Compliance with BSCI and SAI guidelines
Charles Vögele is committed to socially fair production methods throughout the group, so a proactive approach is essential for the Charles Vögele Group. As far back as in 1996, Charles Vögele Group issued binding rules for its suppliers as part of its own Supplier Code of Conduct. With the aim of ensuring compliance with this Code in manufacturing countries, in 2004 Charles Vögele Group became a founder member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). Today, the BSCI Code of Conduct is a fixed component of all Charles Vögele’s supplier contracts. Charles Vögele Group has also been a member of the New York-based human rights organization Social Accountability International (SAI) since 2001. This organization publishes and administrates the internationally recognized Social Accountability 8000 Social Standard.
BSCI
The BSCI Code of Conduct is based on the International Labour Organization’s con-ventions, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Con-vention on Children’s Rights, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the UN Global Compact, and the OECD’s regulations for multinational companies. The BSCI Code of Conduct follows the principle that companies producing goods for Charles Vögele must follow all the laws and regulations that apply in their home country. In particular, the Code contains detailed contractual stipulations covering the environment, discrimination, forced labour, child labour, working hours, wages, working conditions, accommodation and freedom of assembly. It is up to the suppliers to ensure that their subcontractors also follow the Code.
Additional information www.bsci-eu.org
SAI
SAI publishes and administrates the internationally recognized SA8000 Social Standard and focuses on improving employment conditions for white collar employees, manual workers and contract workers. It sets out minimum standards for international companies in terms of employment and workplace conditions.
Additional information http:// www.sa8000.org
Benefits of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI )
Many of the BSCI’s 430 current member companies have signed up to the initiative, even though they had previously worked with their own codes of conducts, each of which differed slightly from the others. The aim of the initiative is to avoid duplication in the testing of suppliers that work for several producers. Auditing is carried out using a uniform questionnaire formulated to reflect SA8000 guidelines. The resulting data is recorded centrally in the BSCI database and then made available to members. This procedure creates a rational, uniform platform for auditing, and helps manufacturers and their clients save valuable resources. The whole process ensures compliance with a comprehensive set of minimum standards.