Social Complaince Audit

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CDG is a leading company which provides factory social compliance audit in India.

A social compliance audit, also known as a social audit, is an effective way to determine if an organization is complying with socially responsible principles.

Social compliance refers to how a company protects the health and safety as well as the rights of its employees, the community, and the environment where it operates in addition to the lives and communities of workers in its distribution chain and its supply chain. Social compliance also refers to an organization’s perspective on corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Social compliance audits, which are voluntary, are typically performed by independent social compliance auditors who conduct these audits on suppliers’ external facilities, such as factories and farms. Although social compliance audits may differ slightly depending on the industry, the requirements for each social compliance audit is typically the same. When conducting a social compliance audit, an auditor follows a social compliance audit checklist.

Let’s talk about the SA8000 requirements which cover 9 different areas of social accountability.

1.Child Labor

Upon arriving at the facility, one thing the auditor will check for is that all workers are above the age of 16 or the legal working age in the area.

2 .Forced or Compulsory Labor

The auditor will look for evidence that no documents like ID cards or passports are held without the ability of the worker to retrieve them.

3. Health and Safety

It is important that health and safety standards are being met, so the auditor will look for documentation of compliance with building safety requirements.

4. Freedom of Association

It is important to verify that the employer is respecting the right of all personnel to bargain collectively or, where collective bargaining is restricted, have access to alternate means.

5. Discrimination

Another important area of the audit focuses on discrimination, with checks to ensure that employer practices related to hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination, or retirement are fair to everyone.

6. Disciplinary Practices

One of the goals of the audit is to determine whether employees at the facility are free from harassment as well as mental, physical, and verbal abuse.

7. Working Hours

Working hours are another important area covered by the audit. Are employees working regular and overtime hours in accordance with the law? Do they receive rest breaks?

8. Remuneration

It is important that employees are being paid fairly, so the auditor will conduct checks to see if the facility provides adequate wages.

9. Management System

The management system of the company is also reviewed to ensure that policies are in place for social accountability and subcontractors are being monitored for their practices as well.

When an organization receives its social compliance audit report, it may decide to share it with the public, whether the results of the social compliance audit are positive or negative. Then creating and sharing an action plan regarding its social compliance efforts to become a more socially conscious corporate citizen could enhance its public image.

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CDG provides social compliance audit services all across India. How can you ensure your supply chain is free of issues like child labor, forced labor, and unfair disciplinary practices?

How do you know that your suppliers in developing countries are compliant with all applicable labor laws?
Imagine working with a supplier that is using child labor and having no idea that it’s occurring until one day, your brand gets dragged through the mud after a revelation that you are associated with a factory engaging in these practices.Many importers are rightfully concerned about social compliance.

What is social compliance?
Social compliance is a focus on your policies and practices as well as those of your supply and distribution chains to protect the rights, health, and safety of workers.A social compliance audit is a type of factory audit that is conducted on-site at your supplier’s facilities to ensure they are operating in-line with accepted standards in these areas.In fact, many retailers like Walmart, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Disney, and others actually require them in order to put your products on their shelves.There are differentsets of standards for conducting social audits, but the SA8000 standard is the most prominent one.

What is an SA8000 Audit and How Does it Work?
An SA8000 audit is a social compliance audit that conducted to verify whether a supplier is operating in line with local labor laws and international norms related to social responsibility.It is conducted based on the SA8000 standard, which is the “leading social certification standard for factories and organizations across the globe,” established by Social Accountability International.

PROTECT THE HEALTH, RIGHTS AND SAFETY OF YOUR EMPLOYEES, SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION CHAIN Social compliance refers to how a business protects the health, rights and safety of their employees, supply and distribution chain. It also encompasses environmental issues and perspective on social responsibility. Your reputation is vital in a global marketplace as any evidence of mishandling, or ethical violation will adversely impact consumer trust and ultimately, profit margins.By complying to international social compliance standards, you can improve your brand’s reputation among consumers and competitors, boost productivity and reduce health hazards in the workplace. To get started, conduct a social compliance audit to find out where you stand against global compliance standards.
OUR SOCIAL COMPLIANCE AUDIT SERVICES INCLUDE• SA8000® Standard - Social Accountability Certification.• Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA)• Code of Conduct(CoC)These audits play an important role in helping to ensure an ethical supply chain. They can help you to avoid partnering with unethical suppliers, ensure compliance with statutory requirements, and protect your brand’s reputation from harm.

CDG performs social audits, offers social compliance certifications, and provides tools for continual improvement. A social audit, at its best, should be seen as a tool used to promote growth, progress and sustainability within an organization and its community.

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CDG provides business ethical compliance services in India.Ethical compliance within an organization is done for the benefit of the company and the employees. A well-crafted ethical compliance policy will help you and your employees make day-to-day decisions that advance your business goals without venturing over to the "dark side." The use of ethical standards can both reduce the chances of a workplace lawsuit and help to create a positive work environment. Before establishing your corporate ethical policies, you need to understand both the advantages and disadvantages of ethical compliance in an organization.Every company has a code of conduct that governs the operations in one way, or another. In fact, each company shares its values and rules to gauge the behavior of all employees. Scholars and non-scholars define ethical compliance as due diligence and the promotion of organizational culture, which encourages ethical conduct and commitment to compliance as required by the law.When it comes to corporate ethics, bad news is good news. According to the Ethics Resource Center’s 2009 National Business Ethics Survey, on-the-job misconduct is down, whistle-blowing is up, and ethical organizational cultures are stronger. Despite these trends, there may be no better time for human resource managers to conduct or participate in ethics-related audits.Six Steps to Highly Effective Ethics AuditsThese tips can help companies conduct effective ethics audits:Start with a detailed foundation. An ethics audit is a comparison between actual employee behavior and the guidance for employee behavior provided in policies and procedures. Develop metrics. Ethics audits may not be as black-and-white as financial or operational audits, but they run more smoothly when tangible ethics measures are in placeCreate a cross-functional team. Include an HR professional familiar with people in the business unit being audited. Audit efficiently. Audits frequently disrupt normal operations in business areas subjected to review. Before scheduling an audit, find out if internal auditors or the finance team may be conducting reviews of the same area. Look for other issues. Keep an eye out for other improvement opportunities, and share those with relevant colleagues.Respond consistently and communicate. Discipline ethics violations in complete accord with policies and procedures and the code of conduct every time. Also, use ethics issues, when possible, as grist for "lessons learned" in ethics-related communications and training.Advantage Society's laws put into writing our collective understanding of right and wrong, and clearly define behaviors that are considered unacceptable. Local, state and federal laws help to guide part of a company’s ethical policies. At the very minimum, policies should embrace adherence to applicable laws. But most policies go beyond the minimum legal requirements.For example, a zero tolerance corporate policy for sexual harassment is in response to the many laws that govern this kind of workplace activity. Your policy communicates to employees that sexual discrimination and harassment is unacceptable at all levels. Ethical compliance helps companies to develop a work culture that abides by the workplace laws and reduces the costs associated with fines and lawsuits.
Disadvantage
One of the disadvantages of an ethical compliance program is that it requires the comprehensive support of management to be effective. If members of the management team decide to apply their own version of corporate ethics to the way they manage their departments, then this clash of principles can cause confusion in the workplace.

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CDG can conduct a social responsibility audit of your clients in least possible time.Social Responsibility Audit
The CDG Social Responsibility Audit is an extensive multi-step and comprehensive process to evaluate our highest risk suppliers to ensure compliance with our standards for supply chain social responsibility. Audits are conducted using Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) standard and performed by selected third-party auditors chosen from RBA’s approved audit firms.The audit process includes: Supplier Self-Assessments – Supplier completes a self-assessment questionnaire prior to an on-site visit.On-site Visit from CDG Auditors – On-site meetings occur prior to the third-party audit and includes the development of an audit plan and audit on-boarding. If supplier score from the self-assessment and on-site visit does not meet expectations based on RBA standards, the supplier is notified and corrective actions are taken by the supplier and tracked/verified by CDG prior to third-party audit.
Third-Party Audit – Third party auditors conduct an extensive on-site audit that include assessments related to social responsibility. The on-site audit consists of management interviews, employee interviews, site observations (facility walk-throughs) and document reviews (e.g. human rights, child labor, human trafficking, health and safety, working hours)Employee Interviews: The number of employees interviewed is defined by RBA standards. The interviews are conducted privately, without the presence of managers, or other staff, and worker responses are confidential. Senior managers must agree to encourage workers to be open and honest during interviews. Managers are also required to actively protect any interviewed worker from retaliation.Site Observations: A review of “living facilities of workers” is required by auditors during the site observations. The related areas that are reviewed are: dormitories (including hostels and off-site housing, if company or labor agent owns/rents accommodation), canteens and kitchens, toilets and sanitation, and recreational facilities.Remediation – Based on the findings of the third-party audit, a remediation plan is created in by CDG, our third-party auditors and in collaboration with supplier Corporate Social Responsibility lead and senior management that ensures supplier meets or exceeds CDG’s CSR.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Training – CDG and/or a third-party presents CSR training to all identified suppliers to discuss the criteria and overall outcome of the Social Responsibility Audit. Best practices, strategies, and tactics to improve social responsibility practices are shared and discussed to ensure alignment with CDG values and expectations.Follow-up – CDG conducts regularly scheduled meetings (daily/weekly) with suppliers to assess progress against the remediation plans, and follow-up is managed by certified CDG auditors. Closure is completed by the third-party auditors to maintain consistency and fairness.
Training – CDG presents a training summit to discuss the criteria and overall outcome of the Social Responsibility Audit. Best practices, strategies, and tactics to improve social responsibility practices are shared and discussed to ensure alignment with CDG values and expectations.