Assurance Box

Act/Rule/Legislation

Area of Application

Companies, Labour

Description

SA8000 is an international standard to promote worker’s rights and enable employers to sustainably implement a systems-based approach to ensuring decent and ethical working conditions. This standard is based on the principles of the international human rights norms and national labour law to promote worker’s best interest, with a view to sustainable livelihoods and employment. It is based on the principle that ensuring worker’s rights and well-being is not a ‘burden’ for employers but an investment in human resources that leads to healthy and sustainable workplace for all. SA 8000 is the first auditable social standard and is independent of government bodies and single interest groups. This standard is verifiable through evidenced-based process.

It is based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights, conventions of the ILO, UN and national law, and spans industry and corporate codes to create a common language to measure social performance. It takes a management systems approach by setting out the structures and procedures that companies must adopt in order to ensure that compliance with the standard is continuously reviewed.


SA8000 measures the performance of organisations in eight key areas: child labour, forced and Cumpulsory labour, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and remuneration.

Benefits of SA 8000
SA8000 certified facilities enjoy a competitive advantage and workers experience concrete benefits. Some of the benefits are detailed below:

- Enhances company and brand reputation
- Transparency to Stakeholders
- Improves employee recruitment, retention and productivity
- Supports better supply chain management and performance

Certification to the SA 8000 requires every facility seeking certification to be audited. Auditors visit factories to assess corporate practice on a wide range of issues and evaluate the state of a company's management systems. A certificate is awarded attesting company’s compliance to SA 8000. The certificate is a testimony of the organisation's good practice processes and significantly improves workplace conditions. The certification process is a multiple-step process.

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