Key Topic: What to Include in Public Reporting

Companies should include the following in public reporting:

• Most importantly, companies should publish whether their social compliance system led to greater compliance with local and international labor rights laws, norms, and company codes of conduct. Companies should also publish the steps they plan to take when their worker-driven social compliance process falls short.
• Description of all elements of the social compliance system, from the code of conduct to community and multi-stakeholder involvement, risk assessment, training, auditing, remediation, independent verification, and efforts to address root causes.
• Discussion of the environments in which the company’s social compliance system is implemented and operates, and the challenges in those environments. Highlight the various individuals and organizations partnering with the company to help achieve the program’s goals.
• Reporting should be written in straightforward language that diverse audiences can understand and that can be translated into relevant languages.
• Present the aspects of the system that are working well and elements that have been less successful, including lessons learned and plans for improvement.