What is Social Compliance? Why is it Important?

Social compliance, in the simplest sense, is compliance with the working and environmental conditions determined by international organizations that companies must comply with. The International Labor Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency that sets international labor standards. The ILO has a structure that defends the rights of working personnel, prioritizes social justice and guides companies in creating a sustainable business model. With the structure formed by the ILO member states, employers' and workers' unions, it aims to promote the creation of decent working conditions for workers without discrimination between men and women. Turkey is also an ILO member state and it has adopted the working conditions determined by the ILO and defined it in the Labor Law No. 4857. This law generally covers the following topics.

  1. General provisions,

  2. Types of employment contracts and termination,

  3. Fee,

  4. Arrangement of work,

  5. Occupational health and safety,

  6. Finding jobs and workers,

  7. Supervision and inspection of working life,

  8. Administrative penalty provisions,

  9. Various provisional and final provisions,

Many employers around the world have adopted the working conditions determined by the ILO, and especially international brands have started to adopt a Social compliance system control, based on the fact that the workers working in their sub-firms in the Far East have repeatedly paid large fines for working in bad conditions. In this context, employers, trade unions and various organizations came together to form various organizations and encouraged efforts to protect and develop workers' rights.

ETI - Ethical trade initiative is an organization formed by companies, unions and various organizations that ensure the development of respect for workers' rights and guide companies in this regard. ETI aims to create a working world free of exploitation and abuse, protecting human rights in the context of Social compliance. ETI has published its basic terms and conditions as follows and expects companies to comply with these rules and protect workers' rights in line with this policy.

  1. Employees are chosen according to their free will,

  2. The right to unionize and make collective bargaining agreements is recognized,

  3. Occupational health and safety is ensured,

  4. Child labor is not used,

  5. Minimum living wage is paid,

  6. Working hours should not be long,

  7. No discrimination is applied,

  8. Regular employment is provided,

  9. Any very abrasive or inhumane practice is not allowed.

In this context, many companies may have to show this to their customers by arranging their Social compliance systems according to a certain documentation and infrastructure. In general, working conditions in Turkey are protected by law; However, undesirable situations such as double payroll, working overtime over the specified limit, working overtime at night, taking money from hand, and situations where all Social compliance platforms pay attention to improvement can be encountered. Companies that can be separated from such companies by using certain systems and providing the necessary infrastructure and documentation conditions have started to come to the fore in the world market. Thanks to the supply chain control, the customers do not remain indifferent to the companies doing business on their behalf in terms of auditing and Social compliance.

So which systems are we talking about? Let's explain some of the Social compliance systems and principles that are accepted around the world:

SAI - International Social Responsibility Organization is a non-governmental organization established in 1997, with the principle of improving employee rights. SAI has published the SA8000 Social responsibility standard, in which companies evaluate their management systems. SA8000 is a certification program, companies that qualify for certification after the audit are given certificates. Companies are subject to inspections in 6-month periods in order to maintain the validity of their certificates. It is preferred in America and some European countries.

SEDEX is a social audit mechanism used by the ETI - Ethical trading initiative. It is an audit program organized as semi-announced or announced, in which companies can request this audit as well as their customers. No documents are given after the audit, a detailed report is prepared. Non-compliances are usually handled by closing them on SEDEX's own platform, but a follow-up audit is required in certain cases. The reports are valid for 1 year and are generally preferred in England and European countries.

ICS - Compliance and compliance initiative is an organization founded in France in 1998. In the member organizations, semi-announced or announced audits are carried out and audit reports are given to the companies after the audit. An action plan is prepared for nonconformities. The report is valid for 1 year and is generally preferred by French companies.

Founded by FTA - Foreign Trade Association in 2003, BSCI (Institution Social compliance initiative) is a system that aims to improve Social compliance issues within the world supply chain and guides companies in this direction. BSCI audit has a kind of supplier control mechanism that starts with the customers of the companies opening a request through the system. In 2014, the BEPI - Establishment environmental performance initiative was established to focus on environmental issues in the supply chain. Generally, as a result of semi-announced or announced audits, companies are categorized as A-B-C-D-E-F based on the points they get. An audit report valid for 2 years for A and B and 1 year for C is given. Other categories are not accepted by the customer and require re-audit.

All Social compliance programs basically control working conditions and it is impossible for companies to prove that they comply with these Social compliance rules without a written statement. For this reason, you need to easily adapt it into your integrated management system that covers the issues that Social compliance programs focus on.

You can click on the link below to access the Social compliance documents:

https://suswise.com/discover/documents/social-uygunluk-politics-129992

Prepared by: Ümit Kaya, Food Engineer