Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000)

Social Accountability International 8000 (SA 8000) is developed by the Council of Economic priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPAA), known as Social Accountability International (SAI) with support of other organizations.

SA8000 is an international standard for improving working conditions. Which aims to promote continuous improvement for work place conditions and ensure the ethical sourcing for production of goods and services.

SA8000 sets basic standards, procedures and  measures the performance of organisations in Nine key areas: Child labour, Forced Labour, Health and Safety, Freedom of association and collective bargaining, Discrimination, Disciplinary practices, Working hours, Remuneration and Management System.

This standard is based on the principles of the international human rights norms as described in International Labour Organisation Conventions, the United Nations Conventions on the rights of the child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

OBJECTIVE

•       To Achieve best practice in ethical employment, trading and operations

•       To engage and motivate your employees with improved morale  

•       To create greater transparency to the way you run your business

•       To maintain existing business and attract new customers and investors

•       To gain recognition as an socially accountable organization

 

ELEMENTS OF THE SA8000 STANDARD

1.    Child Labour

2.    Forced or Compulsory Labour

3.    Health and Safety

4.    Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining

5.    Discrimination

6.    Disciplinary Practices

7.    Working Hours

8.    Remuneration

9.    Management System

 

CHILD LABOUR:

· The organisation shall not engage in or support the use of child labour age under 15.

· The organisation shall establish, document, maintain and effectively communicate to personnel and other interested parties, written policies and procedures for removal of child labourers and shall provide adequate financial and other support to enable such children to attend and remain in school until no longer a child.

· The organisation may employ young workers, but where such young workers are subject to compulsory education laws, they shall work only outside of school hours.

· Young workers should not work more than 8 hours a day and no work during night hours.

· The organisation shall not expose children or young workers to any situations in or outside of the workplace that are hazardous or unsafe to their physical and mental health and development.

FORCED LABOUR OR COMPULSORY LABOUR

· The organisation shall not engage in or support the use of forced or compulsory labour.

· Shall not retain original identification papers and shall not require personnel to pay ‘deposits’ to the organisation upon commencing employment.

· Neither the organisation nor any entity supplying labour to the organisation shall withhold any part of any personnel’s salary, benefits, property or documents in order to force such personnel to continue working for the organisation.

· The organisation shall ensure that no employment fees or costs are borne in whole or in part by workers.

· Personnel shall have the right to leave the workplace premises after completing the standard workday and be free to terminate their employment provided that they give reasonable notice to their organisation.

· Neither the organisation nor any entity supplying labour to the organisation shall engage in or support human trafficking. 

HEALTH AND SAFETY

· The organisation shall provide a safe and healthy workplace environment and shall take effective steps to prevent potential health and safety incidents and occupational injury or illness arising out of, associated with or occurring in the course of work. It shall minimise or eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable.

· The organisation shall assess all the workplace risks to pregnancy women and nursing mothers including those arising out of their work activity, to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to remove or reduce any risks to their health and safety.

· Where hazards remain after effective minimisation or elimination of the causes of all hazards in the workplace environment, the organisation shall provide personnel with appropriate personal protective equipment as needed at its own expense. 

· The organisation shall appoint a senior management representative to be responsible for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace environment for all personnel and for implementing this Standard’s Health and Safety requirements.

· A Health and Safety Committee, comprised of a well-balanced group of management representatives and workers, shall be established and maintained. Records of these assessments and corrective and preventive actions taken shall be kept.

· The organisation shall provide to personnel, on a regular basis, effective health and safety training, including on-site training and, where needed, job-specific training.

· The organisation shall establish documented procedures to detect, prevent, minimise, eliminate to potential risks to the health and safety of personnel.

· The organisation shall maintain written records of all health and safety incidents that occur in the workplace and in all residences and property provided by the organisation.

· The organisation shall provide, for use by all personnel, free access to: clean toilet facilities, potable water, suitable spaces for meal breaks, and, where applicable, sanitary facilities for food storage.

· The organisation shall ensure that any dormitory facilities provided for personnel are clean, safe and meet their basic needs, whether it owns, leases or contracts the dormitories from a service provider.

· All personnel shall have the right to remove themselves from imminent serious danger without seeking permission from the organisation.

 

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

· All personnel shall have the right to form, join and organise trade union(s) of their choice and to bargain collectively on their behalf with the organisation. The organisation shall respect this right and shall effectively inform personnel that they are free to join a worker organisation.

· The organisation shall not interfere in any way with the establishment, functioning or administration of workers’ organisation(s) or collective bargaining.

· In situations where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted under law, the organisation shall allow workers to freely elect their own representatives.

· The organisation shall ensure that union members, representatives of workers and any personnel engaged in organising workers are not subjected to discrimination, harassment, bullying for being union members, representative(s) of workers.

 

DISCRIMINATION

· The organisation shall not engage in or support discrimination in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, national or territorial or social origin, caste, birth, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, marital status, union membership, political opinions, age or any other condition that could give rise to discrimination.

· The organisation shall not interfere with the exercise of personnel’s rights to observe tenets or practices or to meet needs relating to race, national or social origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, union membership, political opinions or any other condition that could give rise to discrimination.

· The organisation shall not allow any behaviour that is threatening, abusive, unfair or sexually forced, including signs, language and physical contact, in the workplace and in all residences and property provided by the organisation.

· The organisation shall not subject personnel to pregnancy or virginity tests under any circumstances.

 

DISCIPLINARY PRACTICES

The organisation shall treat all personnel with dignity and respect. The organisation shall not engage in or tolerate the use of physical punishment, mental or verbal abuse of personnel. No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.

WORKING HOURS

· The organisation shall comply with applicable laws, collective bargaining agreements and industry standards on working hours, breaks and public holidays.

· The normal work week, not including overtime, shall be defined by law but shall not exceed 48 hours.

· Personnel shall be provided with at least one day off following every six consecutive days of working. 

· All overtime work shall be voluntary, except as provided in below, shall not exceed 12 hours per week and shall not be requested on a regular basis. 

· In cases where overtime work is needed in order to meet short-term business demand and to pay a premium rate.

REMUNERATION

1. Wages shall be sufficient to meet the basic needs of personnel and to provide some discretionary income. 

2. The organisation shall not make deductions from wages for disciplinary purposes. 

3. The organisation shall ensure that personnel’s wages and benefits composition are detailed clearly and regularly to them in writing for each pay period. 

4.    All overtime shall be reimbursed at a premium rate as defined by national law or established by a collective bargaining agreement. 

5.    The organisation shall not use labour through consecutive short-term contracts and/or false apprenticeship or other schemes.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1.    Policy, Procedures and Records 

Senior management shall write a policy statement to inform personnel, in all appropriate languages. This policy statement shall include the organisation’s commitment to conform to all requirements of the SA8000 Standard. The statement shall also commit the organisation to comply with: national laws, other applicable laws and other requirements to which the organisation subscribes. 

The policy statement and the SA8000 Standard shall be prominently displayed in appropriate locations and available publicly in an effective form and manner to interested parties, upon request. 

The organisation shall develop policies and procedures to implement the SA8000 Standard. These policies and procedures shall be effectively communicated and made accessible to personnel in all appropriate languages. These communications shall also be clearly shared with customers, suppliers, sub-contractors and sub-suppliers.

The organisation shall maintain appropriate records to demonstrate conformance to and implementation of the SA8000 standard.

The organisation shall regularly conduct a management review of its policy statement, policies, procedures implementing this Standard and performance results, in order to continually improve.

2.    Social Performance Team 

A Social Performance Team (SPT) shall be established to implement all elements of SA8000. The Team shall include a balanced representation of:

a)    SA8000 worker representative(s);

b)    Management.

3.    Identification and Assessment of risks

The Special Performance Team shall conduct periodic written risk assessments to identify and prioritise the areas of actual or potential non-conformance to this Standard. 

It shall also recommend actions to Senior Management that address these risks. Actions to address these risks shall be prioritised according to their severity

4.    Monitoring

The Special Performance Team shall effectively monitor workplace activities for:

a) Compliance with this Standard;

b) Implementation of actions to effectively address the risks identified by the Special Performance Team; and

c) For the effectiveness of systems implemented to meet the organisation’s policies and the requirements of this Standard.

 

The Special Performance Team shall also facilitate routine internal audits, meetings and produce reports for senior management on the performance and benefits of actions taken to meet the SA8000 Standard.

5.    Internal Involvement and communication

The organisation shall demonstrate that personnel effectively understand the requirements of SA8000, and shall regularly communicate the requirements of SA8000 through routine communications.

6.    Complaint Management and Resolution

The organisation shall establish a written grievance procedure that is confidential, unbiased, non-retaliatory and accessible and available to personnel and interested parties to make comments, recommendations, reports or complaints concerning the workplace and/or non-conformances to the SA8000 Standard.

The organisation shall not discipline, dismiss or otherwise discriminate against any personnel or interested party for providing information on SA8000 compliance or for making other workplace complaints.

7.    External Verification and Stakeholder Engagement

In the case of announced and unannounced audits for the purpose of certifying its compliance with the requirements of this Standard, the organisation shall fully cooperate with external auditors to determine the severity and frequency of any problems that arise in meeting the SA8000 Standard.

8.    Corrective and Preventive Actions

The organisation shall formulate policies and procedures for the prompt implementation of corrective and preventive actions and shall provide adequate resources for them. The SPT shall ensure that these actions are effectively implemented.

The Special Performance Team shall maintain records, including timelines, that list, at minimum, non-conformances related to SA8000, their root causes, the corrective and preventive actions taken and implementation results.

9.    Training and Capacity Building

The organisation shall implement a training plan for all personnel to effectively implement the SA8000 Standard as informed by the results of risk assessments. The organisation shall periodically measure the effectiveness of training and record their nature and frequency.

10. Management of Suppliers and Contractors:

The organisation shall conduct due diligence on its suppliers/subcontractors, private employment agencies and sub-suppliers’ compliance with the SA8000 Standard. The same due diligence approach shall be applied when selecting new suppliers/subcontractors, private employment agencies and sub-suppliers

Where the organisation receives, handles or promotes goods and/or services from suppliers /subcontractors or sub-suppliers who are classified as home workers, the organisation shall take effective actions to ensure that such home workers are afforded a level of protection substantially equivalent to that afforded to the organisation’s other workers under the requirements of this Standard.

 

BENEFITS

• Proves your commitment to social accountability and to treating your employees ethically and in compliance with global standards

• Improves the management and performance of your supply chain

• Allows you to ensure compliance with global standards and reduce the risk of negligence, public exposure and possible litigation

• Supports your corporate vision and build and reinforce the loyalty of your employees, customers and stakeholders

• Enables you to demonstrate proper social accountability when bidding for international contracts or expanding locally to accommodate new business.

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