BRM Foundations – Management System

Higg BRM Foundations Guidance

1. Company Profile

2. Management System

3. Operations & Logistics

4. Applicability (Retailer, Brand and Stores)

Higg BRM Foundations How to Higg Guide

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Environment

3. Social & Labor

Introduction

The section has been designed to:

  • Support companies in embedding environmental sustainability within their company’s management system.
  • Align with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector.

What is Due Diligence
Due diligence is a process through which businesses can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts in relation to their own operations as well as throughout their supply chains.

Why is the OECD Due Diligence Guidance important?
Launched in 2017, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector sets a common framework for understanding supply chain due diligence.

  • The OECD is the most authoritative international elaboration of due diligence that has been approved by 48 governments and endorsed by business, trade unions and civil society.
  • It is the first government backed reference on due diligence which makes it relevant for all types of companies operating in all countries and sectors of the economy.

The OECD represents a common understanding among governments and industry stakeholders on due diligence for responsible business conduct in the garment and footwear sector.

Why does the Higg BRM seek to align with the OECD Due Diligence guidance?
Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition) was founded to create a common language to measure and improve social and environmental sustainability performance across the apparel, footwear, and textile industry. In this respect there is a clear commonality between the mission of OECD and Cascale.

Industry collaboration is key to the success of Cascale’s mission. We consider multi-stakeholder alignment and convergence foundational to the change our industry needs to support the well-being of the planet and its communities. This is why, through the OECD’s advisory council, Cascale gave feedback during the development of the Due Diligence Guidance and also explains why the Higg Brand & Retail Module intends to align with the OECD Due Diligence expectations.

Steps in the OECD due diligence process that are addressed in the Management System section
Step 1. Embed Responsible Business Conduct into policies & management systems
Step 2. Identify & Assess Adverse Impacts in Operations, Supply Chains and Business Relationships. Step 4. Track Implementation and Results
Step 5. Communicate How Impacts are Addressed

Environment

Intent of the question

It is critical for any business that wants to shape an appropriate and effective sustainability strategy, to start with getting a clear understanding and visibility on their entire value chain operations.

To start the evaluation of a company’s value chain operations (which includes owned business operations and of their supply chain) a company would need to map/list out their entities and supply chain partners on a “map”. To get started with this evaluation, please use the data collection sheet to start mapping your value chain.

Technical Guidance

In the next paragraphs we will reference proprietary business operations and supply chain as value chain operations.

Value Chain definition : All activities involved in the creation, sale, and servicing of products to the end customer. This includes product development, manufacturing, logistics (inbound and outbound), company operations, distribution and customer support services (example repair programs).

By listing the value chain operations on a map, it allows you to visualize and assess the sites (owned and operated by your company) and supply chain partners you are currently working with.

The benefits of value chain mapping and the visualization of it are to:

  • Gain oversight and control on your value chain
  • Visualization helps avoid feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty or abundance of
  • Provide clarity on what the “blind spots” are so that you can plan or better yet take actions to address
  • Enable knowledge sharing within your

A company that will start to map and evaluate their value chain operations for the first time, will find that the initial phase of collecting information and engaging stakeholders will require the most time and effort.

Though you will find in the following years that it will be easier to map your value chain operations so that you can focus efforts on identifying where adverse environmental impacts are occurring and take actions to address them. Lastly, updating your value chain mapping does not necessarily have to be an annual exercise but only when certain data points (sites locations/suppliers) have been changed.

Some tips to help you get started:

  • First step, map the information for your owned business operations, such as offices, retail stores (if applicable), and distribution centers by working with the colleagues who manage your facilities, logistics, retail operations, and offices, etc. We recommend starting with this information because it will be more accessible than the supply chain data (which will take more time).
  • As a second step, map your supply chain. This starts with listing all of the suppliers that you have direct business relationships with and what products and services they provide to your A good place to start is by working with your sourcing managers, purchasing agents, facilities managers, field staff and buyers.
    • Focus on mapping the supply chain for your high-volume products. For each product, trace the flow of materials through the supply chain and include if known tier 1 (product assembly) and tier 2 (material) suppliers. Include if known:

Your Tier 1 suppliers:

  • Product assembly
  • Make, cut & sew

Your Tier 2 suppliers:

  • Materials
  • Part and trim suppliers
  • Dyers
  • Tanners
  • Printers, trim

Your Tier 3 suppliers:

  • Spinning, down processing
  • Hide processing
  • Plastic pellet creation
    • This will be an iterative process over time where one supplier leads you to the  next set of suppliers. Suppliers may also provide data through their completed Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) so that you can identify environmental impacts in your supply chain.

The mapping of your value chain operations should not only result in a deeper understanding of where all of your operations are taking place but must also inform and feed into your risk assessment process.

It is crucial for companies to map both their owned business operations and their supply chain so that you can articulate why certain priorities and/or actions have been made as part of the aforementioned process.

In the next question (on risk assessment) we will dive deeper into the risk assessment process and how it can help companies in identifying and prioritizing salient environmental risks relative to impacts.

Answer options

  • If answered “yes” to this question, you can demonstrate that you have documented or mapped your value chain operations. Companies may use the template that we have provided or other materials that drives towards the same intent: which is that you know/have visibility of your owned operations and supply chain
  • If answered “partial yes” to this question, you may not have documented or mapped your value chain operations, but you can demonstrate that you know where your value chain operations are taking

How this will be verified

Documentation required

  • High-level description of your internal process to collect/gather the
  • A list of your supply chain partners, and their locations grouped on product or purchase order level.
  • A list of your proprietary (also known as owned and operated) offices, retail stores, and distribution
  • Any documentation (carried out within the last 2 years) that can demonstrate that your company has identified, mapped and/or evaluated your value chain

Interview questions to ask:

  • Please describe how the business operations and supply chain were mapped and
  • Who was involved in the mapping process?
  • What aspects of the business operations and supply chain were included? What was excluded?

Helpful Resources

Please download the data collection sheet to start mapping supply chain and materials.

2.1 Which risks factors were used to identify your company’s salient risks in its operations and/or supply chain?

  • Sector risk factors
  • Product risk factors
  • Country risk factors
  • Business model risk factors
  • Sourcing model risk factors
  • Other

2.2 Were standards or resources referenced in your process to identify these salient risks, impacts, and opportunities? Select which standards or resources were referenced

  • B Corp
  • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  • ISO 14001
  • Internal assessment
  • UN Global Compact Communication On Progress (COP)
  • Other

2.3 Were internal and/or external experts consulted in identifying your salient environmental risks, impacts, and opportunities? Which stakeholders were consulted? Select all that apply:

  • Internal employees
  • Business partners (suppliers, manufacturers, agents, wholesale companies, retailers)
  • Consumers
  • NGOs
  • Regulators/Policy Makers/Government Bodies
  • Trade Unions/Industry Groups
  • Academic Institutions
  • Other

2.4 Do you update your assessment of risks based on new information and/or changing circumstances? Answer: Yes/No

Intent of the question

Companies must formalize their environmental risk assessment process in order to explain their risk-based approach to internal and external stakeholders.

Technical Guidance

In the previous question, we have asked you to evaluate and map out where your operations are taking place. In this question, we ask you to take that information and feed that into your risk assessment process.

Risk assessment process describes the overall process or method where a company can:

  1. Identify & assess the risk of adverse environmental impacts in their operations, supply chain and business relationships that they may have caused or contributed
  2. Analyze and evaluate how likely the risk(s) will occur and how severe the damage will
  3. Prioritize the risks based on salience (severity of harm).
  4. Determine appropriate measures to cease, prevent or mitigate the risk of adverse environmental impacts.

A few more notes on the secondary questions:

  • Risk factors that increase the chance of adverse environmental impacts are sector, product, country, business model, and sourcing model. These factors are further explained in the supporting resource linked to
  • A risk assessment process forms an integral part of a management system. There are various standards and initiatives that are helping and advising companies on how to assess their risks. A few of which are mentioned in this question as well as under helpful
  • Companies should engage and consult internal and/or external experts in the determination of salient risks as a means to ensure robustness of their
  • Lastly, conducting a risk assessment should be a dynamic (not static) process and as such should be updated at minimum every two years or earlier when new information and/or changing circumstances.

Before answering this question, please review the guide on “Understanding Environmental Due Diligence” and “Conducting environmental risk assessment”. These resources were designed to:

  • Support your understanding of what a risk assessment process is.
  • Equip you with resources to support your due diligence efforts and support your company’s efforts to complete your Higg BRM

Helpful Resources

Environmental Risks and Impacts Dropdown: Yes/No

  • Please select all that apply: (The below risk and impact questions will automatically appear based on risks/impact selected in question #3)
    • Animal Welfare
    • Biodiversity/Land Use/Habitat Loss
    • Deforestation
    • Energy/Fuel Use (or Fossil Fuel Depletion)
    • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
    • Air Emissions/Air Pollution (non GHG)
    • Solid Waste
    • Hazardous Waste
    • Chemical Hazards
    • Water Use/Water Scarcity
    • Wastewater/Water Pollution/Eutrophication

Intent of the question

The purpose of this question is to allow you to elaborate on the actions your company is taking to manage and measure your salient risks, impacts, and opportunities, as well as to describe how deeply in your business operations you are taking action.

Technical Guidance

 Companies are expected to prioritize and address salient risks first instead of addressing all risks at the same time. It is important to review the three resources below before continuing on to the rest of the guidance:

  1. Review this 4 minute video created by the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework on salient human rights. Although the video focuses on human rights and not environment, the same principle can be applied for evaluating salient environmental risks.
  2. If you have missed this resource on how to conduct an environmental risk assessment process from the previous question, please start by reviewing this.
  3. As a subsequent step to guide users towards better understanding the 11 types of environmental risks, and to determine whether these are salient risks, please review this overview on environmental risks.

 Preparing for the risk assessment

  • When prioritizing environmental risks, a company should focus its attention on salience. Salience is determined based on the severity of harm that the risk poses to the environment and the likelihood of the event occurring. Under the OECD Due Diligence Guidance companies are expected to prioritize and address salient risks first instead of addressing all risks at the same time.
  • As you are evaluating the likelihood and severity of risks across your value chain operations, you will find that owned business operations may represent only a fraction of the impact of your entire product supply chain. In a recent study[1] 70 to 90% of a company’s impacts were found to be in their supply chain. This information can be used to inform how you will prioritize your actions and resources based on salience. This does not mean that the impact of owned business operations is not important, it just means that it may not be the first place where you start in comparison with the impact that you can make on mitigating / reducing the risks in the supply chain and its workers.

Starting the risk assessment process

  1. For each area of your proprietary business operations, materials, product, packaging, and supply chain assess whether any of the below 11 risks have a higher likelihood of occurring:
    • Animal Welfare
    • Biodiversity/Land Use/Habitat Loss
    • Deforestation
    • Energy/Fuel Use (or Fossil Fuel Depletion)
    • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
    • Air Emissions/Air Pollution (non GHG)
    • Solid Waste
    • Hazardous Waste
    • Chemical Hazards
    • Water Use/Water Scarcity
    • Wastewater/Water Pollution/Eutrophication
  1. A good place to begin your risk assessment is with your supply chain and materials, as this is where the biggest risks and impacts occur. Keep in mind that varying product types (for instance, leather shoes vs. a polyester shirt vs. a water bottle) will have different supply chains and will each need to be evaluated separately for risks.
  2. Review the raw materials used to make the product you sell, starting with the highest volume materials. Include the raw materials (for example: cotton, wool, rubber, metals, etc.) that go into those materials, as well as the processes to make the materials (such as: dyeing, finishing, smelting, etc.) as that is where most of the biggest environmental risks and impacts occur. Identify and engage with the people who develop, manage, and purchase your materials. This may involve your internal staff or it may involve the companies (e.g. brands or factories) that develop and produce the products you sell. The Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI) can be used to obtain the average environmental impact for many materials and can also be used to identify the areas that drive those impacts (such as energy, water, waste, land use, etc.) The results from the Higg MSI will provide a basic list of types of materials that drive your largest risks and impacts (energy, GHG, wastewater, etc.) Additional information on the high risk areas associated with your materials (animal welfare, deforestation, etc.) can be found in the “Helpful Resources” section of the How to Higg Guide.
  3. Review the major processes used to convert the materials into your final product (such as cut and sew, injection molding, heat forming, etc.) You will most likely need to work with the same internal and external people identified in the previous step. If suppliers have completed the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) they may be able to provide you with the impacts identified in the Higg FEM. This will provide you with your “hot spots“ — the largest impacts in the manufacture of the products you sell.
  4. Important Note: In the above review companies should prioritize the evaluation of suppliers that are associated with more severe risks linked to their raw material production process (for example, wet-processing facilities that use more environmental resources than a cut-and-sew facility) as well as suppliers they indirectly source from through sourcing agents/vendors.
  5. Review the logistics for shipping your products and review the consumer packaging and transport packaging. Identify and work with the people who manage and oversee inbound and outbound logistics to identify the environmental risks and impacts involved in this aspect of your operations.
  6. Finally, review your own operations. Identify the person who manages the utility bills, manages the building, oversees maintenance, remodels, building management, and purchase orders. Work with these people to quantify the impact of your own operations and to identify where there may be environmental impacts and risks.
  7. The risk assessment process is not easy or quick. In the first attempt you will most likely uncover more questions than answers. This is an indicator of progress and will provide you a preliminary understanding of the largest environmental impacts and risks. As you dig deeper into those areas, you will continue to learn more and will improve the accuracy and value of your assessment over time.

Answer option

The expectation when answering “yes” and selecting one or more salient environmental risk(s) is that your company has identified this as a salient risk through the risk assessment process.

Helpful Resources

After selecting a salient risk, the following secondary questions will appear for each selected risk

  • Is your company taking steps to improve the selected risk? Answer options: Yes/No
  • If answered yes, what is included in your program?
    • A corporate policy approved by your company’s executive team and/or Board that underpins the commitment to the success of this program.
    • Compliance with all applicable regulations?
    • Specific minimum requirements and best practices that go above and beyond applicable regulations.
    • Requirements in manufacturer contracts that requires their suppliers and subcontractors to meet the goals of the program.
    • Public disclosure including a description of your impact in this area and details pertaining to your program.
    • Other
  • What value chain/business stages do these actions address?
    • Product
    • Packaging
    • Transportation
    • Offices
    • Distribution Centers
    • Retail Stores
    • Product Use & End of Use
    • Supply Chain: Agent/Trading Company/Licensees
    • Supply Chain Tier 1: Final product manufacturing and assembly (or finished goods production)
    • Supply Chain Material Converters
    • Supply Chain Tier 2: Material manufacturing (or finished materials production)
    • Supply Chain Tier 3: Raw material processing
    • Supply Chain Tier 4: Agriculture, Ranching, Forestry, and Extraction
    • Supply Chain: Chemical Suppliers (management, finished product and/or packaging compliance)
    • Other
  • Please describe your priority focus areas for the selected supply chain segments (e.g. a focus on wet processing factories in tier 2 because water pollution is a risk hotspot)
    • Describe the actions you are taking
    • Has your company measured impacts, set targets to reduce them and tracked YOY progress for its program aimed at improving the selected risk? Answer options: Yes/No
    • Which value chain/business stages do these measurements and targets cover?
    • Please describe the target(s) or upload template

Intent of these questions

The intent here is for your company to demonstrate that it has established a program for specific supply chain segments and that targets have been set to measure progress year over year.

Environmental performance improvement and risk mitigation are most effectively managed by implementing clear program(s) which have specific environmental goals to work towards, and that are enforced across the value chain. Successful implementation of such a program will lead to year-over-year progress on set goals and targets.

Technical Guidance

Program: intends to create a positive change in a specific area. A program provides details on the how and what will be achieved through goals, requirements, actions and accountability metrics to improve in a specific area. Policies, strategies, projects and action plans are all elements of a program.

A program should include the following key aspects:

  • Scope and the business activities the program addresses.
  • Priority focus areas or segments of the supply chain that are covered.
  • Description of the actions taken by the company to integrate the program into its business, including in relation to identifying the individuals and groups within the organization who are responsible or must be engaged / involved in deploying the program.
  • Outward actions taken by the company to address the salient risk(s).
  • The actions taken by the company internally to mitigate the risk from occurring in its supply chain e.g. through the design process, through the company’s purchasing practices, through the company’s selection of suppliers and new markets.
  • Baselines, targets, and an action plan to track year-over-year (YOY) progress for improvement.

Helpful Resources

  • Guidance document on setting environmental baselines and targets
  • We encourage you to use the baselines and targets template provided to track and upload your goals, targets, and progress. You may upload that information here in place of a text description. While we currently do not have industry alignment on common units for reporting on goals, having all companies report in a common format may help us extract themes in the long-term.

Lastly, as part of question 3, the following three additional questions will appear if these were selected as salient risk(s).

When Energy and/or Water has been selected as a salient risk for retail stores, offices and distribution centers.

Energy

Companies will be asked to complete a table by answering the below information:

  • What energy source(s) do you use in stores/offices/distribution centers?
  • Answer options: Electricity (purchased), Geothermal, Hydro, Solar Photovoltaic, Wind, Natural Gas
  • Do your stores/offices/distribution centers track their energy use from this source?
  • Answer options: Yes/No/Unknown
  • What quantity of energy was used by this source during the reporting period?
    • Enter the quantity
    • Unit of Measure
    • Dropdown box will appear with units of measurements populated e.g. kWh/MJ etc.
  • Tracking Method
  • Answer options: Meters/Invoices/Estimates
  • Additional comments (Free text)

Intent of the questions

Energy production and energy use are the largest man-made sources of air pollution and greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. The operational, environmental, and financial impacts of energy are key issues for site operations (e.g. offices, stores and distribution centers). To understand how to improve you first need to start by measuring and tracking your energy use.

Water

Companies will be asked to complete a table by answering the below information:

  • What water source(s) do you use in stores/offices/distribution centers?

Answer options: Fresh Surface Water, Rainwater, Groundwater, Produced/Process Water, Municipal Water, Wastewater from another organization, Brackish surface water/seawater, Other water source

  • Do your stores/offices/distribution centers track their water use from this source?

Answer options: Yes/No/Unknown

  • What quantity of water was used from this source during the reporting period?
  • Unit of Measure

Dropdown box will appear with unit of measurements populated e.g. m3/liter/gallon etc.

  • Tracking Method

Answer options: Meters/Invoices/Estimates

  • Additional comments (Free text)

Intent of the questions

There is a finite amount of water on Earth, but we are demanding more and more water to sustain our population and our industry. It is important to understand how much water you are using, in order to take action to improve your freshwater across your sites’ (offices, stores and distribution centers) operations.

Helpful Resource

When Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Risk has been selected as a salient risk

Greenhouse Gas Emission

  • Have you measured Scope 1, 2 and/or 3 emissions? Answer options: Yes/Partial Yes/No
    • Please enter your total Scope 1 emissions in metric tons of C02e.
    • Please enter your total Scope 1 emissions in metric tons of C02e.
    • Please enter your total Scope 3 emissions in metric tons of C02e.
    • Please provide comments and/or description of your measurements, if available

Intent of the question

Companies must help to prevent the worst impacts of climate change through their operations as quickly as possible. Emissions along the value chain represent a company’s biggest greenhouse gas impacts.

By calculating and measuring Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions companies can focus their efforts on finding the greatest GHG reduction opportunities.

Technical Guidance

Measuring your full greenhouse gas emissions inventory – by incorporating corporate-level scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 emissions – enables companies to understand their full value chain emissions.

The GHG Protocol categorizes emissions into three broad scopes:

  • Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions.
  • Scope 2: Indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam.
  • Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities (e.g. T&D losses) not covered in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.(Source: https://ghgprotocol.org )

[1] Source : 2018 Environmental Impact of the Global Apparel and Footwear Industries Study

When completing your answer please report on GHG emissions in metric tons of C02e.

Answer options

  • If you have answered ‘yes’ to this question, your company (or a third party) has measured your corporate level Scope 1, 2 and/or 3 C02e emissions.
  • If you have answered ‘partial yes’ to this question, your company (or a third party) is currently measuring your corporate level Scope 1, 2 and/or 3 C02e emissions.
  • If you have answered ‘no’ to this question, your company has not measured your corporate level Scope 1,2 and/or 3 C02e emissions yet.

Helpful Resource

4.1 Has your company stipulated the expectations of personnel, business partners, and other parties who are responsible for executing the strategy? (Yes/No)

Intent of the question

This question is intended to confirm that the company has a process in place to advance and implement their environmental strategy. The aforementioned process is reflected in the embedded policies and procedures within the organization.

Technical Guidance

A company commitment may be a policy, a strategy, a strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment to environmental improvement.

The steps required to demonstrate that advancing environmental sustainability is a core focus in your business strategy:

  • Stakeholders have been consulted to identify the salient risk(s), impact(s), and opportunities.
  • Company’s environmental strategy is approved by the company’s senior management / executive team.
  • A process is in place to implement and adjust the strategy based on new information and/or changing circumstances.
  • The implementation of the strategy is reflected in the company’s policies and procedures.
  • The roles and responsibilities for personnel and business partners to implement the strategy are clearly specified within the company’s policies and procedures and communicated to the relevant parties.
  • Company’s environmental strategy has been communicated internally to all personnel.

A brief explanation on each step:

1)    Stakeholders were consulted to confirm the salient risk(s), impact(s), and opportunities for your company

To increase the robustness of the risk assessment process, companies are encouraged to build engagement with the people, businesses, and organizations that are affected by the actions and activities of the company. It is beneficial for your company to engage with these stakeholders (which may include governments, NGOs, and community members) in order to more deeply integrate environmental improvement into your local and global context. Consulting stakeholders complements (but does not replace) existing internal processes, and increases the level of transparency.

2)    Company’s environmental strategy is approved by the company’s senior management / executive team

A formal commitment from the leadership is necessary to demonstrate that environmental sustainability is a core focus in your business strategy. This company commitment may be visible in the form of a policy, a strategy, a strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment to environmental improvement.

Making significant changes to your business operations, supply chain, products, materials, and packaging can take many years. Leadership’s adoption of short-, medium-, and long-term targets helps ensure organizational alignment and focus, and increases the likelihood that business decisions align with the efforts to reduce environmental impacts.

How to develop a policy? The German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles has developed this helpful resource on “Developing and implementing your own policy”

3)    A process is in place to implement and adjust the strategy based on new information and/or changing circumstances

As situations and conditions in the value chain continuously evolve and change, so should the company’s commitment and strategy be adapted based on new information and/or the changing circumstances that are raised to the organization by stakeholders. The due diligence process should be on-going, proactive and reactive and applied with flexibility — without leading to a “tick the box” approach.

For example:

  1. The circumstances in which the company is operating can shift, for example due to changes in relevant environmental laws, increases in migrant labor, shifts in the political landscape, etc.
  2. A company may enter into a new market or environment.
  • A company may receive information on an existing product or additional context that it did not have previously. This new information should be weighed and considered as the company moves forward.

4)    The implementation of the strategy is reflected in the company’s policies and procedures

Embedding policies and procedures is important for ensuring that your organization will use time and resources more efficiently towards achieving your goals as an organization. This practice also provides clear guidance to both

management and personnel in order to streamline internal processes, clarify roles and responsibilities, and support consistent decision-making.

5)    The roles and responsibilities for personnel and business partners to implement the strategy are clearly specified within the company’s policies and procedures and communicated to the relevant parties

Setting clear expectations for personnel and business partners is crucial so they know what they are responsible for, what’s expected of them, and what support they can expect from their supervisors, co-workers, or customers. Providing the aforementioned information enables these key stakeholders to execute their work with confidence and excellence towards achieving the organizational goals as articulated in the environmental strategy.

6)    Company’s environmental strategy has been communicated internally to all personnel

The company’s environmental strategy and regular updates on the progress should be shared with all personnel — not merely those directly responsible for implementing the environmental strategy within the company.

In doing this, the company ensures all employees are aligned with the organizational goals the strategy is seeking to achieve. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for all employees to contribute to these efforts by sharing ideas and/or identifying improvement opportunities — even if they are not directly responsible for the implementation of the strategy.

Answer options

  • If answered “yes to this question, you can demonstrate that you have a company commitment through either a policy, strategy, strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment to environmental improvement.
  • If answered “partial yes” to this question, you may not have a written commitment, but you can demonstrate that you have taken actions to advance environmental improvement.

Helpful Resources

A company-wide environmental strategy provides an opportunity to strengthen your company’s business resilience. Having a strategy will enable you to better respond to volatility in the markets related to the supply chain workforce by keeping your company attuned to their environment and agile in your ability to respond. More information can be reviewed through the below industry reports.

Intent of the question

This question is intended to confirm who in your company is responsible for advancing environmental sustainability across your value chain operations. The first step to demonstrate that environmental sustainability is a core focus in your business strategy is to have dedicated staff responsible for this within your company.

Technical Guidance

To answer ‘yes’ to this question, companies should have at least 1 member of staff with sustainability goals embedded into one or more of the following:

  • Companies should have clearly defined roles and responsibilities for any staff assigned to coordinating environmental sustainability activities at the company.
  • An organizational chart and clear job description is important in keeping employees accountable to their roles.
  • These employees must deal directly with senior management and have defined roles for that purpose.
  • The roles could be either required in their job description or accountabilities or designated by relevant system documents to oversee or coordinate.
  • The time spent on the salient risk (as identified earlier in this assessment) and the business area (proprietary business operations and supply chain) for these employees should be known and specified as part of their job description.
  • Employees are resourced, through access to a budget, to hire external expertise and/or engage in training to build capacity and competence to effectively carry out their responsibilities.

Social & Labor

Introduction

The section has been designed to:

  • Support companies in embedding social/human rights within their company’s management system.
  • Align with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector.

What is Due Diligence

Due diligence is a process through which businesses can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts in relation to their own operations as well as throughout their supply chains.

Why is the OECD Due Diligence Guidance important?

Launched in 2017, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector sets a common framework for understanding supply chain due diligence.

  • The OECD is the most authoritative international elaboration of due diligence that has been approved by 48 governments and endorsed by business, trade unions and civil society.
  • It is the first government backed reference on due diligence which makes it relevant for all types of companies operating in all countries and sectors of the economy.

The OECD represents a common understanding among governments and industry stakeholders on due diligence for responsible business conduct in the garment and footwear sector.

Why does the Higg BRM seek to align with the OECD Due Diligence guidance?

Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition) was founded to create a common language to measure and improve social and environmental sustainability performance across the apparel, footwear, and textile industry. In this respect there is a clear commonality between the mission of OECD and Cascale.

Industry collaboration is key to the success of Cascale’s mission. We consider multi-stakeholder alignment and convergence foundational to the change our industry needs to support the well-being of the planet and its communities. This is why, through the OECD’s advisory council, the Cascale gave feedback during the development of the Due Diligence Guidance and also explains why the Higg Brand & Retail Module intends to align with the OECD Due Diligence expectations.

Steps in the OECD due diligence process that are addressed in the Management System section

Step 1. Embed Responsible Business Conduct into policies & management systems

Step 2. Identify & Assess Adverse Impacts in Operations, Supply Chains and Business Relationships.

Step 4. Track Implementation and Results

Step 5. Communicate How Impacts are Addressed

Intent of the question

It is critical for any business that wants to shape an appropriate and effective social/human rights strategy, to start with getting a clear understanding and visibility on their entire value chain operations.

To start the evaluation of a company’s value chain operations (which includes owned business operations and of their supply chain) a company would need to map/list out their entities and supply chain partners on a “map”. To get started with this evaluation, please use the data collection sheet to start mapping your value chain.

Technical Guidance

In the next paragraphs we will reference proprietary business operations and supply chain as value chain operations.

Value Chain definition : All activities involved in the creation, sale, and servicing of products to the end customer. This includes product development, manufacturing, logistics (inbound and outbound), company operations, distribution and customer support services (example repair programs).

By listing the value chain operations on a map, it allows you to visualize and assess the sites (owned and operated by your company) and supply chain partners you are currently working with.

The benefits of value chain mapping and the visualization of it are to:

  • Gain oversight and control on your value chain operations.
  • Visualization helps avoid feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty or abundance of data.
  • Provide clarity on what the “blind spots” are so that you can plan or better yet take actions to address them.
  • Enable knowledge sharing within your company.

A company that will start to map and evaluate their value chain operations for the first time, will find that the initial phase of collecting information and engaging stakeholders will require the most time and effort.

Though you will find in the following years that it will be easier to map your value chain operations so that you can focus efforts on identifying where adverse social/human rights impacts are occurring and take actions to address them. Lastly, updating your value chain mapping does not necessarily have to be an annual exercise but only when certain data points (sites locations/suppliers) have been changed.

Some tips to help you get started:

  • First step, map the information for your owned business operations, such as offices, retail stores (if applicable), and distribution centers by working with the colleagues who manage your facilities, logistics, retail operations, and offices, etc. We recommend starting with this information because it will be more accessible than the data related to the workers in your value chain, which will require support from external parties such as consultants or local NGOs or trade unions to obtain.
  • As a second step, map your supply chain by listing all of the suppliers that you have direct business relationships with and what products and services they provide to your company. A good place to start is by working with your sourcing managers, purchasing agents, facilities managers, field staff and buyers.
  • Focus on mapping the supply chain for your high-volume products. For each product, trace the flow of materials through the supply chain and include, if known, tier 1 (product assembly) and tier 2 (material) suppliers. Include if known:

Your Tier 1 suppliers:

  • Product assembly
  • Make, cut & sew

Your Tier 2 suppliers:

  • Materials
  • Part and trim suppliers
  • Dyers
  • Tanners
  • Printers, trim

Your Tier 3 suppliers:

  • Spinning, down processing
  • Hide processing
  • Plastic pellet creation
  • This will be an iterative process where one supplier leads you to the next set of suppliers. Suppliers may also provide data through their completed Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM).

The mapping of your value chain operations should not only result in a deeper understanding of where all of your operations are taking place but must also inform and feed into your risk assessment process. It is crucial for companies to map both their owned business operations and their supply chain so that you can articulate why certain priorities and/or actions have been made as part of the aforementioned process.

Answer options

  • If answered yes to this question, you can demonstrate that you have documented or mapped your value chain operations. Companies may use the template that we have provided or other materials that drives towards the same intent: which is that you know/have visibility of your owned operations and supply chain partners.

Helpful Resources

Intent of the question

Companies must formalize their social/human rights risk assessment process in order to explain their risk-based approach to internal and external stakeholders.

Technical Guidance

In the previous question, we have asked you to evaluate and map out where your operations are taking place. In this question, we ask you to take that information and feed that into your risk assessment process.

Risk assessment process describes the overall process or method where a company can:

  1. Identify & assess the risk of adverse social/human rights impacts in their operations, supply chain and business relationships that they may have caused or contributed to.
  2. Analyze and evaluate how likely the risk(s) will occur and how severe the harm/damage will be.
  3. Prioritize the risks based on salience (severity of harm).
  4. Determine appropriate measures to cease, prevent or mitigate the risk of adverse social/human rights.

A few notes on the secondary questions:

  • Risk factors that increase the chance of adverse social/human rights impacts are sector, product, country, business model, and sourcing model. These factors are further explained in the supporting resource linked to above.
  • A risk assessment process forms an integral part of a management system. There are various standards and initiatives that are helping and advising companies on how to assess their risks. A few of which are mentioned in this question as well as under helpful resources.
  • Companies should engage and consult internal and/or external experts in the determination of salient risks as a means to ensure robustness of their process.
  • Lastly, conducting a risk assessment should be a dynamic (not static) process and as such should be updated at minimum every two years or earlier when new information and/or changing circumstances.

Definitions:

Risk – under the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, risk is explicitly defined as: the risk of harm to individuals, other organizations, and communities in relation to human rights, labor rights, and the environment — and not to the business itself. The Higg BRM aligns with this established risk terminology and excludes in this context the risk to the business itself.

Adverse impact – in the context of the OECD Guidelines “adverse impact” is considered as a harmful impact of human rights risks (such as child labor, sexual harassment and forced labor). The term “harm” and “adverse impacts” are used interchangeably throughout this How to Higg Guide.

Salience – is determined based on the risk and the severity of harm (adverse impact) the company’s activities or business relationships has on people, the communities and the environment. Salience in the OECD Due Diligence context does not include harm to the business (reputation, revenue, etc.) itself. The below figure is taken from the UN Guiding Principles.

Before answering this question, please first review these two guides: “Understanding Human Rights Due Diligence” and “Conducting Human Rights Risk Assessment”. These resources were designed to:

  • Support your understanding of what Human Rights Due Diligence is (building on an internationally recognized framework) and where all of the above mentioned 8 steps are explained in detail.
  • Equip you with resources to support your due diligence efforts and support your company’s efforts to complete your Higg BRM submission.

Helpful Resources

Social Risks and Impacts Dropdown Answer options: Yes/No

  • Please select all that apply: (The below risk and impact questions will automatically appear based on risks/impact selected in question #3)
    • Forced Labour and Human Trafficking
    • Child Labor
    • Wages and Benefits
    • Working Hours
    • Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
    • Health and Safety
    • Access to Water and Sanitation
    • Decent Work
    • Discrimination, Harassment and Abuse
    • Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Violence
    • Bribery and Corruption
    • Right to Health
    • Right to Privacy
    • Right to Security of the Person
    • Minorities’ and Communities’ Rights
    • Land Rights
    • None of the above

Intent of the question

The purpose of this question is to allow you to elaborate on the actions your company is taking to manage and measure your salient risks, impacts, and opportunities, as well as to describe how deeply in your business operations you are taking action.

Technical Guidance

It is important to review the three resources below before continuing on to the rest of the guidance:

  • Review this 4 minute video created by the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework on salient human rights.
  • If you have missed this detailed guidance on how your company can conduct a human rights risk assessment (aligned with the 8 steps of the UN Guiding Principles), please start by reviewing this.
  • As a subsequent step, this overview aims to explain the 16 types of social / human rights risks, to help companies determine whether these are salient risks.

Preparing for the risk assessment

When prioritizing human rights risks a company should focus its attention on salience. Salience is determined based on the severity of harm that the risk poses to people and the likelihood of the event occurring. Under the UN Guiding Principles companies are expected to prioritize and address salient risks first instead of addressing all risks at the same time.

Starting the risk assessment process

  1. For each area of your proprietary business operations, materials, product, packaging, and supply chain assess whether any of the below 16 risks have a higher likelihood of occurring:
    • Forced Labour and Human Trafficking
    • Child Labor
    • Wages and Benefits
    • Working Hours
    • Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
    • Health and Safety
    • Access to Water and Sanitation
    • Decent Work
    • Discrimination, Harassment and Abuse
    • Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Violence
    • Bribery and Corruption
    • Right to Health
    • Right to Privacy
    • Right to Security of the Person
    • Minorities’ and Communities’ Rights
    • Land Rights
  1. Review the major processes and the stage of the supply chain used to manufacture the raw materials into your final product (things like cut and sew, injection molding, heat forming, etc.) You will most likely need to work with your sourcing managers, purchasing agents, facilities managers, field staff and buyers. If suppliers have completed the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM) they may be able to provide you with the risks identified in the Higg FSLM. This will provide you with your ‘hot spots’ in identifying the salient social and human rights risks in the manufacturing of the products you sell.

Important Note: In the above review companies should include the evaluation of direct as well as indirect suppliers (through the use of sourcing agents) as well as their geographical location.

  • Review the operations and logistics for the storage and shipment of your products. Identify and work with the people who manage and oversee inbound and outbound logistics through the distribution centers to identify the social/human rights risks and impacts.
  • Finally, review your owned operations. Identify the person who manages the human resources for offices and/or stores. Work with these people to quantify the impact of your own operations and to identify where there may be social/human rights impacts and risks.

The risk assessment process is not easy or quick. In the first attempt you will most likely uncover more questions than answers. This is an indicator of progress and will provide you a preliminary understanding of the salient social/human rights impacts and risks. As you dig deeper into those areas, you will continue to learn more and will improve the accuracy and value of your assessment over time.

Answer option

The expectation when answering “yes” and selecting one or more salient social/human right risk(s) is that your company has:

  • Identified this as a salient risk through the risk assessment process.
  • Taken actions to address this salient risk.
  • Implemented a program to reduce this risk. The following components should be included within this program:
  • the scope and the business activities it addresses.
  • the priority focus areas covered.
  • the actions you are taking to improve on the risk.

Helpful Resources

After selecting a salient risk, the following secondary questions will appear for each selected risk:

  • Has your company established a program aimed at addressing the selected risk? Answer options: Yes/No
  • If answered yes, what is included in your program?
  • A corporate policy approved by your company’s executive team and/or Board that underpins the commitment to the success of this program.
  • Compliance with all applicable regulations?
  • Specific minimum requirements and best practices that go above and beyond applicable regulations.
  • Requirements in manufacturer contracts that requires their suppliers and subcontractors to meet the goals of the program.
  • Public disclosure including a description of your impact in this area and details pertaining to your program.
  • None of the above.
  • What value chain/business stages do these actions address?
  • Product
  • Packaging
  • Transportation
  • Offices
  • Distribution Centers
  • Retail Stores
  • Product Use & End of Use
  • Supply Chain: Agent/Trading Company/Licensees
  • Supply Chain Tier 1: Final product manufacturing and assembly (or finished goods production)
  • Supply Chain Material Converters
  • Supply Chain Tier 2: Material manufacturing (or finished materials production)
  • Supply Chain Tier 3: Raw material processing
  • Supply Chain Tier 4: Agriculture, Ranching, Forestry, and Extraction
  • Supply Chain: Chemical Suppliers (management, finished product and/or packaging compliance)
  • Other
  • Please describe your priority focus areas for the selected supply chain segments (e.g. focused on forced labor in Tier 4 in a specific country for a specific fiber type)
  • Describe the actions you are taking in these areas
  • Has your company measured the risk, set targets to reduce the risk and tracked YOY progress for its program aimed at addressing forced labor and human trafficking? Answer options: Yes/No
  • Which value chain/business stages do these measurements and targets cover?
  • Please describe the target(s) or upload template

Intent of these questions

The intent here is for your company to demonstrate that it has established a program for specific supply chain segments and that targets have been set to measure progress year over year.

Risk mitigation and/or remediation of social and human rights risks are most effectively managed by implementing clear program(s), that have specific social/human rights goals to work towards, that are enforced across the value chain. Successful implementation of a program leads to year-over-year progress on set goals and targets.

Technical Guidance

Program: intends to create a positive change in a specific area. A program provides details on the how and what will be achieved through goals, requirements, actions and accountability metrics to improve in a specific area. Policies, strategies, projects and action plans are all elements of a program.

A program should include the following key aspects:

  • Scope and the business activities the program addresses.
  • Priority focus areas or segments of the supply chain that are covered.
  • Description of the actions taken by the company to integrate the program into its business, including in relation to identifying the individuals and groups within the organization who are responsible or must be engaged / involved in deploying the program.
  • Outward actions taken by the company to address the salient risk(s).
  • The actions taken by the company internally to mitigate the risk from occurring in its supply chain e.g. through the design process, through the company’s purchasing practices, through the company’s selection of suppliers and new markets.
  • Baselines, targets, and an action plan to track year-over-year (YOY) progress for improvement.

We recommend that you design and align your company’s social/human rights program with the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The UNGPs are the authoritative global standard on business and human rights, unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011. We have created a checklist for your company to use in order to build or align your program with the UNGP.

In order for your company to demonstrate improvements or progress on your social / human rights strategy (as identified by your company in the previous question) it is important to set baselines and targets.

About Baselines

Baseline setting is important in order to identify where you are now as it relates to a specific topic and/or area of focus. It also serves as the starting or reference point used to measure progress and/or improvement of any activities taken, which is why it should be conducted before any activity begins. Some companies find it valuable to conduct a baseline prior to establishing a target to help inform the goal-setting process and to help set realistic, stretch targets.

Setting baselines could be done using your own historical data or in the absence of data you could refer to either local law (in the production country) or to the ILO Core Conventions.

Companies are encouraged to monitor their progress on addressing social and human rights risks even without available baseline data.

About Targets

Targets should focus on the outcomes of the risk mitigation and/or remediation of social / human rights risks and impacts. It is acceptable to begin with prioritizing target(s) for the most urgent and salient risks, and then over time to add other targets.

There are two types of targets: quantitative and qualitative.

  • What are the actions you are trying to measure? (These are the quantitative )
  • What change in behavior are you trying to achieve? (These are the qualitative )

Companies are increasingly engaging in collaborative approaches with other stakeholders to address social and human rights risks at a sector-wide level. In these cases, industry-wide collaboration rather than a single company agenda is most effective in addressing systemic social & labor issues.

In this context qualitative indicators may be most appropriate.

For example, a collaborative sector-wide approach that has resulted in a change in legislation or a change in the minimum wage would be best measured by a qualitative indicator when measuring the effectiveness.

Helpful Resources

  • Checklist to align your program with the UN Guiding Principles – explains the steps needed to build a social/human rights program that is aligned with the UN Guiding Principles.
  • Guidance document on setting baselines and targets
  • We encourage you to use the baselines and targets template provided to track and upload your goals, targets, and progress. You may upload that information into here in place of a text description. While we currently do not have industry alignment on common units for reporting on goals, having all companies report in a common format may help us extract themes in the long-term
  • Has your company stipulated the expectations of personnel, business partners, and other parties who are responsible for executing the strategy?(Yes/No)
    • Internal employees
    • Business partners (suppliers, manufacturers, agents, wholesale companies, retailers) Consumers
    • NGOs
    • Regulators/Policy Makers/Government Bodies
    • Trade Unions/Industry Groups
    • Academic Institutions
    • Other (If Other, please describe)
  • Has your company’s social/human rights strategy been communicated internally to all personnel? (Yes/No)
  • Has your company written operational policies and procedures for implementing the strategy?
    (Yes/No)

Intent of the question

This question is intended to confirm that the company has a process in place to advance and implement their social/human rights strategy. The aforementioned process is reflected in the embedded policies and procedures within the organization.

Technical Guidance

A company commitment may be a policy, a strategy, a strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment for improving the management of social / human rights risks.

The steps required to demonstrate that advancing social/human rights is a core focus in your business strategy:

  • Stakeholders have been consulted to identify the salient risk(s), impact(s), and opportunities
  • Company’s social / human rights strategy is approved by the company’s senior management / executive team
  • A process is in place to implement and adjust the strategy based on new information and/or changing circumstances
  • The implementation of the strategy is reflected in the company’s policies and procedures
  • The roles and responsibilities for personnel and business partners to implement the strategy are clearly specified within the company’s policies and procedures and communicated to the relevant parties
  • Company’s social / human rights strategy has been communicated internally to all personnel

A brief explanation on the above steps:

1)    Stakeholders have been consulted to identify the salient risk(s), impact(s), and opportunities

To increase the robustness of the risk assessment process, companies are encouraged to build engagement with the people, businesses, and organizations that are affected by the actions and activities of the company. It is beneficial for your company to engage with these stakeholders (which may include governments, NGOs, and community members) in order to more deeply integrate social/human rights improvement into your local and global context. Consulting stakeholders’ complements (but does not replace) existing internal processes and increases the level of transparency.

2)    Company’s social / human rights strategy is approved by the company’s senior management / executive team

A formal commitment from the leadership is necessary to demonstrate that social/human rights is a core focus in your business strategy. This company commitment may be visible in the form of a policy, a strategy, a strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment to improving social/human rights.

Making significant changes to your business operations, supply chain, products, materials, and packaging can take many years. Leadership’s adoption of short-, medium-, and long-term targets helps ensure organizational alignment and focus, and increases the likelihood that business decisions align with the efforts to reduce social/human rights impacts.

How to develop a policy? The German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles has developed this helpful resource on “Developing and implementing your own policy”

3)    A process is in place to implement and adjust the strategy based on new information and/or changing circumstances

As situations and conditions in the value chain continuously evolve and change, so should the company’s commitment and strategy be adapted based on new information and/or the changing circumstances that are raised to the organization by stakeholders. The due diligence process should be on-going, proactive and reactive and applied with flexibility — without leading to a “tick the box” approach.

For example:

  1. The circumstances in which the company is operating can shift, for example due to changes in relevant labor laws, increases in migrant labor, shifts in the political landscape, etc.
  2. A company may enter into a new market or environment.
  • A company may receive information on an existing product or additional context that it did not have previously. This new information should be weighed and considered as the company moves forward.

4)    The implementation of the strategy is reflected in the company’s policies and procedures

Embedding policies and procedures is important for ensuring that your organization will use time and resources more efficiently towards achieving your goals as an organization. This practice also provides clear guidance to both management and personnel in order to streamline internal processes, clarify roles and responsibilities, and support consistent decision-making.

5)    The roles and responsibilities for personnel and business partners to implement the strategy are clearly specified within the company’s policies and procedures and communicated to the relevant parties

Setting clear expectations for personnel and business partners is crucial so they know what they are responsible for, what’s expected of them, and what support they can expect from their supervisors, co-workers, or customers. Providing the aforementioned information enables these key stakeholders to execute their work with confidence and excellence towards achieving the organizational goals as articulated in the social/human rights strategy.

6)    Company’s social / human rights strategy has been communicated internally to all personnel

The company’s social/human rights strategy and regular updates on the progress should be shared with all personnel — not merely those directly responsible for implementing the social/human rights strategy within the company.

In doing this, the company ensures all employees are aligned with the organizational goals the strategy is seeking to achieve. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for all employees to contribute to these efforts by sharing ideas and/or identifying improvement opportunities — even if they are not directly responsible for the implementation of the strategy.

Answer options

  • If answered “yes” to this question, you can demonstrate that you have a company commitment through either a policy, strategy, strategic plan, or any other form of a written commitment to improve on the management of social/human rights risks.
  • If answered “partial yes” to this question, you may not have a written commitment, but you can demonstrate that you have taken actions to improve on the management of social/human rights risks.
  • If answered “no” to this question, you do not have a company commitment to improve on the management of social/human rights risks.

Helpful Resources

A company-wide social/human rights strategy provides an opportunity to strengthen your company’s business resilience. Having a strategy will enable you to better respond to volatility in the markets related to the supply chain workforce by keeping your company attuned to their environment and agile in your ability to respond. More information can be reviewed through the below industry reports.

Intent of the question

This question is intended to confirm who in your company is responsible for advancing social/human rights activities. The first step to demonstrate that advancing social/human rights is a core focus in your business strategy is to have dedicated staff responsible for this within your company.

Technical Guidance

To answer ‘yes’ to this question, companies should have at least 1 member of staff with social/human rights goals embedded into one or more of the following:

  • Companies should have clearly defined roles and responsibilities for any staff responsible for coordinating social/human rights activities at the company.
  • An organizational chart and clear job descriptions is important in keeping employees accountable to their roles.
  • These employees must deal directly with senior management and have defined roles for that purpose.
  • The roles could be either required in their job description or accountabilities or designated by relevant system documents to oversee or coordinate.
  • The time spent on the salient risk (as identified earlier) and the business area (proprietary business operations and supply chain) for these employees should be known and specified as part of their job description.
  • Employees are resourced, through access to a budget, to hire external expertise and/or engage in training to build capacity and competence to effectively carry out their responsibilities.

Helpful Resources

Harvard Business Review: How to Make Sustainability Every Employee’s Responsibility

9.1 How does your company monitor its performance?

  • Self-assessment
  • Internal audit
  • External audit by an independent third-party (If company uses a third-party audit, provide the name of the auditing organization)
  • Confidential employee surveys
  • Confidential employee hotlines
  • Confidential management surveys
  • Senior management oversight committee
  • Other (If other, please describe)

Intent of question

This question intends to confirm the company has a program in place to monitor that employees rights for employment, health & safety, and livelihood are protected.

Technical Guidance

This question applies to your company’s own operations and employees.

The monitoring of social/human rights & labor performance is a continuing process in which organizations endeavor to protect the health, safety, and rights of their employees. Monitoring social & labor performance in the workplace is intended to support part of a larger system to improve labor conditions within the organization.Various studies show that a happier workforce leads to enhanced performance through high efficiency and productivity.

Helpful Resources