These days supply chains are global and making sure every stage of your supply chain is as ethical as possible should be top priority. Unfortunately, it’s not always the case. According to a 2024 report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), on any given day, 28 million people were trapped in forced labour.
What’s more, manufacturing made up one of the highest percentages of forced labour per private industry. Over the years, many social and ethical audit standards have been set up to try and improve labour standards across industries. But instead, this has only led to duplication and audit fatigue for both buyers and suppliers.
As a solution to this problem, the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) was created to create a single measurable standard that could be shared and enforced across industries.
Read on as we explain what’s the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), who can get SLCP certified, where it’s available, what is a SLCP audit, the advantages of getting SLCP certification, and the steps to achieve SLCP certification.
What is the Social & Labor Convergence Program SLCP?
Social audits started about two decades ago to ensure supply chains followed best practices. The audits aimed to measure social and labor conditions, raise awareness of risks, and push improvements. The problem was, every brand had its own audit program, meaning facilities had to do repeated checks for every new client. Ultimately, this wasted resources and reduced audit effectiveness.
The SLCP introduced the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) to make results standardized and comparable across industries. As a result, working conditions could be measured using SLCP audits and better understood across the industry.
SLCP audits don’t give scores, but instead provide detailed information about a facility, so brands can compare the results with their own standards and decide if they’re satisfied. Because of this flexibility, the CAF can be used by anyone.
Want to know more about how you can hit your environmental sustainability targets? Check out our full guide to Higg FEM.
Advantages of Joining the Social & Labor Convergence Program
With SLCP audits, factories don’t have to undergo multiple audits for different brands. Here are some key benefits of using SLCP:
- Fewer audits, less duplication– Instead of factories having to go through multiple audits, SLCP lets them complete one standardized assessment that they can share with multiple buyers.
- Saves time and resources – Companies spend less time on repetitive audits and paperwork, so they can improve working conditions.
- Better data, better decisions – SLCP provides comparable and standardized results, so businesses can take meaningful action to improve working conditions.
- Encourages collaboration and trust – instead of doing separate audits, brands and factories can share data, making supply chain management more transparent.
- Supports sustainability goals – By reducing audit waste and aiming for actual improvements, SLCP aligns companies with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like decent work and responsible production.
- Real-world savings – Companies that use SLCP have reported avoiding 20-30 unnecessary audits a year.
Who can get SLCP verified?
The SLCP certification is available to a wide range of stakeholders. This includes brands manufacturers, service providers and retailers. First you have to register on the Gateway for an SLCP assessment. When your profile is approved, you can link it to an Accredited Host platform to start the SLCP assessment and get your SLCP certification.
Where is SLCP available?
The SLCP is being rolled out globally but is currently available on a country-by-country basis. While it’s already in many countries, it’s not yet everywhere. As long as the SLCP is active in your region, you can register and start the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF). Your facilities files can also be uploaded to accredited hosts and Gateways in these regions, and qualified verifiers can verify them. You can also get support through online training and a helpdesk.
As shown here, SLCP is operational in several countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. This list is regularly updated on the Gateway and the official SLCP website.
Steps to get SLCP Certification
1. Self Assesment
If you want to start an SLCP assessment, you first need to register on the Gateway. Once your profile is approved, you can link it to an Accredited Host platform to begin the SLCP assessment process.
The assesment process can be done independently or with support (joint-assessment). Facility owners have to provide detailed information based on 12 months of recent data, making sure the answers are accurate and reflect current conditions. As the questions cover a wide range of topics, it may be a good idea to involve multiple departments and stakeholders. Normally, it takes two weeks to complete, including collaboration, coordination, and reviewing documentation.
The Data Collection Tool covers a wide range of social compliance topics. It follows the lifecycle of an employee, addressing areas like recruitment, hiring, working hours, wages, benefits, employee treatment, involvement, health and safety, and termination
It’s important to note that facilities must answer 95% of the questions, provide specific answers for numerical or date-based questions, and make sure no key fields are left blank. Also, answers must be in English, and they can’t be more than 1,000 characters each.
2. SLCP Third Party Audits
After data collection is complete, facilities contact a Verifier Body, which assigns a trained verifier like HQTS to validate the data.
As an approved Verifier Body, HQTS can help you fill out the Data Collection Tool and one of our approved verifiers will check all of your data both on-site and off-site.
Verification must include both off-site and on-site activities, unlike Higgs FEM. There’s some stuff you can do remotely, but key parts of the process need to be done on-site to ensure accuracy. Data is then checked by the verifier to make sure it’s accurate and complete.
3. SLCP Gateway
As soon as the verification is done, the results will be uploaded to the SLCP Gateway. Data is stored securely on this platform. At this stage, facilities can share their data with selected business partners, such as manufacturers, brands, and standard holders, using the Accredited Host platform.
SLCP vs FSLM
A big part of the SLCP (Social & Labor Convergence Program) is reducing audit duplication. It provides a common assessment framework (CAF) but doesn’t have its own platform. Instead, facilities should use Accredited Host platforms to complete assessments. SLCP Gateway is a central hub where verified assessments can be shared, but the program does not score the data — users do.
The Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM) tracks and improves social and labor standards in the industry. It’s part of Higg, a platform for sustainability insights. Higg FSLM uses the SLCP CAF but includes scoring to help you compare performance. Higg FSLM lets facilities do self-assessments as well as verified assessments, and verified assessments can be shared back with SLCP.
The main difference is that SLCP is a framework and data sharing system, while Higg FSLM is a scoring and benchmarking tool that builds on SLCP. If you just want a common audit to share with multiple partners, SLCP is fine. Higg FSLM is better if you want scoring and deeper insights.
HQTS is an approved verifier for both of these programs and can help you decide which is right for you.
Why Choose HQTS
If you’re going to complete your SLCP assessment and verification, you need accurate and complete information. Any mistakes could lead to huge delays and SLCP verification failure, which could hurt your partnerships.
As an approved verifier body, HQTS can guide you through the initial assessment with a SLCP audit checklist, making sure that your info is entered correctly and completely, saving you time and stress. Once that’s done, we can help you pass the verification process by conducting both on-site and off-site checks.
Using our services, you’ll get your assessment done right and on time, which saves you money and stress and lets you show off your excellent work standards to your partners. Get in touch with our experts for more info.