SA8000 Certification Requirements

There are many things to consider when you are setting up a company. One of these things is how to get the best working environment that suits both the workers and the customers of the company. The company’s work is only considered to be socially acceptable if the personnel of the company are at their best behaviour. There is a certification that actually allows you to show this off. However, there are SA8000 Certification requirements that are needed to be considered before even applying for it. Through the course of this blog, this is the matter that we are going to discuss about.

Requirements for the SA8000 Certification

Needless to say, any form of certification comers with its fair share of caveats. These conditions or requirements are not something that you can take lightly. The governing body of SA8000 certification in India is pretty stringent when it comes to these points. Therefore, take heed to the below requirements and heed them well if you want the right certification. All of these conditions are less related to profits, but more related to ethics.

1. No child labor: When you are being audited, the Auditor is going to keep a close look to see if there are any cases of child labours. The laws associated with child labours are both national and international. The auditor is going to check each and every point to see if your company is adhering to these rules.

• If the workers are young, it is necessary for them to meet necessary educations. If the workers happen to be students, then they should not work at study hours.
• Not more than 8 hours per day for young workers
• No child labor.

2. No Forced Labor: It is a requirement that there is no case of forced labour. The definition of forced labour can be quite convoluted. Let us make it a bit easier for you to understand as it is a necessary point for SA8000 Certification process in India:

• No slave labour
• No withholding of the documents from the workers
• The salary provided should have the right benefits.
• There should not be a case of any bonded labour.

3. Health and Safety standard should be up to the mark: As the point suggests, this points refers to the requirement associated with the safety standards of the company. Things that are needed to be considered here are the following:

• Organizations must expect and take measures to care for expecting or nursing mothers.
• Appropriate protective equipments should be given to the staff.
• A free access to toilet facilities, sanitary facilities, portable water and food storage is required.

4. Freedom of association and collective bargaining: According to this rule: 

• The worker must be allowed to have trade unions
• The workers must be allowed to elect their own representatives.
• The union workers should be protected from any kind of harassment. 

5. Discrimination requirements: According to this particular standard, the workers should not be discriminated, threatened, abused, or coerced on the basis of the following: 

• Race
• Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Political affiliation
• Cast
• Origin

6. Disciplinary requirements: It is necessary for the employers to treat their employees with the right amount of respect and the right amount of dignity. Anything less and you will be ineligible to get the certification.

7. The working hours requirements: This is also something that depends upon the national and international laws:

• There should be at least a single day of rest if there are 6 days of consecutive working
• Collective bargaining can exceed this limit
• The overtime should not be more than a week

8. Remuneration laws should be according to standards: This requirement is associated with how much a worker is paid in terms of regular wages. Your supplies should pay enough to cover the basic needs of hte staff

• Disciplinary reasons cannot be used to deduct of restrict wages
• Overtime should be paid to the workers.

9. Management system requirement: this requirement should provide all the necessary measure to ensure that the SA8000 Standards are properly adhered to.  

• There should be a written policy that informs the workers about the SA8000 policy
• You should also make sure that proper documentation related to the standard is heeded to. 
• There should be an appointment for a Social performance Team who oversees the adherence to SA8000
• All the staff must be trained in order to implement SA8000 properly.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.