Worker Engagement through SLCP

What is worker engagement?

Meaningful stakeholder engagement is an essential part of effective Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD). It ensures diverse voices are heard, particularly from directly affected groups in the supply chain, such as workers. 

Involving workers leads to:  

  • A more informed decision-making process; 

  • Greater transparency; and 

  • Trust, inclusion, and accountability.   

SLCP, as a multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI), supports companies in meeting their meaningful stakeholder engagement obligations. In particular, by enabling engagement with supply chain workers.

To meaningfully engage with a broader range of their supply chain stakeholders, companies will need to undertake additional engagement measures beyond SLCP. 

To learn more about the ways we support HRDD efforts, please view the HRDD v2.0 Toolkit. 

 

How does SLCP involve workers?  

SLCP involves workers in several ways throughout the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) process to ensure their voices are included and heard:

Click a section below to explore more, or download the explainer for a detailed overview:

    • Data Collection Tool:The “Facility Profile” and “Worker Involvement” sections of the CAF demonstrate how facilities engage  workers, trade unions, and workers’ representatives in the self/joint-assessment process. These sections also assess the extent of worker involvement practices present in the facility such as through Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining, Workplace Cooperation, Grievance Systems, Whistleblower Systems, and Worker Feedback.  More information here.

    • Worker participation in assessments: SLCP strongly recommends that facilities involve workers and/or their representatives when completing the self/joint-assessment. To support this, SLCP provides   specific guidance that helps facilities set up a Worker Engagement Committee to facilitate the inclusion of workers throughout the process.

    • Worker Engagement Technology (WE Tech): The WE Tech Program allows facilities to directly engage with workers and learn more about their workplace experience through an anonymous online survey.  

      When conducting WE Tech, facilities are required to involve worker representatives, trade union representatives, or another worker representation mechanism that is present at the facility.  

      As a follow-up action to the WE Tech survey results, facilities must create an improvement plan that documents the actions that are planned or already underway to address any issues raised by workers.  

      Visit the WE Tech webpage to learn more about the worker engagement survey.  

  • Verification Process: During onsite verification, SLCP Verifiers are required to involve workers and their representatives in both the opening and closing meetings and hear their perspectives through worker interviews. 

    Any problems raised by workers during the interviews must be shared with facility management. Verifiers are required to protect workers’ identities throughout this process. If the facility conducted WE Tech, Verifiers also review the results and any follow-up actions documented in the facility’s improvement plan. More information in the Verification Protocol v1.6 here.

  • Facilities can share their assessment data which includes their efforts to involve workers and the workers’ individual experience to multiple end users through SLCP’s Gateway platform. 

     This gives facilities and their business partners the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of working conditions, address issues, and improve efforts to involve workers in the social compliance process.