Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) Best Practice Guidance

Auditors should never use group interviews to discuss personal issues such as an individual’s wages.
7.3.5.3. Group interviews should be handled with sensitivity. Personal information such as wages should
never be discussed at a group interview. Some workers may be encouraged to talk more freely in
the presence of colleagues. However, other individuals may also become introverted in group
situations, or may follow the majority opinion rather than express their own.
7.3.5.4. Group interviews should be planned to last between 30 and 45 minutes taking into account the
additional time to get workers to attend and to give everyone an opportunity to express
themselves. If issues are uncovered, the interview may need to be extended to fully explore the
issue. Alternatively, if workers are consistently providing the same information, interviews may be
the minimum timeframe.
7.3.5.5. To supplement the individual and group interviews, auditors may choose to provide a written
survey to a large number of workers on site. To encourage responses these can be anonymous,
but their success will depend on literacy levels.
7.3.5.6. As stated in Section 5.5. ‘4-Pillar SMETA audit’ the auditor should interview a minimum of one
manager and one worker from each area of Environment and Business Practices.
Note: See Appendix A5: “Audit Length, Sample Size and Timetable” for guidance on number of
interviewees. The auditor must select the correct total number but whether interviewed as singles or in groups
can be flexible.
7.3.6 Off-Site Interviews
It may be useful to interview some workers off-site, where they may feel more able to speak freely about any
concerns. This is often used where there is a perceived atmosphere of fear that prevents an open discussion in
the workplace. However, this type of interview should only be undertaken by very experienced auditors,
preferably in pairs for safety reasons and to capture and interpret information accurately.
Examples of off-site interviews could be at local facilities frequented by workers, a worker dormitory where it is
outside of the site of employment, a worker centre, etc.
As management are not aware of offsite interviews, there is a risk that they may perceive the practice to be
inciting workers or causing discontent. This can damage supply chain relationships if not handled carefully. An
auditor should always check whether this is a required part of the audit programme.
Where pre-audit employment site profile / SAQ indicates that production processes are undertaken by
homeworkers, the auditor should check with the audit requestor whether these are to be included in the audit
scope. Where homeworking is discovered during an audit, the auditor should at least report the presence of
homeworking and again check with the audit requestor whether a visit to homeworkers is in scope.
In cases where this is not possible, for example due to location constraints, then a separate audit of
homeworkers and their working conditions may be required.
7.3.7 Other Types of Interview
Union and workers representative interviews (where present)
SMETA Best Practice Guidance (4-Pillar Version 4.0, May 2012)
The audit team should include a selection of any union and / or worker representatives as interviewees. Specific
attention should be paid to any training and support given by the trade union, as well as the union
representatives’ knowledge of collective bargaining agreements and union procedures for worker participation.
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