Commission Decision (EU) 2020/1804Show full title

5.1 Labour conditions during manufacture U.K.

Having regard to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the UN Global Compact (Pillar 2), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multi-National Enterprises, the applicant shall obtain third party verification supported by site audits that the applicable principles included in the ILO fundamental conventions and the supplementary provisions below identified have been respected at the final assembly plant(s) for the product.

Fundamental conventions of the ILO:

(a)

Child Labour:

(i)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No 138);

(ii)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No 182);

(b)

Forced and Compulsory Labour:

(i)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No 29) and 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention;

(ii)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No 105);

(c)

Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining:

(i)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No 87);

(ii)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98);

(d)

Discrimination:

(i)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No 100);

(ii)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No 111).

Supplementary provisions:

(a)

Working Hours:

(i)

ILO Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No 1);

(b)

Remuneration:

(i)

ILO Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No 131)

(ii)

Living wage: The applicant shall ensure that wages (excluding any taxes, bonuses, allowances, or overtime wages) paid for a normal work week (not exceeding 48 hours) shall be sufficient to afford basic needs (housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, health care, education, potable water, childcare, and transportation) of worker and of a family of four people, and to provide some discretionary income. Implementation should be audited with reference to SA8000(1) guidance on ‘Remuneration’;

(c)

Health & Safety:

(i)

ILO Safety in the use of chemicals at work Convention, 1990 (No 170);

(ii)

ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No 155).

In locations where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted under law, the company will not restrict workers from developing alternative mechanisms to express their grievances and protect their rights regarding working conditions and terms of employment, and shall recognise legitimate employee associations with whom it can enter into dialogue about workplace issues.

The audit process shall include consultation with external industry independent organisation stakeholders in local areas around sites, including trade unions, community organisations, NGOs and labour experts. Meaningful consultations shall take place with at least two stakeholders from two different subgroups.

During the validity period of the EU Ecolabel, the applicant shall publish aggregated results and key findings from the audits (including details on (a) how many and how serious violations of each labour rights and OHS standard; (b) strategy for remediation – where remediation includes prevention per UNGP concept; (c) assessment of root causes of persistent violations resulting from the stakeholder consultation – who was consulted, what issues were raised, how did this influence the corrective action plan), online in order to provide evidence of their performance to interested consumers.

Assessment and verification: the applicant shows compliance with these requirements by providing copies of the most recent version of their code of conduct which must be consistent with the provisions specified above and by providing supporting audit reports for each final product assembly plant for the model(s) to be ecolabelled, together with a web link to where online publication of the results and findings can be found.

Third party site audits shall be carried out by auditors qualified to assess the compliance of the industry manufacturing sites with social standards or codes of conduct or, in countries where ILO Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No 81) has been ratified and ILO supervision indicates that the national labour inspection system is effective and the scope of the inspection system covers the areas listed above (2) , by labour inspector(s) appointed by a public authority.

Valid certifications from third party schemes or inspection processes that, together or in part, audit compliance with the applicable principles of the listed fundamental ILO Conventions and the supplementary provisions on working hours, remuneration and health & safety and consultation with external stakeholders, shall be accepted. These certifications shall be not more than 12 months old.

(1)

Social Accountability International, Social Accountability 8000 International Standard, http://www.sa-intl.org

(2)

See ILO NORMLEX (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en) and supporting guidance in the User Manual.