“SA 8000” is a social responsibility standard that promotes decent working conditions. It allows companies to oblige subcontractors to respect a minimum of social standards. For example, the SA 8000 is a social responsibility standard that promotes decent working conditions:
- Child labor,
- Forced labor,
- Hygiene,
- Security,
- Combating discrimination.
Companies that want to obtain the SA 8000 standard have all their suppliers sign an ethical letter of commitment. They are most often large groups. Please find attached an example:
Ethical commitment letter sample
<On company letterhead>
<City>, <Date of the day>
<Company name>
<Company address>
Subject: <Company name> social responsibilities standards SA 8000
Dear Sirs,
Building long-term relationships with suppliers based on transparency and mutual respect are key values for <Company name>.
We actively seek out and favor business partners who share our values and our ethical commitment. We are committed to supporting suppliers in meeting our social responsibility standards while having the courage to end their relationship with those who do not meet them.
As a supplier of <Company name>, we expect you to comply at the minimum with your local legislation with regard to labor standards, including working hours and wages, as well as to the specifics that are listed here below:
- All your employees must be at least 16 years old (or over) ;
- No forced or bonded labor of any type (except prison labor where the prisoner decides to work and is paid therefore a wage according to the market, and only with our written agreement) ;
- Safe working and living conditions [if applicable] must be provided to your employees ;
- Employee’s freedom of association must be respected ;
- All forms of discrimination must be avoided.
We also expect you to ensure that your suppliers respect these standards, for which you will be directly accountable.
By becoming a supplier of <Company name>, you also agree that we may commission labor standard audits to be carried out at your side by a certified independent third party.
Yours faithfully
Director
<Name and first name>
Signing
Download the letter template:
To use and personalize this ethical commitment letter sample, you have to copy-paste the text of this article into your word processor (Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer) or your email program.
We are interested in your opinion and advice on the steps to take to implement the SA 8000 standard:
Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
