Activity HRa2.4

Objective

Ethical Suppliers Procurement

Concept

Human Rights

Activity Type

Impact

Rating System Application

B+I:D B+I:O O+M:D O+M:O

Ethical Procurement SEAL 3 · 5 · 8 · 10 · 16

Suppliers shall ensure decent work conditions

Scope

Suppliers shall ensure that all employment contracts provide workers basic protections, freedoms, and rights. Suppliers must ensure no child or forced labor is utilized, workers have freedom of association, fair working hours, as well as provide for periods of leave from employment.

Requirements ¹⁵³

Act to Avoid Harm

01.
Supplier shall not use child labor¹⁵⁴
1. a.
  Adherence to ILO Convention no. 138 for minimum working age
2. b.
  Restriction on child presence in production work areas
3. c.
  No acceptance of fraudulent identification during the recruitment
4. d.
  Maintenance of verifiable proof of age documentation
02.
Supplier shall not use forced or compulsory labor¹⁵⁵
1. a.
  No unreasonable restraints on personnel’s freedom of movement, including movement in the cafeteria, during breaks, and related to toilet use, access to water, access to necessary medical attention or access to religious facilities
2. b.
  Security measures implemented by the organization do not intimidate or unduly restrict the movement of workers
3. c.
  Terms of employment outlined at the time of recruitment do not differ in any way from the terms offered during the course employment
4. d.
  Personnel are free from pressure, coercion, or threats that would in any way force them to accept a job or maintain employment
03.
Supplier shall support freedom of association¹⁵⁶ (unless it is unlawful in the jurisdiction, in which case is not applicable)
1. a.
  The organization does not propose or initiate worker elections or show bias towards any specific type of worker organization or to workers from any specific organization
2. b.
  Workers indicate that worker organizations have had the opportunity to present to the workforce, are allowed regular and reasonably free access to workers during free time, and are permitted to post notices in conspicuous and agreed-upon places
3. c.
  All provisions of collective agreements are honored
4. d.
  The organization is open to dialogue with trade unions and demonstrates good faith in bargaining with trade unions
04.
Supplier shall provide decent working time for workers¹⁵⁷
1. a.
  Reasonable steps are taken to inform workers about the nature and expected duration of extraordinary business circumstances that may necessitate longer working hours with sufficient advance warning to allow workers to accommodate this situation
2. b.
  All overtime hours are voluntary; coercion, threats, or penalties are not used to pressure personnel into overtime work
3. c.
  Timecards, attendance sheets, or an equivalent are used to measure actual working hours and break times for all workers, regardless of whether they are paid by hour, piece rate, job, or other form, and includes in and out times at the start and end of each day
4. d.
  If attendance sheets are used, they include workers’ signatures or thumbprints to confirm (on at least a weekly basis) the accuracy and completeness of the attendance sheets, which are maintained for at least one year
5. e.
  Workers maintain their own time records; for example, they punch in and out themselves

Benefit Impacted Parties

05.
Supplier shall provide holiday leave for workers¹⁵⁸:
1. a.
  The employee has the right to annual paid leave of at least three working weeks for one year of service, during which they receive at least their normal or average remuneration for the corresponding period. People in their first year of employment are entitled to holiday with pay, proportional to their length of service during that year.
2. b.
  The employee has the right to take at least one unpaid rest day for every six consecutive days worked.

Contribute to Solutions

06.
Supplier shall provide maternity, paternity, and parental leave for workers¹⁵⁹: The Owner must comply with national labor laws or widely adopted standards, but as a minimum the employee, regardless of gender, has the right to:
1. a.
  A minimum of 14 weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave; and
2. b.
  Parental leave during a period following the expiry of maternity or paternity leave*.

The following six elements must be embedded in Owner’s contract terms with Suppliers, along with assessment of Suppliers’ ability to comply during procurement of new Suppliers, to qualify as decent work:

Indicators

The performance indicator is the progress toward providing decent work for each Supplier worker according to the requirements. The first context indicator is the total number of Supplier workers on the project. The second context indicator is the number of Supplier workers for which the progress score is 100%.

Assess decent work for workers according to the requirements as follows:

0%: Any worker whose employment terms haven’t been assessed or don’t comply with requirements 1 + 2.
20%: Requirements #1 and #2 are satisfied.
40%: One additional requirement from #3 or #4 is satisfied.
60%: Both #3 and #4 requirements are satisfied.
80%: Three additional requirements are satisfied.
100%: All additional requirements are satisfied.

Step 1

To calculate the performance indicator:

Determine the number of workers on the project for each Supplier.
Calculate progress as the weighted average of the employment terms across all workers for each Supplier.
Calculate the average percentage progress toward decent work for all Tier 1 Suppliers.

Step 1

p# = 0(E0%) + 0.2(E20%) + 0.4(E40%) + 0.6(E60%) + 0.8(E80%) + 1(E100%) / n# X 100

Step 2

P = (p1% + p2% + p3% ... / N)

Scoring

Outcome threshold

The threshold for do no harm is 60% progress toward decent work.

Points assignment

Points	Percentage Progress Toward Decent Work
1 point	20% progress toward decent work
2 points	40% progress toward decent work
3 points	60% progress toward decent work
4 points	80% progress toward decent work
5 points	100% progress toward decent work

Additional points assignment

Choose one (OR semantics)

Points	Additional Requirements
+3 points	Tier 2 vendors achieving 60% progress
+5 points	Tier 2 and Tier 3 vendors achieving 60% progress

Documentation

01.

List of financial, human, and material resources utilized for this activity.
02.

Methodology determining and categorizing the number of project employees.
03.

Documentation of company policies and employee handbook (or equivalent) regarding child labor, forced labor, freedom of association, work hours, overtime compensation, parental leave, and supplementary benefits.
04.

Detailed description of the company's age verification process and a statistical summary of workforce age distribution (GDPR compliant).
05.

Description of time-tracking and verification methods and aggregated data on regular hours and overtime hours (GDPR compliant).
06.

Anonymized statistics on leave utilization.
07.

Methodology assessing unique employment terms across different sites, regions, and job types (if applicable).

Referenced Source

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
ILO Minimum Age Convention 138 (1973)
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 23
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966)
Social Accountability International SA8000® International Standard (2014)