In 2005 ILO, in cooperation with the EU, will conduct a research
project on auditing and certification. The project will be implemented
by ILO Ankara Office and Multinational Enterprises Department in
Geneva. The project will survey the extent, costs and benefits of
auditing and certification programmes in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania
and Turkey.
Project title: Auditing and Certification Programmes:
A Research Project
Project Duration: 6 months
Countries researched: Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania
and Turkey
Implemented by: ILO Ankara and Multinational Enterprises
Department in Geneva
In recent years, the increase in deregulation and shortcomings
in the normative and administrative functions of states have given
rise to numerous auditing and certification efforts in the area
of labour standards. Companies, industry associations, NGOs and
multi-stakeholder initiatives have developed a wide range of auditing
and certification systems, often accompanied by codes of conduct,
to complement the work of governments.
The precise coverage and extent of social auditing and certification
is still unknown though there are many signals that it is becoming
an important area of activity. This project seeks to find out the
extent of auditing and certification programmes in terms of number
of companies and workers affected in Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and
Hungary. The project will survey a number of companies in the period
of six months through a questionnaire, which will be followed up
by a brief telephone interview to companies which did not respond
to the initial survey. In addition, at least five in-depth case
studies examining the costs and benefits of auditing and certification
systems will be written.
The project will survey a number of companies in the textile, garment,
footwear, wood products and other prominent manufacturing sectors.
At the end of six months, a snapshot of the prevalence auditing
and certification in the four countries will be presented in the
form of a detailed report to the EU and the ILO. Different interest
groups will also be interviewed with regards to their position vis-à-vis
their opinions on auditing and certification initiatives.
Objectives:
• To produce a body of high quality research and analysis
on auditing and certification initiatives across different industries
in four different EU Accession/Candidate Countries.
• To identify possible areas of involvement for the ILO/EU
in the field of auditing and certification.
Outputs:
• One Survey Report on the context and extent of auditing
and certification covering four countries (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria
and Turkey) based on information collected by surveys, interviews
and case studies.
• At least five detailed case studies of company experiences’
with auditing and certification initiatives.
• Mention of survey and case studies in forthcoming reports
about social auditing and certification and;
o Forced Labour
o Health and Safety
o Wages, Benefits, Working Hours and Overtime
NOTE:
The above mentioned project was completed in July 2005. A full report of the survey (PDF 2017K)
includes the following topics:
o Introduction and context;
o Methodology and results of factory survey (around 900 companies);
o Results of in-depth questionnaires on social auditing to companies, auditors and worker and employer organizations;
o Report on technical meeting of social auditors in Turkey;
o Eight case studies;
o Conclusions and recommendations.
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