PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
Workers and their representatives are:
- involved in a truthfully way in communications
- aware of their rights and responsibilities
- able to access an effective grievance mechanism
- training in OSH, able to point out risks and suggest improvements
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
2.1 The Auditee involves and exchanges Information on Workplace Issues with Workers and their Representatives
... a system in place:
- Management and workers meet on a regular basis to talk
- Minutes of these meetings are taken, kept, and remain available for workers to review
- A workers' representative is elected by workers
- Records on the election process are kept and made available
- The concerns of the most vulnerable workers are taken into consideration
- recorded and followed-up complaints and requests
- Women are able to participate and run in the elections ...
→ Workplace Coordination Committee (WCC)
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
2.2 The Auditee defines long-term Goals to protect Workers according to the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct
... to ensure workers' protection is long-lasting ...
... defines long-term goals together with workers and workers' representatives and has a long-term plan (e.g., 5 years) of how they will follow the amforiBSCI CoC.
long-term plan should:
- processes aligned with amforiBSCI CoC
- step-by-step process for making significant improvements
- involvement of workers and their representatives in a truthful way
- written, approved and followed-up by the appropriate person (senior management)
- considering differing needs of women and men workers, must be gender-responsive
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
2.3 CRUCIAL QUESTION: The Auditee takes specific Steps to make Workers aware of their Rights and Responsibilities
... to ensure that workers feel engaged and loyal to the business by better understanding their rights and obligations.
... workers' rights and obligations are defined by: law, specific work contracts and job descriptions, auditee's workplace rules (as long as these rules abide the law)
Workers' awareness of their rights and responsibilities can be raised by means of:
- information sessions
- employment contracts, working rules and job descriptions
- regular training by qualified person
Trainings are mandatory for any new worker, Migrant workers need to be trained and must receive a version of the work contract in a language they understand, ...
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
2.4 The Auditee builds sufficient Competence to successfully embed responsible Practices in the Business Operation
... the auditee shall gain knowledge and skills to become more capable of integrating responsible practices into business operations. To that aim, the producer makes sure that:
- workers, workers' representatives, managers and other decision-makers are regularly trained on due diligence and social management processes
- management regularly receives: informative sessions on amforiBSCI CoC
- training on HR, OSH, and grievance mechanism
- feedback on amforiBSCI monitoring results and follow-up
- training material related to amforiBSCI CoC
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
2.5 The Auditee establishes or participates in an effective Grievance Mechanism for Individuals and Communities
... the auditee shall create and use a grievance mechanism that allows all stakeholders (including local communities and workers-especially vulnerable workers) to make suggestions or complaints related to auditee's actions that may have impacted workers' or communities' rights.
The written procedure for the grievance mechanism shall define:
- who is responsible for managing it
- gender balanced
- potential conflicts of interest and how to overcome them
- timeline for responding to grievance
- communication processes/channels
- alternative ways for filing complaint
(e.g., through a workers' representative or directly to the management) - a system of records-keeping
- regular survey to learn if users are satisfied with the grievance procedure
see Guide 4: How to set up a grievance mechanism
PA02: Workers Involvement and Protection
Required Documents
- Documented evidence of the workers' representative election process
- Documented evidence of regularly scheduled workers' meetings
- Records of agreements with workers' representatives
- Employment contracts including those related to security personnel, cleaning and other services, particularly recruiting agencies or brokers if relevant
- Job descriptions that are aligned to the amfori BSCI values and principles
- Evidence of a training calendar for workers and management
- Documented evidence of training given to workers, management, human resources (e.g., list of attendees with signatures, gender breakdown of the attendees), etc.
- Documented evidence that trainers are qualified
- Documented evidence of grievances filed and investigated (see Self-Assessment Grievance Mechanism on the amfori Sustainability Platform)
- Long-term goals documents
