{"id":5914,"date":"2018-02-08T10:41:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T10:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/?p=5914"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:51:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T10:51:50","slug":"5914","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/5914\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethical Audits \u2013 What are they and why you need one"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As a produce grower or food processor, the chances are that your company will have undergone several third-party audits, often by BRC auditors or by the major retailers that you supply.&nbsp; An audit is an inspection or examination of a process or system to ensure compliance with requirements.&nbsp; It can apply to a specific process or can apply to nationally recognised standards.&nbsp; An Ethical Audit assesses a company&#8217;s systems, its documentation and facilities against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link \" title=\"Ethical Trading\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/auditing\/ethical-trading-workshop.html\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Ethical Trading<\/a> Initiative (ETI) Base Code, as well as local laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There have been numerous news reports about (often migrant) workers being treated unfairly by employers.&nbsp; These are typically in clothing sweatshops, pick and pack organisations and factories with staff supplied by unscrupulous agencies or gang masters.&nbsp; For obvious reasons retailers do not want to be associated with such activities.&nbsp; Therefore, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/help-to-stamp-out-modern-slavery\/\">auditing each stage of their supply chain is a way of ensuring their suppliers are complying with ethical trading standards and fair employment practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is covered in an Ethical Audit?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/PDF\/ethical-resources\/ETI-Base-Code-ENG.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ETI Base Code<\/a> is designed to help protect workers from poor and unsafe working conditions, overwork, discrimination, low pay and forced working conditions.&nbsp; It is founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation.&nbsp; It is an internationally recognised code of labour practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it is these main areas that interest the ethical auditor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Working hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Health &amp; Safety<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Temporary workers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Right to Work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provision of breaks and rest days<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fair treatment of staff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Workers should be able to choose their employment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers need to make sure that their own employees and those of their suppliers are not being forced to work against their will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Workers should be free to associate with others and bargain collectively<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially this means that workers should be able to air their views and opinions to managers without fear of reprisal or discrimination.&nbsp; They should be allowed to join trade unions or stand for election onto a Works Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><figure><strong style=\"font-size: 1.76471rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">Workers should have safe and hygienic working conditions<\/strong><\/figure><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even a company that thinks it treats its workers well can come unstuck with Health &amp; Safety.&nbsp; It has the greatest number of non-conformances of all.&nbsp; Aspects such as not having regular fire drills, blocking emergency exits, and lack of trained first aiders are commonplace.&nbsp; Other common faults include lack of risk assessments for hazardous equipment and noise, or a lack of suitable Personal Protective Equipment.&nbsp; If the toilet facilities are unsatisfactory or clean <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/want-to-be-healthier-drink-more-water\/\">drinking water<\/a> isn\u2019t readily available employers will also be pulled up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Child labour should not be used<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Cases of child labour in the UK are extremely rare.&nbsp; Nevertheless always check ID for verification of the age of young workers.&nbsp; There are restrictions on rest breaks and the number of hours that can be worked by those under 18 in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Workers should earn a living wage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a big one.&nbsp; Everyone is entitled to earn the National Minimum Wage.&nbsp; It makes no difference whether you are paid weekly, monthly, by cheque in cash or any other way.&nbsp; It doesn\u2019t matter whether you work full-time, part time or any other working pattern.&nbsp; Or whether you work at your employer\u2019s own premises or elsewhere.&nbsp; Neither does it matter what size your employer is, or where you work in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/national-minimum-wage-rates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Minimum Wage<\/a> is reviewed every year. From April 2018 it will be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a37.38 per hour for those aged 21 and over<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a35.90 per hour for 18 to 20-year-olds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u00a34.20 per hour for under 18s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone aged 25 and over should not receive less than the National Living Wage rate of \u00a37.83 per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><figure><strong style=\"font-size: 1.76471rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">Working hours must not be excessive<\/strong><\/figure><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Studies show that when staff are required to work long hours for extensive periods of time without sufficient breaks, it is detrimental to their health and wellbeing.&nbsp; Tired workers are less productive,&nbsp; They are also liable to make more mistakes.&nbsp; Consequently it is also in the employer\u2019s interests to ensure that their employees have acceptable working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that contracted working hours should not exceed 48 hours per week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Total hours worked in any 7-day period should not exceed 60 hours unless in exceptional (unexpected) circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 60 hours can be made up of normal hours and overtime.&nbsp; So, if a worker\u2019s contracted hours are 30 per week and they work an extra 30 hours, that extra work must be paid at \u2018overtime rate&#8217;.&nbsp; The ETI recommends that overtime premiums are at least 25% higher than the regular wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers also need to be responsible in asking workers to carry out overtime. This should not be on a regular basis. The employee should also have the right to say \u2018no\u2019, and overtime should not be required by contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Workers should also have at least one day (24 consecutive hours) off every 7 days, or two days off in 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Regular employment should be provided<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>All staff should have contracts and these should be held on file. It is not acceptable to send agency staff home on arrival at work if they are not required. &nbsp;It\u2019s recommended that companies using agency workers should have a minimum pay policy in place (e.g. 4 hours).&nbsp; Thanks to the <strong>Agency Workers\u2019 Directive Regulations<\/strong>, after 12 weeks\u2019 continuous work in the same job, agency workers have the same basic working rights as permanent staff in the same role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><figure><strong style=\"font-size: 1.76471rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\">There must not be discrimination of any kind<\/strong><\/figure><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies need to provide fair access to jobs.&nbsp; That means no discrimination based on race, caste, national origin, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation or union membership.&nbsp; This extends to all aspects of the job \u2013 recruitment, access to training, compensation, promotion, termination or retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Don&#8217;t allow&nbsp; harsh or inhumane treatment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers and workers should not tolerate physical and verbal abuse or intimidation.&nbsp; Neither should anyone put up with physical disciplining of staff, sexual&nbsp; harassment or such things as refusing staff requests to use the toilet when on a shift.&nbsp; There need to be systems in place for workers to report any harsh or unacceptable treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why do you need an ethical audit?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most likely reason is that it may be a contractual requirement from your customer(s) to undergo regular ethical audits.&nbsp; Some retailers insist that new suppliers have ethical audit before they can start a supply contract.&nbsp; In addition, from a moral perspective nobody wants to be seen to be treating others unfairly.&nbsp; those companies who are not required by their customers to have an ethical audit can still join Sedex and have an audit if they wish, and this demonstrates good practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The audit reports from SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trading Audit) Ethical Audits are shared on the Sedex platform so this provides a transparent system for sharing ethical audit results with customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All in all, it gives you peace of mind and is good for business, whether you happen to be a customer or supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where can I find out more about Ethical Audits?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To find out more about ethical audits and how to go about arranging one for your company, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/ethical-audits\/ethical-audits.html\">Ethical Audits<\/a> section of our website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a produce grower or food processor, the chances are that your company will have undergone several third-party audits, often by BRC auditors or by the major retailers that you supply.&nbsp; An audit is an inspection or examination of a process or system to ensure compliance with requirements.&nbsp; It can apply to a specific process [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1316],"tags":[467,56,224,1113,218,1319,217,465,1318,464,466,1317],"class_list":["post-5914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-safety-hygiene-news","category-ethical-trading","tag-ethical-audit","tag-ethical-audits","tag-ethical-supply-chain","tag-ethical-trade-audit","tag-ethical-trading","tag-eti-audit","tag-eti-base-code","tag-sedex","tag-sedex-audit","tag-smeta","tag-smeta-audit","tag-smeta-ethical-audit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vwa.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}