The SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard is a leading certification standard for businesses and various organizations around the world. This standard was originally designed in 1997 by an organization called Social Accountability International. However, over the years, the SA 8000 standard has evolved into a general framework that proves the commitment of businesses to fair treatment of employees.
The SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard has quickly become a management system standard that determines the performance of businesses in nine areas that are critical to social accountability in their work environments and ensures continuous improvement in all areas. This standard reflects the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the declarations issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
In addition, it respects, complements and supports the legal regulations in force in each country. Today, it supports more than two million employees in securing ethical working conditions.
SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard is continuously updated and implemented in parallel with the developments in the world and emerging social and human rights problems. The latest update of the standard was made in 2014, and the current version is SA 8000: 2014.
Businesses recognize the multi-sector applicability of the SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard and meet the demands of employees by incorporating their criteria into compliance processes. Similarly, government agencies that want to promote and strengthen social performance in work environments are creating incentive programs targeting businesses with SA 8000 Social Responsibility Certificates.
The main sections of the SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard are: child labor, forced or compulsory labor, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, remuneration and management system.
In particular, the major issue in the 2014 update was related to forced labor. All businesses with SA 8000 Certification must now ensure that their employees are free of employment wages and costs. In addition, all businesses have to establish a health and safety committee, which is responsible for monitoring health and safety risks and consists of management representatives and employees. Again in the last update, the importance of a strong management system is highlighted. Executive staff must provide policies, procedures and processes to help integrate the requirements of this standard into their daily activities.
SA 8000 provides continuous and reliable assurance that businesses meet their social performance expectations. They also show that they are constantly improving their management systems to see and prevent social and business risks. The SA 8000 Social Responsibility Certificate from an accredited certification body is proof that the entity has been in compliance with this SA 8000 standard for three years.
The SA 8000 standard is a voluntary standard that enables businesses to monitor, continuously monitor and improve their social responsibilities. Independent audits and audits conducted by a neutral and independent third-party certification body create confidence that the entity manages its activities effectively and reduces the risks of non-compliance.
Companies with SA 8000 Social Responsibility Certificate give importance to holistic management system in order to maintain compliance with standards, take care of employee participation and communication, cooperation between functions and cooperation in supply chain.
In addition, the benefits of the SA 8000 Social Responsibility Certificate to businesses can be listed as follows:
Proven social responsibility and commitment to business ethics
The reputation of the business increases
The brand value of the business is protected
Consumer confidence and positive perception increase
Employee morale increases
A fair and safe working environment is provided
Working environment and working conditions are improved
No adverse events are caused and correct risk management is performed
Independent transparency improves business transparency
Gaining superiority over competitors in the global arena
Social Accountability International has created tools to help businesses continuously measure and improve their management systems. These tools are social fingerprint self assessment and social fingerprint independent assessment. With these tools, the management systems of the enterprises are determined on a scale between 1 and 5 and the areas to be improved are shown.
The 10 area under review is: policies, procedures and records, social performance team, risk identification and assessment, monitoring, employee involvement and communication, complaint management and resolution, external verification and stakeholder engagement, corrective and preventive actions, training and capacity building and management of suppliers and contractors. Within this framework, the management system of the company is measured and developed in ten areas that are critical for the continuous improvement of the social performance of the enterprises.
Business management systems are ranked between 1 and 5 in these ten areas as follows. The results help the business to see areas of improvement:
1 = SA 8000 No awareness about Social Responsibility or any system that manages social performance
2 = Partly advanced management system, but the application is incomplete, inconsistent and often ineffective
3 = An advanced management system, but not fully implemented
4 = It has an advanced management system and it is implemented continuously and regularly.
5 = Advanced management system and the system is constantly improving
In short, the SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard is a voluntary standard and describes the conditions that must be met by businesses, including the establishment or improvement of employee rights, working conditions and an effective management system. The SA 8000 Certificate sets out the company's minimum performance expectations. Performance indicators are attached to the SA 8000 standard.
Non-governmental organizations, investors, employees and stakeholders are now questioning the commitment of businesses to ensure a fair working environment and transparent business practices. Thereafter, businesses will increasingly be asked to prove their social responsibilities. Today, the most widely used global standard for managing human rights is the SA 8000 Social Responsibility standard. This is the first auditable standard that is suitable for businesses of all sizes anywhere in the world.
Thanks to this standard, enterprises achieve best practices in ethical employment and commercial activities, motivate employees, gain more transparency in management, expand existing business volume, attract new customers and investors, and are recognized as a socially responsible organization.
The 8000 Social Responsibility standard is stricter than most legal regulations and has special requirements. Therefore, the SA 8000 standard plays a crucial role, especially for businesses operating globally. In this way, enterprises strengthen their reputation and gain competitive advantage.
First, it is determined whether the organization meets the mandatory requirements of the standard and whether to proceed to the next stage.
It is checked whether necessary procedures and audits have been developed and your institution's readiness for evaluation is reviewed.
The findings that arise in the first two stages are evaluated and after all corrective actions are reviewed, document preparation is started.
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