Sustainable developement
Social Audits and the Classification of our Suppliers
Rating suppliers on social standards
Every Switcher supplier submits to a pre-audit of his environmental and human relations policies. Each supplier is closely scrutinized on these criteria from the Switcher code of conduct:
- The work is voluntary (ILO, conv. 29 & 105)
- There is no discrimination (ILO, conv. 100 & 111)
- Child labor is forbidden (ILO, conv. 138)
- Collective bargaining and freedom et association are permitted practices (ILO, conv. 87 & 98)
- Fair wages
- Hours of work are not excessive
- Working conditions are decent (in terms of hygiene and safety, for example)
- Working practices are formally established and transparent
- The supplier agrees to be monitored for compliance with the code by an independent third party enjoying the confidence of the work force
- Once the pre-audit is completed, the supplier is given one of four ratings:
Employment and environmental practices are in full compliance with Switcher's code of conduct. With this rating, the supplier has the option of taking advantage of social programs appropriate to his business and administered by Switcher's department of environment and social relations
Supplier practices are basically in compliance with Switcher standards but certain structural, social or environmental improvements need to be made. Such adjustments are made under Switcher's supervision. With this rating, the supplier can already start to participate in Switcher's social programs.
Supplier working conditions are sub-standard and its practices not in line with the Switcher code but supplier management is prepared to make the necessary social and environnement changes under Switcher's supervision.
Not only are conditions sub-standard, but the supplier refuses to enter into discussions or to undertake any improvement in company policies.
Switcher works regularly with its suppliers to help them improve their rating on the whale scale. This 'step-by-step' approach ensures that a supplier who is committed to improving a low rating does not get left behind. Switcher, in other words, would rather help rehabilitate a supplier than simply boycott him.
It goes without saying that the bigger the Switcher order, the more weight Switcher can bring to bear on the supplier in getting him to improve social and environmental conditions in his company.
In some instances, the standards and criteria set out by the ILO (the International Labor Organization) are difficult to reconcile with local cultural realities and the specific needs of the supplier's workforce.
In such cases, the governing standards are subject to interpretation and modification. For instance, when workers in a supplier plant seek higher-than-normal wages in return for long hours of overtime, it is necessary to find an appropriate means of compensation to satisfy this demand.
Similarly, the situation where plant laborers work hundreds of kilometers from their family, living in company accommodation and without any opportunity for leisure activities, calls for a practical solution consistent with ILO stipulations. Ultimately, Switcher seeks to create a 'smiling chain' where all the company's partners and collaborators are happy in their work and no one feels exploited.
This means that each link in the chain must work to the same frame of reference whether in China, India or Portugal.