Levi Strauss

 
THERE ARE A LOT OF PERKS to working for Levi Strauss & Co., not least of which is that you get to wear jeans (or khakis) — and not just on Fridays. Nope! Every. Single. Day. (I mean, since we’re making this awesome apparel, shouldn’t we be wearing it?)

Here are a few more highlights of working at Levi Strauss & Co.:

• Health: We offer competitive benefit options, and employees can handpick the medical, dental, vision and life insurance plans that are right for them. Plus, we were the first Fortune 500 company to grant domestic partnership health benefits.
• Time off with pay: Everyone needs some time to recharge! Employees get a certain number of personal days off each year (depending on location and tenure), plus paid holidays.
• Product discounts: To make it even easier to create an amazing work wardrobe, employees get a discount at all company-owned retail stores and ecommerce sites. Plus, we occasionally have special employee-only promotions.
• Sample sales: Several times a year, employees can purchase samples from our brands at a significant discount, with all proceeds benefiting local community partners — so you can shop and do good at the same time.
• Corporate discounts: We offer discounts at companies such as Apple, Microsoft and AT&T Wireless. Depending on what office you’re located in, there also may be discounts available for things like transportation and nearby gyms.

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FOR MORE THAN 160 YEARS, we’ve been giving back to the communities where we have a business presence. It’s a legacy that started when Levi Strauss made a contribution to a San Francisco orphanage back in 1854 that we still support today. And as we like to say here, giving back never goes out of style. Here’s what that tradition looks like today:

Employees & Community

• Community Day: One day in May, employees get out from behind their desks for a global day of service. In 2014, employees participated in nearly 160 projects in 80 locations across 46 countries.
• Community Involvement Teams: All year round, our employee-led Community Involvement Teams partner with local charitable organizations to identify needs, plan activities and create volunteer and donation opportunities.
• Matching gifts: Employees in the U.S. can request that their personal volunteer time or charitable donation be matched by the Levi Strauss Foundation, up to $2,000 per fiscal year.
• Paid volunteer time: To encourage employees to support charitable organizations with their time and talents, we offer full-time employees up to five hours per month (60 hours per year) of paid time off to volunteer at a charitable organization of their choice.

Our Foundations

• Red Tab Foundation: The Red Tab Foundation, an industry first, was started by a Levi Strauss & Co. employee to provide a financial safety net for company employees, retiree and their families. The nonprofit is primarily supported by donations from individuals – including employees and retirees, descendants of Levi Strauss and other company shareholders.
• Levi Strauss Foundation: The Levi Strauss Foundation is LS&Co.’s main philanthropic arm in the community. The foundation supports community partners that push the frontiers of social progress for underserved communities where we have a business presence.

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WE CARE DEEPLY about doing the right thing. It’s why we’re working to build sustainability into everything we do. Here are just a few ways we’re accomplishing that:

• Durability & Reuse: Our approach is grounded in making products that last — starting with the first rivet-reinforced blue jean more than 140 years ago. But if you’re finally ready to part with a pair of jeans, we partner with companies such as I:CO and Goodwill to help make sure they don’t end up in landfills. They could even end up with a second life as insulation.
• Life Cycle Assessment: We commissioned a scientific life cycle assessment of two products from cotton seed to landfill. With the data we collected, we developed a method for our designers to quantify how new designs impact the environment so they can create the most fashionable styles more responsibly. Perfect examples? Levi’s® Water < Less™ and Dockers® Wellthread™.
• Water Recycling: We’ve recently worked with one of our suppliers in China to create a way to recycle the water used in the finishing process over and over again. As a result, we made 100,000 pairs of Levi’s® women’s jeans with 100 percent recycled water, saving 12 million liters of water. We’re working with other suppliers now to scale this new technology.
• Responsible Farming: We are a Pioneer Member of the Better Cotton Initiative, which is committed to helping farmers grow cotton in a way that’s healthier for communities and the environment.
• Chemical Management: We were one of the first companies in our industry to establish a Restricted Substances List. And we are committed to doing our part to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020.
• Green Facilities: Our S.F. headquarters, Levi’s® Plaza, is certified LEED Gold and features insulation made from more than 25,000 pairs of jeans.

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INNOVATION IS IN OUR DNA. LS&Co. was built on game-changing industry firsts. We invented the rivet and the jean category in 1873, and we’re continuing to pioneer apparel innovations today. In fact, we recently opened a state-of-the-art innovation lab in a historic building a few blocks from our S.F. headquarters.

Here, a few dozen experts in sewing, pattern-making, finishing and chemistry are focused on hands-on testing and developing prototypes — pushing the boundaries of denim by concentrating on innovations in color, fits and fabrics as well as wet and dry processing techniques.

But we’re not just innovators in product design. When it comes to social progress, we have a long history of firsts. Of leading. Of making a difference.

• We made the first blue jeans for women.
• We integrated our factories before the law required it.
• We were the first multinational apparel company to establish a comprehensive workplace code of conduct for our manufacturing suppliers.
• Our leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder with employees to share information about HIV/AIDS, even before the deadly virus had a name.
• We were the first Fortune 500 company to grant domestic partnership health benefits.
• We launched Improving Workers’ Well-being, a program to improve the lives of apparel workers outside the factory walls.
• We were the first company in our industry to establish global guidelines for water quality standards for our suppliers.
• We were one of the first companies in our industry to establish a Restricted Substances List.

Ultimately, it takes more than one company to make a difference. By sharing our approaches with others — and they with us — we can make progress together.

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