WHY USE SA8000 AS YOUR SOCIAL AUDIT

FRAMEWORK?
It’s ultimately up to you as the importer to choose which social audit framework
to apply to your supplier depending on your own needs and customers’
requirements. But many auditing companies recommend an audit based on the
SA8000 standard for its relative simplicity and clearly outlined requirements.
SA8000 is a voluntary standard for social compliance based on the UN
Declaration of Human Rights, national labor laws and international human rights
norms.
Many major retailers now accept international third-party audit frameworks like
SA8000, rather than requiring suppliers to apply their own customized
framework. Both Walmart and Disney accept SA8000 audit results for their
social compliance programs, for instance.
Every SA8000 social compliance audit checklist should include the nine
requirements below. And a third-party audit based on SA8000 should
demonstrate the supplier’s compliance according to these requirements.

1. Child labor
Most any social compliance audit checklist, including one for SA8000 should
include checks for violations involving child labor. Child labor is still a common
problem in Asia. A 2019 report from Verisk Maplecroft ranked both India and
China as high-risk regions for child labor.
Under SA8000, child labor is considered any work performed by a child
younger than 15 years old, unless the minimum age for work is higher by local
law. The standard also sets requirements for the employment of “young
workers” who are younger than 18 but older than 15 years old as specified
above. Many countries, including China, allow for employing young workers.
A supplier will generally meet the requirements of this section if they adhere to
local and national labor laws. Besides age restrictions, the standard requires
that:

 Young workers only work outside of school hours if they’re subject to

compulsory education laws
 Young workers do not work more than eight hours per day or work during night
hours; and
 Children and young workers are not subject to unsafe working conditions

2. Forced labor
 SA8000 forbids suppliers from employing forced or slave labor, as well as
withholding personal documents, salary or benefits from workers. Withholding
workers’ documents could make it difficult for workers to leave at will.
SA8000 requires that staff have the right to leave the workplace at the end of
each workday and the right to terminate their employment with reasonable
notice.
Forced labor is an important aspect of social compliance that has been banned
through some specific legislature outside of voluntary standards. The
U.S. banned all imports made with forced labor in 2016 and granted customs
authorities the right to seize suspect shipments at the border.

3. Health and safety

A supplier is required to provide a safe and healthy workplace environment for
workers under the SA8000 standard. This section has many areas in common
with the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970.
Health and safety violations can have serious consequences beyond SA8000
noncompliance (related: Social Compliance for Garment Factories: How to Avoid
Disasters). Safety violations can lead to a factory explosion or building collapse in
extreme cases, delaying production indefinitely and potentially forcing you to
find an alternate supplier for your goods. 
A social compliance audit checklist will typically dedicate a large portion of the
audit plan to checking health and safety requirements. Under the SA8000
standard, your supplier must:

 Minimize or eliminate the causes of all safety hazards in the workplace

environment, wherever reasonable
 Assess health risks for new, expectant and nursing mothers
 Provide effective health and safety training to staff
 Provide staff with appropriate protective equipment (e.g. hardhats, gloves,
respirators) at its own expense; and
 Provide staff with free access to clean toilet facilities, potable water and sanitary
facilities for food storage

A third-party social compliance audit checklist will typically include some specific
checks related to production processes at that facility. The auditor might check
hazardous material storage procedures, machine safeguards, machine stopping
controls and ventilation systems in production areas, for instance.

4. Freedom of association and collective bargaining

 SA8000’s freedom of association and collective bargaining requirement allows
workers the right to organize trade unions of their choosing and to bargain
collectively with their employer. It also protects workers belonging to unions
from discrimination, harassment or intimidation.
Compliance with this requirement can vary based on local or national laws. The
Chinese government, for example, restricts union membership to only those
trade unions that fall under the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. SA8000
has a provision to address these local constraints on trade unions, requiring
suppliers to allow workers to freely elect their own representatives in these
cases.
A social audit checklist can also include checks for less-formalized collective
bargaining systems aside from trade unions. Even something as simple as a
suggestion box can provide employees with the opportunity to lodge complaints
and provide feedback to management.

5. Discrimination
The SA8000 standard protects workers from discrimination based on race,
origin, caste, gender, religion, political affiliation and many other attributes. The
supplier should have a written anti-discrimination policy that is followed in the
recruitment, employment and termination of employees.
Under SA8000, suppliers cannot:

 Interfere with a worker’s right to exercise certain practices related to their

identity, such as the right to prayer
 Allow abusive, threatening, exploitative or sexually coercive behavior in the
workplace
 Require work staff to take pregnancy or virginity tests

6. Disciplinary practices
The SA8000 standard requires that suppliers treat staff with “dignity and
respect”. This is a short requirement that forbids inhumane treatment,
corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse of
employees.
An auditor might interview a few workers to assess SA8000 compliance with
requirements relating to discrimination and discipline. These interviews can
provide on-the-ground insight into conditions at the factory to complement
documentation and management assessments.
The result of violations related to discrimination or disciplinary practices is often
that workers are unhappy with their job and seek employment elsewhere. High
turnover at your supplier’s facility can lead to poorer quality goods, as new
employees must be trained on your requirements and relevant production
processes.

7. Working hours
SA8000 requires suppliers to allow at least one day of rest following six
consecutive days of work. And the normal work week should not exceed 48
hours.
The standard also sets requirements for overtime. Suppliers must make
overtime voluntary, and overtime cannot exceed 12 hours per week.
But like the standard’s requirements regarding collective bargaining, local or
national laws can also grant suppliers more leniency regarding working hours.
SA8000 allows exceptions for national laws that allow for more work time and
agreements reached by collective bargaining.
An auditor will typically check compliance with these requirements by reviewing
documentation, such as timecards, records and time sheets, as well as
interviewing workers.
Excessive working hours and overtime are more common during peak seasons
when suppliers struggle to meet tight deadlines for several orders at a time. And
while you might be eager to meet deadlines, rushed production can also lead to
more product defects and poorer quality goods.
Prepare for peak seasons well ahead of schedule to provide your supplier
enough time to complete your orders while still complying with overtime
requirements.   

8. Remuneration
An audit of your supplier using the SA8000 standard will also investigate
whether your supplier is paying a living wage to workers. Wages must cover
the basic needs of staff and allow for discretionary spending.
The standard dictates that the supplier cannot withhold or deduct wages for
disciplinary reasons, unless permitted by national law or a collective bargaining
agreement. The supplier must also reimburse workers for overtime at a
premium rate defined by national law or collective bargaining agreement.
The supplier must also comply with local requirements for mandatory income
withholdings, such as taxes, social security and housing funds. For instance, if
your supplier in China is not paying social insurance for their employees, they
would be in violation of Article 72 of the China’s labor law governing benefits
and, therefore, in violation of SA8000.
 Unfair compensation is a common reason for worker strikes in developing Asian
countries. For instance, 50,000 garment workers in Bangladesh went on strike in
January 2019 to call for higher wages. The strikes affected around 4,500 factories
manufacturing garments for major brands like Walmart and Tesco.
Ensuring your supplier complies with SA8000 and pays their workers a fair wage
can help you avoid disruptions to production related to strikes and protests.

9. Management system
Factory management must take several additional steps regarding corrective
actions, preventative measures, policies and documentation for full SA8000
compliance.
Some of the main points outlined in SA8000 are as follows:

 Senior management must inform staff of their intention to comply with SA8000
with a written policy statement
 Your supplier must appropriately document conformance and implementation
of the standard
 Your supplier must set up a Social Performance Team (SPT) to oversee
implementation of the SA8000 standard, as well as identify and assess risks
 Your supplier must develop a written grievance procedure that is confidential
and non-retaliatory; and
 Your supplier must train staff to implement the SA8000 standard

A social audit checklist should include checking documentation related to each

of these requirements throughout the audit to assess the management system.