WRAP changes certification criteria for working hours

Facilities whose working hours are found to exceed the legal limits of their respective countries, but who otherwise would qualify for a standard 1-year Gold certification, may now still receive a Gold certificate provided that they meet the following criteria:

“Being fully transparent about their working hours and ensuring those hours are all being worked voluntarily, in conditions that protect worker safety and health,” a WRAP press release informed.

The criteria also includes compensating all employees fully in accordance with WRAP’s Principle on Compensation and Benefits and showing progress, from one audit to the next, towards meeting the working hour requirements in local law.

According to WRAP, the final element will involve putting into place a Working Hours Action Plan, wherein factory management will establish reduction targets to be achieved over the course of their certification cycle.

“The goal is to facilitate actual progress by identifying root causes of excessive working hours and addressing them, instead of merely masking the problem through double books,” it added.

WRAP envisions this being a very factory-specific process, and intends to work with each of them on a case-by-case basis.

WRAP further said that it looks forward to joining hands with all the factories in its Certification Program, its monitoring partners, the brands and retailers that utilise WRAP, and all other stakeholders.

The goal, WRAP stated, is to usher in this new era in social compliance certification, based on transparency and driven by a desire to foster real and lasting improvements. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India