Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) Best Practice Guidance

l Local law or ETI requirement: 2.1 Workers, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade
unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.
l Recommended corrective action: It is recommended that the welfare committee meets regularly, that
meetings are minuted and that minutes are shared with the workforce.
l Objective evidence observed: following worker interview results, auditors found that the welfare
committee met very infrequently, did not discuss the items suggested by the workers and did not
produce minutes of meetings.
Note: Freedom of Association is a complex area to audit as the laws and regulations are different between
countries and also between Export Processing Zones. The following description represents the level of detail
that Sedex members would like to see on an audit report.
l Evidence examined and current status “There is no trade union on the farm. However, there is a
parallel means of engaging management, by use of a workers welfare committee. The committee
meets with management to review labour and welfare conditions at the work place. Workers welfare
committee is also used to communicate to workers. Workers and management discuss and agree on
practical solutions to any issues that may have been raised, assign responsibilities and set timeline for
actions, and follow-up on any actions agreed in previous meetings. Other than welfare committee,
there exists a gender and a Health & Safety committee. Worker representation is from every
department of the farm. Workers elect their representatives themselves. Trainings are conducted to
enable these committees to effectively discharge their duties. The committees have agendas for their
meetings. Minutes of all meetings are documented and maintained on file. Meeting proceedings are
shared during workers meetings and posted on notice boards”.
Issue title: Age discrimination.
l Detail of non-compliance: Factory only recruits workers -ages equal or over 18.
l Local law or ETI requirement: In accordance with the ETI Base Code Clause 7.1, there is no
discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based
on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union
membership or political affiliation.
l Recommended corrective action: It is recommended that the factory should terminate this rule and
stop discriminating against candidates between the ages of 16 to 18 when hiring.
l Objective evidence observed: It was noted that from the factory rule article 2, the factory would only
recruit workers with ages equal or over 18.
Issue title: No rest day for each 7 days.
SMETA Best Practice Guidance (4-Pillar Version 4.0, May 2012)
l Description of non-compliance: Workers were not provided with one day off in seven,
(2 days off in 14).
l Local law or ETI requirement: The ETI Base Code states that: 6.2 In any event, workers shall not on a
regular basis be required to work in excess of 48 hours per week and shall be provided with at least
one day off for every seven-day period on average.
l Recommended corrective action: Workers shall be provided with one day off in seven.
l Objective evidence observed: Based on observations made during document review, and worker
interview, it was found that some workers were working 7 days consecutively over a period of weeks.
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