Electronic Supplementary Material 2
This section describes the levels of assessment of the Subcategory Assessment Method (SAM) for each subcategory. It is divided by stakeholders: Workers, Consumers, Local Community, Society and Other Actors of the value chain.
1.Workers
1.1 Freedom of association and collective bargaining
When analysing the subcategory of freedom of association and collective bargaining, the Basic Requirement is defined as the evidence that employees of the organization are members of a union (at least one)”, based on the ILO Convention No.87 (ILOLEX 2012). Therefore, during the evaluation process, if this requirement is met, the organization is assessed at level B. For this subcategory, the difference between a C level or a D level assessment depends on the Workers’ Rights Score (WRS) in the country where the organization is located. The WRS is an indicator used by the CIRI Human Rights Dataset (CIRI 2012) and refers to the right to collective bargaining, the right to minimum working conditions and freedom of assembly and association, including the rights of citizens to assemble freely and associate with other people in political parties, trade unions, cultural organizations, or other groups. This index ranges from 0-4, with the lowest score representing the worst conditions, and the highest score representing the best conditions. In using the present method, countries were ranked at one of two levels according to their WRS scores: those that scored from 0 to 2 (low WRS) and those that scored from 3 to 4 (high WRS). Therefore, an organization that does not meet the basic requirement in a country with a high WRS is assessed at level D. Otherwise, it is assessed at level C.
1.2 Child labour
For the subcategory of child labour, the Basic Requirement is defined as the presence of a policy related to child labour or lack of evidence of children working. Child labour is defined by the ILO Convention No.138 as the recruitment of workers under the age of compulsory schooling or not less than 15 years in developed countries and not less than 14 years in developing countries. Level C is the assessment assigned to organizations without the policy related to child labour, as defined by the ILO Convention No. 182 (ILOLEX 2012)in a context where child labour is common practice,butthe organization does not practice the “worst forms of child labour” or the child also attends school. Otherwise, the organization is assessed at level D.
1.3 Working hours
For the subcategory of working hours, the Basic Requirement is defined as the average number of hours worked per week by employees, which shouldnot exceed eight in the day and forty-eight in the week in compliance with ILO Convention No. 1and No. 30 (ILOLEX 2012). The organization is assessed at level C when the average number of hours worked per week is lower than the average number of hours worked per week in the sector/country. If it is higher, the organization is assessed at level D.
1.4 Forced labour
The Basic Requirement for the subcategory of forced labour, is defined as the presence of a policy against forced labour, in compliance with ILO Convention No.29 and ILO Convention No.105 concerning the abolition of forced labour (ILOLEX 2012) or the lack of evidence of forced labour. Level C is the assessment assigned to organizations located in countries where forced labour is common practice (DOL, 2010). Otherwise, the organization is assessed at level D.
1.5 Equal opportunities / discrimination
For the subcategory equal opportunities/discrimination, the Basic Requirement is defined as the presence of a management system, policy or actions that prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunities for workers, according to the ILO Convention No.100, ILO Convention No.111 and ILO Convention No. 169 (ILOLEX 2012). For this subcategory, only gender inequality was taken into account. The difference between a C level or a D level assessment depends on the Gender Equity Index (GEI) in the country where the organization is located. The GEI is an indicator introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2010), which measures women’s labour market participation and the gap between their salaries and men’s salaries. This indexranges from 0 to 100, with the highest score (100)indicating 100% equality, and the lowest score(0), indicating0% equality. In the present method, countries were ranked at one of two levels: those that scored from 0 to 49 (lowest levels of equality) and those that scored equal to or higher than 50 (highest levels of equality). Therefore, an organization that does not meet the Basic Requirement in a country with highest levels of equalityis assessed at level D. Otherwise, an organization is assessed at level C.
1.7 Health and safety
The Basic Requirement for the subcategory of health and safety, is defined as the presence of a policy / guidelines or programme related to health and safety, in compliance with ILO Convention No.115, and ILO Convention No.161 (ILOLEX 2012). For this subcategory, the difference between a C level or a D level assessment depends on the rates of fatal injuries and occupational fatal injuries, as defined by the conventions cited above. The organization is assessed at level C if the frequency of occupational accidents suffered by employees ofthe organization at the workplace (fatal and non-fatal) is lower than the frequency of occupational accidents (fatal and non-fatal) in the country/sector where the organization is located. If it is higher, the organization is assessed at level D.
1.4 Fair salary
The Basic Requirement for the subcategory of a fair salary is the lowest salary is equal to or higher than the minimum wage in the sector/country where the organization is located.
The difference between a C level and a D level assessment is defined as the level of the workers’ wages, which should be equal to or higher than the living wage of the country. The concept of a living wage from Citizensuk (2012) and iscalculated as the hourly rate, 7.85 GBP, multiplied by the average number of hours workedper week in the United Kingdom, which is 39.4 (GreenDeltaTC social database 2011), multiplied by 4
It also depends on the value of two indicators: Living Wage purchasing power conversion factor (LWppp(cf)) (Equation 2) and the Gross domestic weeks per month, multiplied by 12 months in addition to (“13th month”) the paid vacation.
Equation 1
product on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population, which is provided by the World Bank (2012) and detailed in Equation 3.
Equation 2
is defined as the annual living wage for each country using the conversion factor. is calculated in GBP (Equation 2) and must be converted for each country in the study to the same currency value by using theaverage currency exchange (). This value is then multiplied by the purchasing power parity conversion factor () to adapt the living wage for each countryThe concept ofpurchasing power parity was devised and used by the World Bank. It represents the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as one U.S. dollar would buy in the United States (World Bank, 2012).
represents the annual living wage in United Kingdom and is a basis for calculating salaries in all countries, where is the hourly rate 7.85 GBP (Citizens UK, 2012), is the average number of hours worked per week in the United Kingdom, which is 39.4 (GreenDeltaTC social database 2011)) and a month consists of 4 weeks multiplied by 12 months plus one month of paid holiday.
Equation 3
Where is defined by the World Bank (2013) and is used tomonitor the per-capita welfare levels and to compare living conditions or resource use across countries. The Purchasing power parity conversion factor () was also created and used by the World Bank. It representsthe number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as one U.S. dollar would buy in the United States (World Bank, 2012). is the country’s population.
The difference between and characterizes the country context. A positive context is defined when the country has athat is higher than or equal to. In this case, the organization is assessed atlevel is C. Otherwise, if, then it is assessed at level D.
1.8 Social benefits / social security
For the subcategory of social benefits/social security, the BR is defined as when the organization provides more than 2 (two) social benefits suggested by the ILO Conventions No.130, 134, 128, 121, 168, 118, 157 and 183 (ILOLEX 2012) cited in Table 3 below. Level C assessment is assigned to organizations which provide workers with at least 2 social benefits as listed in Table 3 below. Level D assessment is assigned to organizations which provide workers with no social benefits.
Table 3 Method scale for the stakeholder worker
Subcategory / Basic requirements / Basic Requirements not fulfilledLevel B / Level C / Level D
Freedom of association and collective bargaining / In the organization there is evidence of workers belonging to a workers’ union, based on the ILO Convention No.87. / Workers’ rights score - WRS, used by the CIRI (2012) of the country where the organization’s score is between [0; 2.9]. / Workers’ rights score - WRS, used by the CIRI (2012) of the country where the organization’s score is between [3; 4].
Child Labour / There is a policy to avoid child labour and no evidence of child labour. (For developed countries Minimum Age for Admission to Employment is 15. For Developing and least developed countries, the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment is 14.) / There is no policy related to child labour as defined by ILO Convention No. 138 (ILOLEX 2012) in a context where child labour is a common practice, but does not qualify as the “worst forms of child labour” ILO Convention 182 (ILOLEX 2012) or the child attends school. / D - There is no policy related to child labour as definedby ILO Convention No. 138 (ILOLEX 2012) in a context where child labour is a common practice and conforms to the “worst forms of child labour” as defined by ILO Convention No. 182 (ILOLEX 2012) or the child does not attend school.
Working hours / Average weekly hours worked do not exceed eight in the day and forty-eight in the week ILO Convention No. 1 and ILO Convention No. 30 (ILOLEX 2012) / The average weekly hours worked exceed forty-eight (48)but are less than the average weekly hours worked in the sector/country. / The average weekly hours worked exceedforty-eight (48) and exceed the average weekly hours worked in the sector/country.
Forced labour / The organization has a policy against forced labour, in compliance with ILO Conventions No.29 and No.105 (ILOLEX 2012) or there is no use of forced labour / There is evidence in the organization of the use of forced labour as well as in the country where the organization is located. / There is evidence in the organization of the use of forced labour but there is no evidence of forced labour in the country where the organization is located..
Equal opportunities/ discrimination / The organization has a management system, policy or actions to prevent discrimination and promotes equal opportunities for workers, according to ILO ConventionsNo.100, No. 111 and No. 169 (ILOLEX 2012). / There is evidence in the organization of discrimination and the country where the organization is located has a Gender Equity Index – GEI, UNDP (2010) score lower than 50. / There is evidence in the organization of discrimination and the country where the organization is located has a Gender Equity Index - GEI, UNDP (2010) score equal to or higher than 50.
Health and Safety / The organization has a policy/ guidelines or programme related to health and safety, in compliance with ILO ConventionsNo.115 and No. 161 / Occupational accidents of the organization (rates of injuries and occupational injuries - , in compliance with ILO ConventionsNo.115 and No. 161 (ILOLEX 2012).) are lower than the occupational accidents of the country/sector (rates of injuries and occupational fatal injuries) where the organization is located. / Occupational accidents of the organization (rates of injuries and occupational fatal injuries) are equal to or higher than the Occupational accidents of the country/sector (rates of injuries and occupational fatal injuries) where the organization is located.
Fair Salary / The lowest salary is equal to or higher than the minimum wage in the sector/country where the organization is located / When the LWppp(cf) is higher than or equal to the GDPppp(cf). See the indices details in the supplementary material. / When the LWppp(cf) is lower than the GDPppp(cf). See the indices details in the supplementary material.
Social benefits/ social security / The BR is that the organization provides more than two of the following benefits:
Social Security benefits, Retirement, Disability, Dependents, Survivors benefits, Paid maternity and paternity leave (parental leave), Paid sick leave, Education and training, for all countries and additionally, Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Paramedical insurance, including preventive medicine, Medication insurance, Wage insurance. / The organization provides at least 2 social benefits/social security basic requirement. / The organization does not provide any social benefits/socialsecurity basic requirement.
2.Consumers
2.1 Privacy
For the consumer privacy subcategory, the Basic Requirement is the presence of a policy that protects consumers’ right to privacy. The consumer’s right to privacy is defined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR 2007), Consumer Protection Act (DTI 2013). If the organization does not meet the Basic Requirement, it is assessed according to the Privacy International Ranking score of the country where the organization is located (Privacy International 2007). In the present method, countries were ranked at one of two levels: those that scored from 1.1 to 3 (a), where national privacyis poor and those that scored from 3.1 to 5 (b) where national privacy is adequate.Those organizations located in countries that are graded as “a”, orpoor national privacy,are assessed at level C. On the other hand, organizations located in countries graded as adequate “b”, are assessed at level D.
2.2 Health and safety
The Basic Requirement for the health and safety subcategory, is the presence of a procedure to ensure consumer product health and safety standards. The organization is assessed at level C if it has no record of proven cases of the violation of consumer health and safety in the last 3 years. Otherwise, the organization is assessed at level D.
2.3 Feedback mechanism
For the feedback mechanism subcategory, the Basic Requirement is the presence of a customer’s feedback mechanism and practices related to customer satisfaction. It has all the following practices: suggestion box on the help desk, conducting customer satisfaction surveys, providing a complaint service or a section on the website. If there is no record (a record is information found in any organization responsible for the recording consumer complaints in the country of study) of consumer complaints regarding the lack of feedback mechanism, it is assessed at level C. On the contrary, if there is a record of consumer complaints regarding the lack of feedback mechanism, it is assessed at level D.
2.4 Transparency
The Basic Requirement for the transparency subcategory, is the presence of social responsibility reports, such as for example: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Social Balance Report, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Accountability 1000,Social Accountability 8000, ISO 26000 or any other internationally recognized documentation. If the organization has no formal report on social responsibility, but demonstrates practices or efforts by management to communicate with its , such as through public events or web site information, it is assessed at level C. Otherwise, it is assessed at level D.
2.5 End of Life Responsibility
The Basic Requirement regarding the subcategory End of Life Responsibility is the presence within the organization, of management systems which provide clear information on end-of-life options for consumers such as: Product Responsibility Performance Indicators, PR4 (GRI 2006) or a recall policy for its product at its end-of-life phase (for example battery cases, glass bottle). If there are no internal management systems providing clear information on end-of-life options for consumers, but the product at its end of life has the potential to be recycled, it is assessed at level C. If there are no formal management systems on end-of-life options and the product has no potential to be recycled at its end- of- life phase, the organization is assessed at level D. In this case, it is also important to take into consideration background information. It is necessary to assess country by country, due to possible changes in the percentage of recycling or the recycling techniqueused in a specific country such as for example with the recycling of computers.
Table 4 Method scale for the stakeholder consumer
Subcategory / Basic requirement / Basic Requirements not fulfilledLevel B / Level C / Level D
Consumer privacy / The organization has a privacy policy through which it protects the consumer’s right to privacy as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 (UDHR 2007), Consumer Protection Act (DTI 2009). / The country where the organization is located has a Privacy International Ranking score from1.1 to 3 (Privacy International 2007). / The country where the organization is located has a Privacy International Ranking score from3.1 to 5 (Privacy International 2007).
Health and safety / The organization has a procedure regarding consumer product health and safety standards. / The organization has no proven cases that violate consumer health and safety within the last 3 years. / The organization has a record of proven cases that violate consumer health and safety within the last 3 years.
Feedback mechanism / The organization has a customer feedback mechanism and practices related to customer satisfaction. / The organization has no record of consumers’ complaints regarding the lack of a feedback mechanism. / The organization has a record of consumers’ complaints regarding the lack of a feedback mechanism.
Transparency / The organization has a report that communicates its social responsibility. For example: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Social Balance Report, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Accountability 1000,Social Accountability 8000, ISO 26000 or any other document internationally recognized. / The organization has ways of showing their consumer new technologies, good practices and management conduct. For example: through events or web site information. / The organization has no initiative on this topic.
End- of- life responsibility / There are internal management systems that provided clear information to consumers on end-of-life options such as: Product Responsibility Performance Indicators, PR4 (GRI 2006) or take back policy or Design For Disassembly, Design For Recycling. / There is a possibility of a recycling process at the end of life of the product. / There is no possibility of a recycling process at the end of life of the product.
3. Local Community