In The Student uniform Industry - RJ McCarthy

A bright new perspective on
CSR Accountability
in the student uniform industry
The RJM 2010 Accountability Report

The RJM 2010 Accountability Report
Table of Contents
CEOs Open Letter on CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy
Key Performance Indicators
Manufacturing Responsibility
Greening our Operations
Inspiring our People
Supporting our Communities
Company Background
Report Scope
Appendix: Code of Conduct
3
10
11
12
16
19
21
23
24
25
2

CEO’s Open Letter on CSR
Reviewing our progress in 2009 on Corporate Social Responsibility
One year ago, I started as the new CEO of R.J. McCarthy (“RJM”) and pledged to make our company an industry leader
in corporate social responsibility (“CSR”). RJM had always been strong in CSR, but we wanted to go farther. As a
company, we decided to get very serious about this new goal – so much so that we renewed our mission to state that our
reason for being as an organization is to “create the world's highest quality school uniforms in a socially responsible way”.
In the last year, I have travelled across our company
speaking to our employees, across Canada speaking
to our customers, and across the world speaking to
our suppliers, to communicate our passion and focus
around this new purpose. During these talks, I made a
pledge that my tenure would start with new ideas
around CSR, and quickly be followed by concrete
actions. We have achieved that promise. The purpose
of this letter is to demonstrate to our constituents how
seriously we are taking this new mission and how
much progress we have made against it in just one
year. I'd also like to comment on some of the
challenges we are facing and on where we are going
“... I made a pledge
that my tenure would
start with bold new
ideas around CSR, and
quickly be followed
by concrete actions. We
have achieved that
promise.”
John Kelleher, President & CEO
Background
Director, Board of Directors of Covenant House
(Canada’s largest youth homeless shelter)
Former President & CEO, one of Canada’s top retailers
(Black’s Photography)
MBA, Harvard Business School
MPA, Harvard School of Government
from here.
PART I – A Summary of our Progress in the Last Year
As a company, we feel very proud of our progress to date. Two of our first actions were to give someone inside the company
the role of Head of Social Responsibility and to create a new four part framework that would guide all of our thinking and
work on CSR. Our new framework clarified our intentions to make progress in four key areas: (1) Manufacturing
responsibly; (2) Greening our operations; (3) Inspiring our people; and (4) Supporting our communities.
I would like to lay out the achievements we've had in these four areas during this past year and comment on where we are
going from here. We believe that we have already become the leader in our industry on CSR. At the same time, I would
absolutely stress that we see everything we've done as a beginning and not an end. We are committed to a long-term outlook
on CSR and will work to continually improve and expand how the company is performing on corporate social responsibility.
3

1
Manufacturing Responsibly
4

1
Manufacturing Responsibly
The achievement I would most like to highlight in this section is the completion of third-party audits on
every supplier that manufactures (cuts and sews) RJ McCarthy-branded products. This gives us the
confidence that we have had qualified, independent experts look at these
facilities to help us get a baseline of each facility's current standing on CSR.
These experts are confident that we do not currently have any Zero Tolerance
violations (violations that we find completely unacceptable such as forced
labour, child labour, etc.).
Are we saying that no issues exist in these facilities? Absolutely not. Are we
saying that no future problems will arise? Absolutely not. It would be difficult to say that about any
manufacturing facility anywhere in the world. Of course there are issues that require improvement and
remediation over time. We are saying that we have now gained an understanding of “our baseline” and that
we are now working on addressing these problems.
Furthermore, we've committed to a regular program
of action (ourselves, our third-party auditors, and
other independent groups with whom we've
committed to collaborate) that should identify and
correct issues in a very open and transparent way
going forward. Through high standards, rigorous
John Kelleher in RJM’s Toronto Factory
positive change over time.
auditing, transparent discussion of successes and
challenges, and serious follow up, we will make real
I would also like to highlight that we are continuing to work with the Worker Rights Consortium (“WRC”)
in Washington, D.C. I've personally traveled down to Washington on multiple occasions to meet with their
Executive Director and to talk openly about our issues and challenges. At present, we are also continuing
our policy of voluntarily disclosing our factory locations to this group and agreeing to cooperate with them
on periodic evaluations of our facilities.
5

2 Greening Our Operations 3
Inspiring Our People
6

4
Supporting Our Communities
Heart to Heart Haiti
Uniform
Assistance
Program
7

PART II – A Summary of our Progress in the Last Year
8

PART III – Where We Are
Going From Here
In addition to working on the challenges I described earlier, we are also thinking about the following
longer-term opportunities in CSR for our company. Over the next five years, we will continue to explore
these as a way of even further enhancing our leadership on CSR versus our competitors:
1. Being more transparent about CSR challenges - I'm a huge believer in transparency and I think people
will support you through almost any problem so long as you're open and candid about the challenge
involved. The best companies on CSR speak extremely openly and candidly about both successes and
failures. That is why I'm writing this report and this new spirit of transparency is what McCarthy's is now
all about. We have actually engaged a team of MBA students from the Richard Ivey School of Business to
help us write this report - the student uniform industry's first accountability report. We have now published
this report (and will do so every two years hereafter) as a part of our new commitment to transparency.
2. Educating and inspiring parents about the importance of social responsibility – and exciting them about
what RJM is doing - to do this we can use our showrooms, our marketing materials, and our staff.
3. “Cracking the code” on more environmentally and socially friendly products.
4. Making the case to school boards that RJM is delivering real benefits through its CSR investments –
how to avoid having them choose competitors that don't focus on CSR to the same degree.
5. Continually increasing, over time, our ability to manufacture more responsibly by:
a. Looking at more sourced products, not only McCarthy - branded items
b. Thinking through more aspects of our value chain - aiming to take our CSR efforts further
into our supply chain over time
c. Providing more and greater documentation of issues and follow up efforts
We are very proud of what we have achieved at McCarthy's on CSR in just one short year. We now lead
our industry in this area by a wide margin.
But again, I would like to end by repeating that we see everything we have done so far as a beginning and
not an end. When it comes to CSR, a very long term sustained commitment is required and that's exactly
what we intend to deliver.
John Kelleher
President and CEO
R.J. McCarthy LP
9

Corporate Social Responsibility
R.J. McCarthy (hereafter RJM) understands that as the leader in school uniforms in Canada, we must take the lead in social
responsibility. As our customers are those who will be inheriting the world of tomorrow, we must be a company that looks to the
future with a respect and understanding of how we impact this world, the environment and our own local communities.
Our top management team and our Board of Directors have recently made the decision to reexamine everything our company is
doing in order to see how we can become one of Canada's leading companies in sustainable practices.
To achieve this goal, RJM recently developed a comprehensive 4-part framework:
1. Responsible
Sourcing &
Manufacturing
2. Greening Our
Operations
3. Inspiring Our
People
4. Supporting
Our
Communities
At RJM we are proud of the steps that we've
taken so far, but we are truly excited about
the new and more aggressive steps that we
are planning around social responsibility in
every part of our business. We believe that
doing this is an essential part of driving
towards our mission of creating the world's
highest quality school uniforms in a socially
responsible way.
To continually monitor and improve our
performance standards in social
responsibility, RJM uses a variety of tools
and resources, including:
1. Intertek Reports
2. Carbonzero Report
3. Quarterly Dashboards and
Accountability Reports
4. BFI Reports on waste management
Ultimately we are responsible to a number
of stakeholders: students, parents,
employees, and the communities in which
we operate. RJM is committed to ensuring
we are socially responsible throughout our
operations to the satisfaction of each of our
stakeholders.
MANUFACTURING RESPONSIBLY
OUR GOAL: TO EHNANCE OUR LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO PRODUCING
MCCARTHY UNIFORMS USING MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS THAT
ENSURE SAFE AND FAIR WORK ENVIRONMENTS
What we are doing to achieve this:
‘GREENING’ OUR OPERATIONS
OUR GOAL: TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
What we are doing to achieve this:
INSPIRING OUR PEOPLE
OUR GOAL: TO CREATE A CORPORATE CULTURE WITH A DEEP COMMITMENT TO
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
What we are doing to achieve this:
SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES
OUR GOAL: TO CONTINUE OUR LONG STANDING COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING
OUR CANADIAN COMMUNITIES
What we are doing to achieve this:
10

Key Performance Indicators
Issues
Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
Information
Source
2009
Results
1. Manufacturing
Responsibly
Factory Audits Intertek Factory Audits (#)
Aggregate Factory Audit Score (%)
Intertek Report
Intertek Report
7 of 7
91%
Audit: ZT violations
ZT Policy Compliance (%)
ZT Violations (#)
Intertek Report
Intertek Report
100%
0
Audit: UR violations
UR Policy Compliance (%)
UR Violations (#)
Intertek Report
Intertek Report
89%
68
Audit: OP violations
OP Policy Compliance (%)
OP Violations (#)
Intertek Report
Intertek Report
95%
20
Violation Resolution
Progress
Total Violations identified (#)
Violations Resolved (#)
Resolutions being explored (#)
Commitment Letters Sent to Factories (#)
Commitment Letters Received From
Factories (#)
Head of Purchasing
Head of Purchasing
Head of Purchasing
Head of Purchasing
Head of Purchasing
88
88
0
6
6
2. Greening
Our Operations
Carbon Neutrality Carbon Footprint (tCO2e) Carbonzero 1306
Commuting Sales Fleet Composition (% of Hybrids) RJM
100
Energy Conservation
Electricity Consumption (kWh/sq.ft.)
Electricity Emissions (tCO2e/sq.ft.)
Natural Gas Consumption (m3/sq.ft.)
Natural Gas Emissions (tCO2e/sq.ft.)
Carbonzero
Carbonzero
Carbonzero
Carbonzero
8.7
0.0015
1.5
0.0032
Waste Management
Total Waste Generated (kgs)
BFI
51120
Shipping
Emissions / Package (tCO2e/pckg)
Carbonzero
7.6
Water Consumption
Water Consumption (total m3)
Hydro Bill
n/a
3. Inspiring
Our People
Employee Satisfaction
Employee Survey Score (%)
Employee Surveys Completed (#)
RJM Employees
Survey
80
3
4. Supporting
Our Communities
Making Charitable
Donations
Number of School Recipients
Uniform Assistance Program ($000)
RJM
RJM
253
200
Primary Charitable Partner
Scholarships
Charitable Initiatives (#/year)
Scholarships Provided ($000)
RJM
RJM
8
85
5. Raising
Awareness
Parental Awareness
Sustainability Satisfaction Score (%)
Community Satisfaction Score (%)
Responsible Sourcing Satisfaction Score (%)
Parent Survey
Parent Survey
Parent Survey
98%
96%
97%
11

MANUFACTURING RESPONSIBLY
Responsible sourcing and manufacturing is a major part of our business and one that we've tackled head-on. Beginning with
setting clear and high standards, RJM is committed to doing business only with those manufacturers who share our high
standards and provide safe and fair work environments for their employees. Educating our suppliers about responsible
manufacturing is the most critical thing we can do since ultimately it is only when our supply chain cares as much about
these issues as we do that we will have truly had the impact that we desire.
Once these standards have been communicated, we put in place new processes to monitor our supply chain against these
standards and to make sure that our principles of social responsibility are being upheld. If changes are needed, we work
closely with manufacturers to educate and help them to make the necessary adjustments to enact positive changes and to
improve their working conditions.
Finally, by communicating our progress and challenges in a transparent way, we ensure that all parties are well informed and
are provided with ample opportunity to engage in our process.
We are currently also exploring the opportunity to source and to retail more sustainable products made from recycled and
biodegradable materials in our showrooms. Over time, we will strive to make this a more significant part of our business.
Our customers care about these products and we must be responsive.
Our goal is to enhance our longstanding commitment to producing RJM uniforms using manufacturers and suppliers that
ensure safe and fair work environments. To achieve this goal, we actively monitor our cut and sew factories through internal
and external audits and frequent visits to facilities in China.
Why is RJM currently manufacturing in China?
Our manufacturing facilities are currently located predominately in China, with six factories in that country and one in
Canada. We work directly with these suppliers, who cut, sew and embroider our uniforms before they are shipped to Canada.
Our manufacturing facility in Canada is located at our head office in Toronto.
We source globally from
China because of it’s . . .
What this means. . .
“Where Chinese companies
[out perform rivals] is by
offering a combination of a
low-cost and, . . . a full
package service, and stateof-the-art
machinery
including information and
communication
technology”
-Report on ICTs in the Value Chain
12

Highlight of Initiatives
1. Developed and implemented a new Code of Conduct system for all of our suppliers
2. Partnered with Intertek to provide formalized third-party auditing of our factories in China and Canada
3. Introduced a three-tiered rating system to accurately measure the conditions of our factories
1) Code of Conduct
We made changes to our Code of Conduct this year to increase our focus and signal our commitment to CSR to our
suppliers. Please refer to the Appendix for our Code of Conduct.
While the principles of our code have remained the same, we have made significant progress in our ability to measure and
benchmark the CSR initiatives at RJM and our supply network.
(Excerpt from the RJM Responsible Manufacturing Guidebook)
General Principle
RJM intends to conduct its business in a socially responsible manner and is determined to work with suppliers who
endorse the standards and principles outlined in this document, the RJM Responsible Manufacturing Guidebook &
Checklist (hereafter Guidebook). RJM will only partner with businesses that either meet the standards and principles
outlined in the Guidebook or are committed to meeting these standards over a reasonable period of time.
In general, when deviations from our standards are discovered by us or brought to our attention by others, our first
choice will be to work proactively with the Supplier involved to drive positive change and to achieve the standard. As
many labor rights groups have said, this is the best way to truly enact change. However if we determine that a
management team at a factory is not genuinely addressing corrections in a timely manner, we will suspend or
permanently bar the supplier in question. Suppliers may be given time to fix problems, but we will not abide with
Suppliers who do not take these issues as seriously as we do.
2) Formalized Audits
RJM follows a three-tiered manufacturing audit process that
allows us to ensure our adherence to our Code of Conduct.
This year we selected Intertek, a leading quality and safety partner
for global businesses, as our responsible manufacturing partner.
Intertek performed full audits of our six cut and sew factories in
China and our Toronto headquarters in Canada, and created
comprehensive audit reports.
These audit reports allow us to track policy violations and the
initiatives under way to eliminate violations in the future. They
also allow us to ensure that our partners are focused on
sustainability and committed to making improvements.
RJM Factory Audit Partner
“RJM is not a large multinational
company, but is now setting
standards and using CSR policies
for its cut and sew operations that
are as good as those from very large
-Linda Wei,
Intertek Representative
13

Our three levels of audits:
We monitor our suppliers
through internal distance audits
We send firm representatives to visit
cut and sew operations overseas
We have engaged independent 3rd-parties
to perform targeted audits of our suppliers
Why it is important
What we do
3) Rating System
We developed a comprehensive three-tiered rating and point
system to audit our cut and sew factories. Our rating system
was developed in collaboration with Intertek, and ensures our
high standards are conveyed through it. The rating system
communicates our expectations about responsible
manufacturing to our suppliers, and acts as a benchmark for
year-over-year improvements.
Third-party auditor
Each item in our audits is assigned to one of three tiers – zero
tolerance, urgent remediation, or ongoing progress. We take
these matters seriously and will work with suppliers to ensure
that they are committed to comply with our requirements
prior to entering into a contract.
Zero Tolerance (ZT) items include child labour, harassment,
discrimination and other practices that are totally unacceptable. These
violations are usually illegal and fundamentally unethical. RJM takes
these matters very seriously and, prior to entering into a contract with a
Supplier, will do everything possible to work with the Supplier to ensure
that Suppliers do what is necessary to comply with RJMs requirements.
Urgent Remediation (UR) items include unfair discipline practices,
lack of employment benefits, certain health and safety concerns and
other practices that are intolerable over a reasonable time period.
Ongoing Progress (OP) items include keeping proper employment
records, ensuring rules and regulations are clearly posted and legible,
reconstructing exits to be more accessible, and other practices that,
although important, do not require immediate attention.
We plan to rigorously measure all our suppliers
according to this three-tiered system
These ratings illustrate our view of the severity and
time sensitivity of each item discussed
This will help both factories and auditors quickly
understand how we believe each item should be
handled
A point system has been devised to indicate the
importance of each item, the expectations RJM
holds of its suppliers, and to track improvement over
time
We plan to continuously upgrade and improve our
Code of Conduct over time
14

Results
Focus Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Goal 2009 Results Progress
Factory
Audits
Intertek Factory Audits (#)
Aggregate Factory Audit Score (%)
Conduct one audit per year per factory
Establish auditing baseline for future
Audited all 7 factories
Received score of 91.4%
Minimizing
UR violations
UR Policy Compliance (%)
UR Violations (#)
Achieve 90% Compliance, or greater
Establish auditing baseline for future
Achieved 89% UR Compliance
68 outstanding UR violations
Minimizing
OP violations
OP Policy Compliance (%)
OP Violations (#)
Achieve 90% Compliance, or greater
Establish auditing baseline for future
Achieved 95% OP Compliance
20 outstanding OP violations
Eliminating
ZT violations
ZT Policy Compliance (%)
ZT Violations (#)
Achieve 100% Compliance
Establish auditing baseline for future
Achieved 100% ZT Compliance
Achieved zero ZT violations
Violation
Resolution
Progress
Total Violations Outstanding (#) Establish auditing baseline for future Incurred 88 violations
Violation Resolution in Progress (#) Increase violation resolutions being explored 61 resolutions being explored
Violations Resolved (#)
Increase violation resolved
27 violations resolved
On target
Within 10% of target
Off target
Insufficient data
Actions for 2010
Going forward, we are exploring other manufacturing/cut and sew locations that offer emerging capability and better
quality/cost tradeoffs. Those include Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam (or others). We will provide an update on our
progress in future reports.
15

GREENING OUR OPERATIONS
From our head office in Toronto to every RJM showroom across Canada, we are focused on greening our operations.
We are minimizing consumption and reducing waste by limiting materials packaging, using less paper in showrooms and in
our head office, moving to double-sided copying, exploring e-billing, and by making a concerted shift to use more recycled
post-consumer paper and materials in marketing products where possible. Furthermore, all of our locations recycle and have
shifted to more environmentally friendly cleaning products.
We have transitioned our light fixtures to use more energy efficient bulbs and have installed occupancy sensors in low-traffic
areas to save energy. Over time, we will explore transitioning to more energy efficient and less pollution-emitting cooling
and heating systems in all of our buildings.
We have reduced the use of plastic shopping bags at all of our retail locations with the launch of our “plastic to enviro”
shopping bag project.
Highlight of Initiatives
1. Partnered with Carbonzero to measure full GHG inventory; achieved carbon neutrality for all owned operations
2. Introduced internal environmental improvements in operations; reduced plastic shopping bags, transitioned to hybrid
vehicles
3. Introduced recycling program, reducing standard waste by approximately 30%, and increasing company wide recycling of
paper and plastics
1) Carbonzero Partnership to achieve carbon neutrality
in our headquarters and showrooms
RJM has implemented a full, multi-year greenhouse gas
management strategy that will measure, reduce and
neutralize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its
business.
RJM has partnered with Canadian company Carbonzero to
undertake a measured, phased approach to ensure that our
full GHG inventory is properly and accurately accounted for
and neutralized.
The multi-year, complete approach used by Carbonzero
ensures a true inventory of heating and cooling energy
emissions, electricity consumption, and vehicle fleet energy
consumption and emissions.
October 2009
Carbonzero consultants,
Howie Chong and
Elizabeth Koster, at
McCarthy's head office,
carefully examining our
documents and records.
“We have been very impressed with the total
organizational commitment McCarthy’s has shown to its
new green strategy and towards achieving carbonneutrality”
Howie Chong
President, Carbonzero
16

Why we chose to work with Carbonzero?
Carbonzero is a Canadian company that helps
organizations, governments and individuals manage
and neutralize their greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions.
Carbonzero is a leader in providing full service
carbon management solutions for its clients including
fully verifiable ISO-14064-1 compliant carbon
footprint assessments and was recently ranked the
highest provider of made-in-Canada offsets by the
David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute.
Carbonzero has worked with other premium
Canadian brands like the Liberal Party of Canada,
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, and
Vitamin Water (Coca-Cola Canada).
We chose Carbonzero because of its industry leading,
rigorous, auditable methodology for calculating
carbon footprints.
RJM has achieved carbon neutrality for all of its owned
operations (referred to as Scope 1 and Scope 2
emissions).
For these emissions, we have conducted a
comprehensive internal project to reduce the emissions
that could be reduced, and where we have not reduced,
we have purchased offsetting donations (referred to as
“offsets”) toward renewable energy projects to reduce
our carbon-footprint to zero.
We have provided our offsets to the Commission
Scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoy (CSMB) GHG Emissions
Reduction, a project that consists of a series of energy
efficiency measures across over 100 schools in the
Greater Montreal area.
Rigorous process and results
Carbonzero spent nearly a month with us to assess the
greenhouse gas emissions of our Canadian operations.
They use the GHG accounting process to calculate our
emissions from:
a. Heating, cooling and electricity
from building operations
b. Vehicle fuel
c. Corporate travel
d. Employee commuting
e. All shipping within Canada
We are proud to report that we have now offset our carbon
footprint and are carbon neutral in the above areas.
2) Transition to
Hybrid Vehicles
RJM is proud to announce their transition to a fleet of
energy-efficient vehicles for its sales force. Since
September 1, 2009, all members of RJM's school
sales team have been driving the new Toyota Prius,
one of the world's leading hybrid vehicles with a
reputation for first rate fuel efficiency.
This shift to a “greener” fleet is a critical part of
RJM's new detailed plan on social responsibility and
another meaningful step towards achieving
McCarthy's renewed mission of “creating the world's
highest quality school uniforms in a socially
responsible way”.
3) Waste Management
Through our partnership with BFI waste management,
we introduced recycling facilities across all showrooms
in 2009, resulting in a reduction of waste by
approximately 30%.
17

Improved Internal Operations
RJM is minimizing consumption and reducing waste by concurrently engaging in multiple internal initiatives that aim at
reducing our environmental impact and greening our operations.
Reduced
energy use
Reduced
water consumption
Decreased use of
plastic
Decreased use of
paper and increase
recycling
Results
Issue Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Goal 2009 Results Progress
Carbon
Neutrality
Carbon Footprint (tCO2e) Establishing baseline for future Recorded 1306 tCO2e.
Energy
Conservation
Electricity Consumption (kWh/sq. ft.
Electricity Emissions (tCO2e/sq. ft.)
Establishing baseline for future
Establishing baseline for future
Recorded 8.70 kWh/sq.ft
Recorded 0.0015 tCO2e/sq.ft
Natural Gas Consumption (m3/sq. ft.)
Establishing baseline for future
Recorded 1.50 m3/sq.ft
Natural Gas Emissions (tCO2e/sq. ft.)
Establishing baseline for future
Recorded 0.0032 tCO2e/sq.ft
Waste
Management
Total Waste Generated (kgs) Establishing baseline for future Generated 51120 kgs of waste
Shipping Emissions / Package (tCO2e/pckg) Establishing baseline for future Recorded 7.61 tCO2e/pckg
Commuting
Sale Fleet Composition
(% of Hybrids)
Establishing baseline for future
Replace old vehicles with hybrid
vehicles
Water
Consumption
Water Consumption (total m3) Establishing baseline for future No measurement obtained
On target
Within 10% of target
Off target
Insufficient data
18

Greening Our Operations:
Challenges
1. Thinking through the relevance and feasibility of
including offshore carbon emissions through suppliers
Actions for 2010
2. Identifying the life expectancy of key assets, so that
eco-replacements can be considered (including
machinery, furnaces, lighting, and leases)
3. Behavioral/Awareness and training with staff to bring
them up to speed on our plans and motivate them to
take action
INSPIRING OUR PEOPLE
Social and environmental responsibility starts with awareness. By empowering each and every one of our employees with the
knowledge and tools necessary to act in an environmentally conscious way not just at work but in their daily lives as well, we
are creating a corporate culture that institutes, at its foundation, what it means to be green. We have recently implemented a
series of ongoing workshops called the “lunch and learn series.” Among the critical topics that will be discussed with our
employees is CSR education. To make sustainability a real part of our business we must truly engage employees in this
discussion at every level of our company.
Highlight of Initiatives
1. Appointed a new Head of Social Responsibility
2. Held first 'Lunch and Learn' workshops
3. Held first town hall meetings to encourage and inspire employees to think about social responsibility
4. Introduced employee satisfaction survey
19

Head of Social Responsibilty
“I am thrilled to have led McCarthy's into a greener, more sustainable,
and more responsible era of business in 2009. I am excited about our
strategy and our plan, and am proud to have the full support of our
new President, our Board of Directors, and the rest of the McCarthy
team. I am confident that, over time, the McCarthy brand will be
synonymous with sustainability.”
- Joanna Halligan,
Head of Social Responsibility
Do you love your job at McCarthy’s?
80%
80% of employees say
“I love my job at McCarthy’s”
Employee Satisfaction Survey
We have recently introduced a quarterly survey that tracks employee
satisfaction. The survey allows us to monitor our employee satisfaction
and assess the impact of our initiatives.
“I am excited about the changes I am seeing. . . we have built a
great company with great employees.” - RJM Employee
Community Town Hall
Meetings
Our Town Hall Meetings, led by our President and CEO John
Kelleher, introduced our new mission and vision for the
future of McCarthy's, addressed the results from our first ever
employee survey, as well as all the work being done
regarding responsible manufacturing in our supplier factories.
Lunch and Learn
In an effort to increase communication and awareness
throughout the company, we introduced our Lunch and Learn
Workshops. During these lunch hours, a member of our team
makes a presentation on an issue that they are passionate
about. Our Lunch and Learn Workshops have covered such
topics on Sustainability, Health and Safety in the Workplace,
Why Uniforms & Why McCarthy's, and Responsible
Manufacturing.
Results
Issues Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Goal 2009 Results Progress
Employee
Satisfaction
Employee Survey Scores
(% satisfied)
Increase employee satisfaction score 80%
Employee Survey Completed (#) Increase number of employee surveys completed 3
On target
Within 10% of target
Off target
Insufficient data
20

Inspiring Our People:
Challenges
Actions for 2010
SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES
RJM provides significant support to communities and families with the McCarthy Partnership Program. This program focuses on
three major aspects of community involvement: school donations, scholarships, and the uniform assistance program.
In all of the above, RJM has been a leader in establishing these kinds of programs and in supporting our communities. Every one
of our employees is very proud of the positive impact our business has made over the last 50+ years in this regard.
Highlight of Initiatives
Our goal is to continue our commitment to providing significant support to communities and families with the McCarthy
Partnership Program through school donations, scholarships, and uniform assistance, as well as Canadian charitable
organizations and worthy causes beyond our borders.
Our partnerships
Covenant House
At R.J. McCarthy, we are committed to helping charities in
our community through the donation of products as well as
charitable donations. In December 2009, we donated 240
hooded sweatshirts, 100 baseball caps, and 30 backpacks to
the Covenant House youth shelter as part of their Street
Kids Christmas Gift Book campaign. We look to continue
supporting Covenant House as part of our ongoing
charitable partnerships in the future.
Annual Fundraising & Charitable Donations
We have formed fundraising partnerships with the
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Heart and Stroke, The
Angel Foundation for Learning, and Breakfast Clubs of
Canada. We also worked with MSC Canada in raising
$170,000 for their causes in 2009, and Heart to Heart Haiti
to raise $33,300. Finally, we worked with Condoray, an
organization in Peru that helps teach women and children
proper hygiene, and basic language and printing skills.
21

Our Students
We at RJM believe in supporting our students in order to ensure that not only are they able to participate in the uniform
program at their school, but also, to ensure that their voices are heard.
School Donations
McCarthy partner schools benefit from our school donation program, which is intended to help
schools improve the quality of education for all students. RJM donated to a total of 253 schools
in 2009.
Scholarships
Each year we award deserving students with a McCarthy Scholarship to help finance postsecondary
opportunities. In 2009, we donated a total of $85,000 in scholarships.
Uniform Assistance Program
McCarthy's works closely with partner schools to provide needy families with school uniforms to
ensure that every child has a basic uniform, regardless of their family income. Last year we
donated $200,000 in the form of uniform assistance to students in need. We will be working to
increase our support of students, and tracking the amount of support that students are receiving.
Results
Issues Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Goal 2009 Results Progress
Making
Charitable
Donations
Primary
Charitable
Partner
Total Charitable Donations ($) Establish baseline for future Donated $180,000
Number of School Donation
Recipients
Uniform Assistance Program
Donation ($)
Establish baseline for future 253
Establish baseline for future Donated $200,000
Charitable Initiatives (#/year) Establish baseline for future Executed 8 charitable initiatives
Scholarships Scholarships Provided ($) Establish baseline for future Awarded $85,000 in scholarships
On target
Within 10% of target
Off target
Insufficient data
Supporting Our
Communities: Challenges
Actions for 2010
22

Company Background
Profile
Established in 1956 by Robert J. McCarthy, McCarthy’s is Canada’s leading retailer of school
uniforms. McCarthy’s has a network of 15 showrooms across Canada, a large base of loyal
customers, and serves the uniform needs of thousands of students and families across the country.
Over its proud 54-year history, McCarthy’s has earned a reputation for offering its school partners
and customers the widest selection of high quality school uniforms along with the most
convenient shopping options. McCarthy’s is committed to ensuring that – in addition to
unsurpassed quality – corporate social responsibility and sustainability become the new
foundation of its exciting new mission and strategy. For more information please visit
www.rjmccarthy.com.
A Rich History
Martin McCarthy took
over as President
Set up international
supplier
relationships
Senior management
team members were
hired from outside
the family
Assembled a Board
of Directors with
strong independent
advisors to help us
grow and develop
1983
1987 2000 2009
1956 1998
2003-07
R.J. McCarthy Ltd.
was founded by Bob
McCarthy
Initiated expansion plan -
opened first store outside
of HQ
Expansion continued,
growing to 15 stores
23

Report Scope
Basis of the Report
The R.J. McCarthy CSR Sustainability Report was developed following the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) G3
Guidelines and Apparel and Footwear Sector Supplement (AFSS). Although at the present time RJM has not applied for
the GRI designation, we will continue to adhere to the G3 reporting guideline for subsequent reporting periods and will
endeavor to receive the GRI designation in the near future.
RJM has attempted to create a complete and comprehensive report; however, several G3 and AFSS indicators are omitted
from the report, either due to lack of internal data or irrelevance of the indicator on RJM's current operations. Our future
goal is to bridge the gap as we continue to improve on our methods of gathering key data metrics.
For more information about the Global Reporting Initiative, see www.globalreporting.org
Every data point in this report was verified internally. We continue to explore the viability of an external verification
program.
If you have any questions about this report, please direct them to:
Head of Social Responsibility
sustainability@rjmccarthy.com
The McCarthy Building
360 Evans Avenue
Toronto, ON, M8Z 1K5
1-800-668-8261
24

Appendix: Manufacturers' Code of Conduct
McCarthy's has developed a manufacturers' code-of-conduct to ensure high working standards in our suppliers' factories
1. General Principle
RJM intends to conduct its business in a socially responsible manner
and is determined to work with Suppliers who endorse the standards
and principles outlined in this document, the RJM Responsible
Manufacturing Guidebook & Checklist (hereafter “Guidebook”).
RJM will only partner with businesses that either meet the standards
and principles outlined in the Guidebook or are committed to meeting
these standards over a reasonable period of time.
In general, when deviations from our standards are discovered by us
or brought to our attention by others, our first choice will be to work
proactively with the Supplier involved to drive positive change and to
achieve the standard. As many labour rights groups including the
Worker Rights
Consortium (WRC) have said, this is the best way to truly enact
change. However if we determine that a management team at a
factory is not genuinely addressing corrections in a timely manner,
we will suspend or permanently bar the supplier in question.
Suppliers may be given time to fix problems, but we will not abide
with Suppliers who do not take these issues as seriously as we do.
2. Legal Expectations
Business partners and their employees shall comply with all contract
provisions, legal requirements and standards of their industry under
applicable laws. Nothing in this Guidebook is to be construed as
encouraging, authorizing or condoning any action by any company
or individual that breaches any applicable law or regulation, directly
or otherwise. By extension, the provisions of this Guidebook are not
to be read as creating or implying meanings beyond those specifically
explained in this document.
3. Standards
For the purpose of upholding this code, the Supplier Accountability
Checklist corresponds to these standards.
3a. Forced Labour, Harassment, and/or Abuse
Suppliers shall treat workers with respect and dignity and maintain
employment on a voluntary basis. Suppliers shall not use forced
labour in any of their contracting, subcontracting or other
relationships for the manufacture of their products. Suppliers shall
respect each employee's right to decide to work or not to work, and
shall not use corporal punishment, threats of violence, sexual
harassment, verbal abuse, or any other form of physical or
psychological coercion.
3b. Child Labour
Suppliers shall only employ workers who meet the applicable
minimum legal age at which school has ended, or who are at least 15
years of age (14 years of age if the law in the given country of
manufacture allows), whichever is greater. The combined time spent
in school, transportation and at work should not exceed 10 hours a
day. Suppliers shall also comply with all other applicable child labour
laws related to hiring, wages, hours worked, overtime, and working
conditions.
3c. Resolution of Disputes
Suppliers shall incorporate a dispute resolution process as part of
their management practices to allow employees to voice workplace
grievances without fear of reprisal.
3d. Discrimination
Suppliers shall determine employment, salary, benefits,
advancement, discipline, termination or retirement of workers on the
basis of knowledge, skill, efficiency, and ability to do the job and
meet its requirements, not on the basis of personal characteristics or
beliefs. Personal characteristics and beliefs include but are not
limited to: gender, race, religion, age (other than normal hiring or
retirement limitations), disability, sexual orientation, nationality,
political orientation, social or ethnic origin or membership in any
legal organization.
3e. Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
Suppliers shall respect the right of employees to free association and
collective bargaining where applicable.
3f. Wages, Benefits
Suppliers shall set working hours and overtime pay in compliance
with applicable local laws. Workers shall be paid at least the
minimum legal wage, and preferably a wage that meets local industry
standards. Suppliers shall provide all benefits legally required by
local labour laws.
3g. Hours of Work
Suppliers shall maintain reasonable employee work hours in
compliance with local standards and applicable local laws. Suppliers
shall compensate employees for overtime as required by local labour
laws.
3h. Health and Safety
Suppliers shall provide safe and healthy work environments for their
employees. Factories shall comply with all applicable local laws and
regulations regarding working conditions. Suppliers shall provide
well-lit and reasonably ventilated workstations, clean restrooms, fire
exits, safety equipment, first aid supplies, proper storage and disposal
units for hazardous materials, and shall ensure that all machinery and
equipment is well maintained and in working condition. These same
conditions shall apply to worker housing when provided by the
Supplier.
3i. Environmental Requirements
Suppliers shall adhere to all applicable local environmental laws and
regulations.
3k. Monitoring and Compliance Process
Suppliers shall sign and agree to uphold this RJM Code of Conduct.
Suppliers shall cooperate with RJM to provide reasonable
opportunities for RJM or its agents to verify that the principles in this
document are being upheld. If RJM learns that its standards are not
being respected, it maintains the right to suspend or terminate its
relationship with the Supplier altogether.
3j. Transshipment
Suppliers shall comply with applicable customs importing laws and,
in particular, establish and maintain programs and documentation to
support country-of-origin production verification to prevent the
illegal transshipping of merchandise.
4. Monitoring and Compliance Process
Suppliers shall sign and agree to uphold this code of conduct.
Suppliers shall cooperate with RJM to provide reasonable
opportunities for RJM or its agents to verify that the principles in this
document are being upheld. If RJM learns that its standards are not
being respected, it maintains the right to suspend or terminate its
relationship with the Supplier altogether.
25

Thank you
We would like to thank the MBA team from the Richard Ivey School of Business
who were instrumental in creating this report as part of their Ivey Consulting
Project
Avnish Babla
Katie Daly
Karamdeep Nijjar
Chris O’Grady
Navtej Sidhu
Stuart Wilson
We would also like to thank the following individuals for their contributions
Joanna Halligan
Steven Martins
Matt Mayr
Radhika Ray
Aaron Shapiro
26

R.J. McCarthy
360 Evans Avenue
Toronto, ON, Canada
M8Z1K5
www.rjmccarthy.com
27