A staggering 91% of all verified assessments of facilities include at least one non-compliance, and the average number of legal non-compliances per verified assessment stands at a high 8.5, according to the 2021 Impact Report of the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) .
The assessments: The SLCP began implementing its Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) in 2019, streamlining the audit process to provide high-quality data sets on working conditions. The Impact Report explores how the SLCP has evolved as a programme and the impact and value it has created for the stakeholders.
- While scaling adoption in the apparel & footwear sector remains SLCP’s top priority, the CAF has the potential to be of enormous benefit to other industries, and the long-term strategy has therefore always included sector expansion. Roughly ~70% facilities are from the apparel and footwear-leather sectors.
The progress: In two years, the SLCP has rolled out to 56 countries and regions; 6,458 facilities were registered in the Gateway; and the number of verified assessments also grew 165% in 2021 from the previous year to 4,440.
- In 2021, more than half of the verifications were completed outside mainland China (where SLCP first launched). This is a significant drop from previous years, where 67% of the 2020 verified assessments were completed in mainland China and 87% in 2019.
- By the end of 2021, over 50 of the world's leading brands, retailers and standards holders publicly committed to accepting SLCP verified data instead of proprietary audit tools.
- With 4,440 facilities having completed an SLCP verified assessment in 2021 alone, the Impact Report estimates that this unlocked savings of up to $10 million that can be reinvested in improving working conditions.
- In the 2021 Better Buying Institute annual ratings cycle, 20% of the suppliers surveyed reported that their buyers were accepting SLCP data, and that this resulted in savings of thousands of dollars sometimes as high as $20,000.
Legal non-compliance numbers: Legal non-compliances are assigned to a data point in SLCP's Data Collection Tool when the Verifier identifies that the facility’s situation is not in line with local legal requirements. This occurs during verification of the data, regardless of whether the facility self-assessment data is ‘accurate’ or ‘inaccurate’. An overview of the facility's legal non- compliances is captured in the verification summary in the verified assessment report.
According to 2021 research, health & safety, wages & benefits, and working hours were the most common categories of violations found in social audits. The most frequent legal non-compliance data points in 2021 included:
- Working Hours: Are all overtime working hours in line with legal limits? 60.6% answered No.
- Wages & Benefits: Are facility social insurance contributions (both calculations and types required) in line with legal requirements? 40.9% answered No.
- Health & Safety: Are legally required guards properly installed and maintained on all dangerous machinery and equipment? 24% answered No.
- Working Hours: Are the weekly rest days provided by the facility in line with legal requirements? 22.3% answered No.
- Wages & Benefits: Are workers’ social insurance contributions (both calculations and types required) in line with legal requirements? 21.1% answered No.
- Health & Safety: Are health checks of workers conducted in line with legal requirements? 18.1% answered No.
- Health & Safety: PPE equipment and clothing provided is consistently and effectively used by workers? 17.7% answered No.
- Health & Safety: Are building/construction, structural safety and fire permits and certificates in line with legal requirements? 11.3% answered No.
- Health & Safety: Are chemicals and hazardous substances stored in line with legal requirements? 10.2% answered No.
- Health & Safety: Are chemicals and hazardous substances labelled in line with legal requirements? 7.2% answered No.
