In today’s globally-aware society, the issue of social compliance is becoming more and more important, with suppliers and consumers increasingly keen to make sure they are sourcing – and buying – a product or service that is ethically sound.
They want to make sure that nobody has been exploited, that workers have their human rights respected and that health and safety provisions are in place. One slip of standards can have a seriously harmful impact on business through bad publicity for many years to come.
Increasingly, companies are expected to show that all international social compliance norms are met in key areas, by using a monitoring company with the requisite expertise. This trend is expected to increase in years to come, making it crucial that companies act now to ensure their products go to the marketplace with all social-compliance factors verified by a reputable, internationally renowned organization.
- Features and Benefits
- Applicability
- Consulting Methodology
SA 8000 is a global social accountability standard for decent working conditions, developed and overseen by Social Accountability International (SAI). The core elements of SA 8000 are based on internationally agreed codes of conduct derived from ILO (International Labour Organisation) conventions of the United Nations (UN).
Published in late 1997 and revised in 2001, 2008 and 2014 the SA 8000 Standard and verification system is a credible, comprehensive and efficient tool for assuring humane workplaces. SA 8000 certification is granted to companies that meet the codes of conduct/principles/standard.
Core Elements
Safety – Labour Laws – Hygiene – Accountability – Wages – Employee Welfare – Working hours – Social Compliance
SA 8000 ensures that companies adhere to the following 9 core requirements:
- Child labour is not practised
- Forced labour is not practised, whether in the form of prison labour, indentured labour, bonded labour etc.
- Health and safety are assured, by preventing accidents and injury, training workers and providing hygienic facilities
- Freedom of association and collective bargaining are guaranteed
- Discrimination is not permitted in salaries, advancement, discipline, gender, race, age etc
- Disciplinary practices are not permitted in the form of corporal punishment, mental/physical coercion and verbal abuse
- Working hours comply with laws and do not exceed 48 hours a week, with a maximum of 12 hours overtime
- Compensation meets the minimum wage requirement and is sufficient to meet the basic needs of the employees
- Management systems guarantee that the requirements are effectively satisfied
Some of the major benefits include:
For a retailer or brand company:
- Improved employee retention and performance
- More reliable business relationships
- Better reputation
- Greater consumer and investor confidence
- Close monitoring of contractors and suppliers leads to better management, production control and product quality
For Suppliers and contractors:
- Improved worker-manager communication
- Decreased rate of absenteeism
- Decline in staff turnover
- Increased worker commitment
- Loss due to injury may decline
- Relationships with trade unions and other key stakeholders can improve
- Lower cost due to worker remediation and worker compensation claims
- Product differentiation based on good workplace conditions
For Workers:
- Improvement in their day-to-day situation
- Fewer accidents
- Longer term employment prospects by protecting their
- Health and welfare
- Fundamental freedom
- Opportunities for advancement within the workplace
- Right to have a voice at work through free association and collective bargaining
WRAP certification applies to manufacturers of clothing, footwear and other sewn products.
The WRAP standard requires a company to conduct an internal pre-requisite audit, where it gathers data, documents as well as evidence of practices and processes. The company will have to mention the changes it has made and the reformations it inculcated. After this, several phases of audits will help the company gain certification.
Technocrat Consultants helps companies with their inter audits, restructure their operations, acquire the certifications and renew them. Our team is dedicated to supporting our client to gain the certification and use it to improve its overall compliances for the customers.