SA 8000
Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-governmental,
multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to advance
the human rights of workers by promoting decent work
conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility
through voluntary standards.
SAI established one of the world’s preeminent social
standards— SA8000— a recognized benchmark among the
voluntary codes and standards initiatives that companies
and factories use to measure their performance. SA8000
is grounded on the principles of core ILO conventions,
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SAI partners with trade unions, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), multi-stakeholder initiatives, organic, fair
trade, and environmental organizations, government agencies,
and anti-corruption groups to carry out its mission.
About SA8000
The SA8000 workplace standard is the central document
of our work at SAI. This standard is the benchmark against
which companies and factories measure their performance.
Those seeking to comply with SA8000 have adopted policies
and procedures that protect the basic human rights of
workers.
There are a series of documents available to support
auditors and implementers of the SA8000 Standard; these
are: the SA8000 Guidance Document ; The SA8000:2008
Drafters' Notes ; and the SA8000 Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) . The FAQs document, first released in January
2010, will be updated regularly.
SA8000 Elements
The SA8000 Standard is an auditable certification
standard based on international workplace norms of International
Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Download the SA8000:2008 here!
A summary of the Standard elements follows:
Child Labor
No workers under the age of 15; minimum lowered
to 14 for countries operating under the ILO Convention
138 developing-country exception; remediation of any
child found to be working
Forced Labor
No forced labor, including prison or debt bondage
labor; no lodging of deposits or identity papers by
employers or outside recruiters
Health and Safety
Provide a safe and healthy work environment;
take steps to prevent injuries; regular health and safety
worker training; system to detect threats to health
and safety; access to bathrooms and potable water
Freedom of Association and Right to Collective
Bargaining
Respect the right to form and join trade unions
and bargain collectively; where law prohibits these
freedoms, facilitate parallel means of association and
bargaining
Discrimination
No discrimination based on race, caste, origin,
religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union
or political affiliation, or age; no sexual harassment
Discipline
No corporal punishment, mental or physical
coercion or verbal abuse
Working Hours
Comply with the applicable law but, in any
event, no more than 48 hours per week with at least
one day off for every seven day period; voluntary overtime
paid at a premium rate and not to exceed 12 hours per
week on a regular basis; overtime may be mandatory if
part of a collective bargaining agreement
Compensation
Wages paid for a standard work week must meet the legal
and industry standards and be sufficient to meet the
basic need of workers and their families; no disciplinary
deductions
Management Systems
Facilities seeking to gain and maintain certification
must go beyond simple compliance to integrate the standard
into their management systems and practices.
Why Consider SA 8000
In order to sensitize large number of people
in the beginning and develop a general consensus, several
declarations, protocols and other forms of intent documents
on Human Rights issues and Environmental protection
helped improve conditions relating to the workplace
and its consequences on the communities around the world.
Enlightened companies soon wanted to go beyond the awareness
on these sensitivities and wanted to act to continuously
improve their social and environmental
performance. It’s here that Standards like SA 8000 go
a long way to establish systems and measures to review
results – thus converting mission into performance.
FAQs about SA8000
For updated information visit the following
link
http://www.sa-intl.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=488&parentID=472
“SA 8000 is a comprehensive standard. It has helped
in improving upon some gaps within our own systems.
It has been particularly useful when it comes to streamlining
and aligning contractors to our value systems which
we have adhered to for a long time. And all this is
becoming more and more relevant and useful with the
increasing scale and complexity of out-sourcing across
the supply chains.”
Kishor Chaukar, Chairman,
Tata Council for Community Initiatives
“For over 100 years Tata has worked with internal and
external stakeholders to sustainably carry out its vision.
Social Accountability International and the SA8000 standard
provide systematic implementation and reporting tools
on human rights and workplace quality, as well as management
systems, to support these efforts. We look forward to
learning together and sharing knowledge with others
seeking these
goals.”
Ms. Eileen Kaufman
Executive Director, Social Accountability International,
USA
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