This theme evaluates a company’s process for monitoring suppliers, including whether it performs non-scheduled visits, reviews relevant documents such as wage slips or contracts, interviews workers, and monitors lower-tier suppliers. It also looks at what details a company discloses on the outcomes of its supplier monitoring.
Apparel & Footwear
Almost all companies in the benchmark (97%) disclosed a monitoring process for suppliers, and half of the companies disclosed that they monitor suppliers below the first tier. However, audits can fail to detect exploitative working conditions. Therefore, it is concerning that only one company disclosed the use of worker-driven monitoring in its supply chains (monitoring undertaken by independent organizations such as local worker-led organizations, unions, or local civil society partners).
Food & Beverage
The majority of the benchmarked companies disclose having a monitoring process in place for their suppliers, which covers an assessment of labor rights and includes forced labor. Most companies engage in social auditing, although very few engage in worker-driven monitoring, which places workers at the center of the process and better detects the workers’ issues. Less than half of the companies disclose any information on the outcomes of the monitoring process
Information & Communications Technology
The majority of the benchmarked companies disclose having a monitoring process in place for their suppliers covering an assessment of labor rights, including forced labor. Fewer companies, however, disclose details of the monitoring process, and only 40% disclose some information on the outcomes of the monitoring process. While most companies engage in social auditing as part of their supplier monitoring process, no company engages in worker-driven monitoring, which places workers at the center of the process.