Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) Best Practice Guidance

8.1.2. Specific Points
The purpose of the audit report is to give a full and balanced picture of the findings on the day of the audit.
Readers of the report should be able to build up an accurate picture of the supplier site, both what it is like to
work there as well as any findings from the evidence examined by auditors.
Most Sedex members are interested in working with their suppliers on a programme of continuous
improvement and to understand those improvement opportunities readers need a detailed picture of the current
status of a supplier site. When correctly completed a detailed SMETA audit report will capture sufficient
information to facilitate a discussion on how improvements can be made.
The detailed level of the report can lead to misinterpretation of the information required and for greater clarity
the AAG have produced a “Guide to Completing a SMETA Report”, and this is publicly available on the
Sedex website.
In addition, from some recent anonymous surveys of the SMETA audits on Sedex the AAG have prepared the
following list of common misinterpretations made by some auditors. The AAG anticipate that referring to this list
whilst completing an audit report will reduce the level of unclear information.
l Any variation to the standard SMETA process must be recorded in the SMETA declaration, e.g.
different sample sizes or audit duration.
l Key information in the SMETA report asks whether the lowest paid worker at the site is below min
wage, meets min wage or is above minimum wage. The auditor should check the correct box and
attempt to estimate from the total wage analysis what % of workers are below, meet or exceed the
minimum legal wage
l Migrant worker numbers are required in ‘Worker Analysis’ in the SMETA report. “Migrant workers”
definitions vary depending on country. Auditors should be clear about country / place of origin.
Definitions include
l A worker who has moved to a country, province or region where they are not a native, and where
they are not eligible to become or do not intend to become permanent residents.
l In some countries / areas they can be defined as those who require special permits to work in that
location.
l Wages and hours analysis must always state the units (for wages) and the payment interval – per hour,
per day, per week, per month. For hours analysed the auditor must record whether they are daily,
weekly, monthly for both standard hours excluding overtime as well as the recorded time period for
overtime hours.
Findings by clause:
Notes:
SMETA Best Practice Guidance (4-Pillar Version 4.0, May 2012)
l Must list non-compliances individually with the appropriate code clause or law and appropriate
corrective action accompanying each single non-compliance.
l Documents examined and current status should detail the evidence checked by the auditor as well as
confirmation of how the site manages the particular clause.
l Guidance on completion timeframes and method of verification can be found on the member resources
section of Sedex see "SMETA Guidance to Non-Compliances”.
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