In 2018, we saw two key pieces of modern slavery legislation enacted in Australia, the Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 and the NSW Modern Slavery Act 2018.
Over 3000 Australian businesses are likely to be reporting to the Australian Government under the Modern Slavery Act, and in addition, it’s been suggested that over 10,000 entities will be subject to reporting under the NSW Modern Slavery Act.
Businesses will be required to report on what they are doing to address modern slavery in their business operations and their supply chains.
There are numerous frameworks and standards that can help companies implement ethical business practices and address modern slavery risks. Here is a snapshot of these frameworks and standards:
UN Global Compact
SA8000® Standard (Social Accountability)
ISO 26000:2010 – Guidance on social responsibility
ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement – Guidance
Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange)
UN Global Compact (UNGC)
Issues addressed: human rights, labour rights, environment and anti-corruption
The UNGC is a United Nations initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible business practices. The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest sustainability initiative and is both a practical platform and a learning resource for businesses and stakeholders across the globe.
Signatories (or participants) to the UN Global Compact are required to sign a CEO Statement of Support, which is a statement of commitment to address the 10 guiding principles and the broader social goals outlined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
After 12 months of becoming a signatory the organisation is required to produce an annual Communication on Progress (CoP), outlining how the organisation has addressed the 10 guiding principles. The report needs to be submitted annually and is uploaded onto the UN Global Compact’s website.
The UN Global Compact is not an auditable standard – it is based on self-disclosure.
The 10 principles include:
Human Rights
- Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
- Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Labour
- Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
- Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
- Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
- Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Environment
- Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
- Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
- Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
- Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
SA8000 (Social Accountability)
Issues addressed: labour rights standards including child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and remuneration
SA8000 is an auditable certification standard that encourages organisations to develop, maintain and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace and to incorporate them into a management system.
The SA8000® Standard can be applied to any company of any size worldwide. Adopting SA8000 certification means an organisation must consider the social impact of their operations in addition to the conditions under which their employees, partners and suppliers operate.
One of the key requirements of the SA8000® Standard is for workers (usually factory workers) to be paid a living wage. Wages shall be sufficient to meet the basic needs and to provide discretionary income – in some cases this may be more than the minimum wage determined by the law of the sovereign state.
The table below outlines stats relating to the number of facilities that are certified to SA8000, the countries represented, the industries represented and the number of employees who are working in SA8000 certified facilities.
Number of employees -1,998,17
Certified facilities-3,860
Countries represented-64
Industries represented -56
Social Accountability Internationally (SAI)
ISO 26000:2010 – Guidance on social responsibility
Issues addressed: human rights, labour rights, environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community
The ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility addresses the following seven core subjects:
Human rights
Labour practices
The environment
Fair operating practices
Consumer issues
Community involvement and development
Organisation/Governance
The ISO 26000 is an excellent resource to help organisations adopt sustainability practices and it provides lots of background information about social responsibility, including principles (accountability, transparency, ethical behaviour, stakeholder interests, human rights) and characteristics (expectations of society and role of stakeholders) of CSR.
The guidance document also offers detailed information about the seven core subjects and the Annex includes a really useful table that gives a cross-sector analysis of how the seven core subjects relate to other intergovernmental initiatives like the OECD, UN Global Compact, Global Reporting Initiative, Ethical Trading Initiative, and SA8000.
This document can be used by organisations of all sizes, including small to medium-sized organisations (SMOs) as it includes specific considerations for SMOs.
ISO 26000 is not a management system standard and as such cannot be used as certification. It is to be used as a guidance document only.
International Organization of Standardization (ISO)
ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement - Guidance
Issues addressed: human rights, labour rights, environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community
ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable procurement – Guidance provides guidelines for organisations wanting to integrate sustainability into their procurement processes.
The standard defines the principles of sustainable procurement, including accountability, transparency, respect for human rights and ethical behaviour, and it highlights key considerations such as risk management and priority setting. It also covers various stages of the procurement process, outlining the steps required to integrate social responsibility into the purchasing function.
ISO 20400 is aimed at organisations of all sizes in both the public and private sectors, as it applies to virtually every purchasing decision from office supplies and caterers, to energy providers, building materials and more.
By focusing specifically on the purchasing function, ISO 20400 is a sector-specific application of ISO 26000.
ISO 20400 provides guidelines, not requirements. It is therefore not intended for certification purposes.
International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) ISO 20400:2017
Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange)
Issues addressed: labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics, which include anti-corruption
Sedex is a not-for-profit membership organisation for businesses committed to the continuous improvement of ethical performance within their supply chains.
Sedex was founded in 2001 by a group of UK retailers to drive convergence in social audit standards and monitoring practices. It’s tools and services are used by more than 50,000 members in over 155 countries.
The aim of Sedex is to ease the auditing burden on suppliers through the sharing of reports and to drive improvements in supply chain standards. Companies such as Coles, Bunnings, Officeworks and Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety use Sedex to help manage their supply chain risks.
Sedex provides fantastic resources to assist you to work with your supply chain on labour issues, workers health and safety, environmental management and business ethics.
Need help…..
If your organisation needs help identifying which certification scheme or framework best suits your business or sustainability strategy, please get in touch. We welcome the opportunity to help you develop your sustainability program.