Hanesbrands Ranked as 'Great Place to Work' in Central America

Hanesbrands Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has been honored by the Great Place to Work Institute for its workplace practices in its El Salvador, Honduras and Dominican Republic manufacturing plants. The Great Place to Work Institute named Hanes the third-best multinational company to work for in Central America and the Caribbean, where the company has nearly 30,000 employees. The company was ranked the second-best place to work in both El Salvador and Honduras—the first ranking ever for an apparel manufacturer in Central America.

Great Place to Work gathers data from employee surveys that provide a clear picture of the state of the company's culture benchmarked against other companies. The rankings are predominantly based on employees' responses to the Trust Index Survey, which measures employee perception of the workplace, as well as the institute's culture audit, which is completed by management and evaluated by an independent Great Place to Work team.

"We are excited that our own employees were surveyed and recognized as a great place to work," said Maria Elena Sikaffy, vice president of human resources, Hanes Central America and the Caribbean. "These awards reflect the passion of our employees, our commitment to responsible employment practices, and our company's worldwide leadership in ethics. This has allowed us to be a growing responsible community member in these countries."

Hanes primarily manufactures its garments in company-owned plants in the U.S., Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Vietnam. In Central America and the Caribbean, the company has been recognized for its workplace practices, employee development, environmental commitment and social responsibility.

Examples include:

• Hanes' talent development programs in the region include its continuing education program, in which 5,000 employees are working on high school degrees and 1,000 have already earned their diplomas.
• Hanes has launched its third school of mechanics in Honduras to instruct operators in advanced mechanic skills with the support of local universities.
• Three of Hanes' El Salvador plants have won 3M Health and Safety Awards, a program conducted in partnership with the El Salvador Ministry of Labor.
• Hanes received the seal of the Honduran Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility for the fourth consecutive year in 2014.
• Hanes' Dos Rios Textiles plant in the Dominican Republic received the Golden Spike Award from the Press Workers National Union of the Dominican Republic for being a responsible company with a demonstrated commitment to the well-being of the communities where it operates.
• The Dos Rios Textiles plant has earned the clean production award from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources for its positive environmental practices and continuous improvement in energy performance and wastewater treatment.
• Four Hanes plants in Central America and the Caribbean earned 2014 Energy Star Challenge for Industry awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for achieving at least a 10 percent reduction in energy usage within five years.

"Looking ahead, our goal is to continue improving our talent management and maintaining the position we've reached, leveraging our best practices to continue to be a great multinational company," Sikaffy said.

Hanes was honored at the Great Place to Work awards ceremony for Central America, held in Panama in conjunction with news media partner Revista Summa of Latin America. A separate awards ceremony for the Dominican Republic will be held later this month. (The institute's 100 Best Companies to Work For program in the U.S. is conducted in conjunction with Fortune magazine.)

Among the awards Hanes received were:

• Third-best multinational company to work for in Central America and the Caribbean
• Second-best company to work for in Honduras
• Second-best company to work for in El Salvador

For more information, visit www.haneslocator.com.