SA8000: only standard which certifies social compliance

Today, numerous tools (social standards, codes of conduct, etc.) are available on the market to enable companies, principals and suppliers/subcontractors to demonstrate that respect for human rights is taken into account in their day-to-day activities, and shared with their production chain.

Some companies include end-consumers among their stakeholders, making them an important population that is sensitive to compliance information.

A vast program indeed. In addition to adhering to these social requirements, the company can no longer content itself with presenting only an annual report that includes certain performance indicators from the social report or the annual sustainable development reports, which are merely declarative.

The company's commitment to continuous improvement must be perfectly transparent.

To this end, the company is required to submit objective social performance reports, setting out the compliant, non-compliant and/or corrective-action-improvement situations assessed by a third party. These reports are made publicly available to all stakeholders.

Social certification is an approach that enables companies to reassure their stakeholders of their true CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) performance, as they undertake to submit to recommendations for improvement in order to maintain minimum compliance with the social requirements of reference instruments (legal, normative, conventional...).

Today, the SA8000 (Social Accountability 8000) standard is the reference tool chosen by companies to establish their social compliance through a certification issued by a certification body and recognized worldwide.