréal for the Future programme, L’Oréal commits to paying 100% of its strategic suppliers’ employees at least a living wage covering their basic needs and those of their dependents (calculated in line with best practices) by 2030. L’Oréal developed partnerships with experts, including the Fair Wage Network, an independent organization that provides a comprehensive and updated database that is used to define, build and deploy a living wage strategy. Further, L’Oréal also takes into consideration various factors such as the local fertility rate and the average number of incomes per household to calculate a living wage.
The living wage strategy complements the L’Oréal “Share & Care” existing programme that provides employees worldwide with a set of social benefits, including maternity and paternity leave, access to reimbursed medical treatments and disability insurance. L’Oréal plans to engage their strategic suppliers as part of their ‘extended company’ to implement a living wage for their employees the same way as for the other pillars of their sustainable sourcing strategy (social audits, environment and inclusive sourcing). The implementation of a living wage strategy worldwide is a challenge and L’Oréal is using its leverage to embark other companies and stakeholders in this journey, including through collaborative platforms such as the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG).