Ethical Statement

 

Background & Origins:

Salt-Water Sandals UK / EU SASU / Asia PTE Ltd distributes sandals for the UK/EU and Asian regions. 

Salt-Water Sandals are made by the Hoy family who descends from Walter Hoy who created the first Salt-Water Sandal in 1944 from scrap leather leftover from making military boots in World War II. The original pair of sandals were made for Walter's daughter, Margery. Now, over 75 years on, Salt-Water Sandals are worn and loved the world over by adults and kids alike. 

 

Hoy Head Office:

From 1944 through to the current day, the Hoy family continue to manage all the production of Salt-Water Sandals across the US and China factories. If you have further questions relating to the production, Hoy are happy to hear from you [email protected]

 

Salt-Water UK, Europe and Asia:

As a consumer product distributor, we care about the environment and we care about the fair & legal treatment of all our staff and those people involved with the products we distribute. We want to ensure that we work with others who do too.  

We are committed to sharing details and being transparent about the products we distribute and how they are made. Should you have any questions about materials, chemicals or suppliers please do please contact us via our contact us form and we can give further details. Where we contractually cannot answer we will direct you to the brand itself at [email protected]

 

Us: Factories / Sandal production:

Salt-Water Sandals produces sandals in both the USA and in China.

Salt-Water Sandals still produce sandals on the original 1940s machinery in the Hoy factory in Missouri, St Louis.

Due to the high demand as the brand grew, Salt-Water Sandals started producing sandals in a family-run factory in China. Salt-Water Sandals have been working with the same factory for almost 15 years and the demand is so great that the factory has now built a dedicated unit. We make using specific methodologies and the staff have been trained in the traditional way and the machines used were built to match the vintage machines Hoy have always used. These older machines simply didn’t exist anymore!

Hoy Head Office have frequent visits to the China factories to ensure the working conditions and standards upheld in the US are met in China. Hoy also has a third party company that visit quarterly (every 3 months) from the US and who have offices in Taiwan for unscheduled visits.

 

Planet:

Recycling and plastic free efforts 

  1. All of our packaging are 100% plastic free. 
  2. Our boxes are mostly single construction with no glue, making them easy to recycle. 
  3. We always use recycled materials on any promotional assets and have implemented a recycling code in our offices. 
  4. We recycle our sandal samples to charities and are currently working on a 2nd hand service to help our customers resell their Salt-Water Sandals.  
  5. We take part in Beach Cleans to help clear up beaches of plastic and rubbish. 

 

The MCS Official Sandal - Silver Original  

The Silver Original has been the official sandal of our UK charity partner The Marine Conservation Society since 2017 with 10% of all sales of this sandal going directly to this charity to gift for seas full of life. 

We have been partners of the MCS since 2017 and the partnership is growing stronger every year. 

From 2022, Salt-Water Sandals are donating 10% of ALL silver sandals sales to the MCS. This includes all B2C sales from the UK.

 

Chemical Compliance 

All Salt-Water Sandals products comply with International REACH standards for chemical handling. 

If you would like more specific information on this then please contact us on [email protected] Where we contractually cannot answer we will direct you to the brand itself at [email protected]

 

Long Lasting sandals 

Salt-Water Sandals are designed to last. We focus on delivering ‘sustainable’ products that can be passed down through the generations.  If you store them carefully during winter you can wear them with pride for many summers.  All our sandals come with advice on how to care for them and make them last longer.  

 

People:

Health / Safety & Fair Pay 

In our distribution offices and operations, our team work in compliance with UK & EU working time regulations across our Salt-Water Sandals office.  

Salt-Water Sandals offices in Asia work to local employment laws.  

Pay to all Salt-Water Sandals team members, no matter where they work is in line with the law and due to the high level of skills we need in our offices payment is well above the legal minimums.  

To ensure Salt-Water Sandals Health & Safety at work regulations are complied with and regularly monitored Salt-Water Sandals provides safety at work training to nominated staff and follows local regional safety guidelines in its UK, EU and Asian offices. 

 

Equality & Diversity 

Salt-Water Sandals UK/EU and Asia is fully committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment where our staff can work free from discrimination, bullying or harassment.  

The company strives to promote equality of opportunity in all our policies, practices and procedures and will vigorously challenge unacceptable conduct. It is our aim to ensure that no employee or job applicant receives less favourable facilities or treatment (either directly or indirectly) in recruitment or employment on any grounds, but especially age, disability, gender/gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (the protected characteristics). All new employees sign a code of conduct that covers Equality, Diversity, Bullying, Harassment and Domestic Violence that was designed by our employees who come from 8 countries and speak 12 languages.

 

Modern Day Slavery 

We fully support the Modern Day Slavery Act 2015 objectives to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking. We consider this an essential responsibility in impacting social justice.  

Risk Assessment & Policy 

We expect all organisations we engage with to control their global supply chains, improving transparency and accountability; so that together we can contribute to the eradicating the injustice and brutality of modern slavery and human trafficking. We check all suppliers who we work with to ensure they have policies and control to be compliant with the ‘Modern Day Slavery Act 2015’.   

Awareness & Training 

We ensure everyone who works with us understands the ‘Modern Day Slavery Act 2015’. 

Zero Tolerance 

We adopt a zero tolerance to modern slavery and human trafficking and all forms of corruption and bribery directly and indirectly associated with these criminal acts. We do not work with any suppliers or associates of any kind who have any record of conviction or offence under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. For more about our full policy please contact us. 

 

Bribery & Corruption 

Salt-Water Sandals UK/EU and Asia operates an anti-bribery and corruption policy to ensure the law is followed and that no member of the Salt-Water Sandals team is open to bribery or corruption. The policy is reviewed annually and all team members have the responsibility for ensuring it is followed and reporting any non-compliance. Disciplinary actions will be taken for any non-compliance. No gifting is permitted unless recorded in the gift register and no gifts can be personally accepted.  

Regular donations are made to charity. 

 

Process:

What's to come? 

We are actively looking for ways to improve our business and make it more sustainable and more transparent.  

Leather Alternatives 

Salt-Water Sandals are made from waterproof leather and rust proof buckles meaning they can be worn in the sea, this is one of their special advantages.  

We are constantly researching the currently available vegan options for leather and unfortunately so far have not found a suitable vegan leather which doesn’t stretch or warp when wet. We do not want to switch from a material that decomposes (leather) to a plastic equivalent. This means we cannot make vegan sandals just yet.  So far we have looked at cactus, apple & pineapple leathers, as well as ground up reconstituted waste leather. We would want our vegan customers to also enjoy the water resistant qualities that are our USP so the material must be able to get wet.

The brand is continuing to research and look into further options to try and achieve this ASAP and we have an action plan to make sure this stays on our target list.  If you know of any leather alternatives that are not plastics based, please let us know!

Corporate Social Responsibility 

CSR is very close to Salt-Water Sandals heart and the UK/EU and Asian business is involved with charities, colleges and schools to take opportunities to be part of the local community wherever that is. We engage directly with charities we partner with and do not just offer money donations, for example Beach Cleaning with the MCS & creating specific designs in collaboration. We also offer internships with business training to local students as well as paid internships with University graduates. Our local CEO is available to talk with students or charities on a non fee paying basis whenever she can. 

We are always open to suggestions and opportunities to help expand our CSR.

Please use the contact form on the website to contact us with anything else you are curious about or any suggestions to help us improve – we are more than happy to hear from you and always looking for ways to learn, improve, and lead as a company.