Better Work has provided both strategic and operational advice and feedback to the SLCP Tool and Verification Protocol development processes since 2017.

The ILO, represented by Better Work, sat on the Steering Committee (SC) of the SLCP as a non-voting international observer (similar status to OECD) from 2017 until 2019. This enabled the ILO to provide advice on the application of ILO principles and standards, encourage tripartite engagement, stay abreast of developments and monitor potential impact on the ILO, in particular with regard to Better Work. The ILO stepped off the Steering Committee in 2019, but Better Work continued to test the SLCP tools.

In 2019, Better Work and SLCP conducted a joint pilot in Indonesia to test the tool under the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework (CAF v1.3) and evaluate if it could provide comparable data to the Better Work Compliance Assessment Tool, as per Better Work’s agreement with tripartite constituents and under its mandate within the ILO. In turn, an objective was to understand if the tool could potentially be used in the Better Work service model. The pilot identified the following key issues: (i) the tool needed to be reduced to produce credible and actionable data; (ii) the tool needed to be able to measure compliance with international labour standards (ILS) and national labour laws; (iii) the framework needed to acknowledge and respect the role of national governments to protect the rights of citizens and regulate compliance; and (iv) the tool and framework should include consultation with and incorporate feedback from the government and global and national social partners, including workers and their representatives at the factory and sectoral levels.

In early 2020, the SCLP Council unanimously agreed to address Better Work concerns and recommendations. In turn, Better Work agreed to support development of a revised Step 1 tool (CAF/Tool 1.4) that aligns with the data commitments between the ILO and the tripartite constituents in terms of alignment with ILS and national labour laws, measures compliance, and is shorter in length. On that basis, the tool would likely have broader buy-in from constituents, produce more credible and actionable data, and be more scalable by Better Work. The focus of collaboration for 2020/2021 is on :

1. Tool: Aligning the data needs agreed between the ILO and constituents into the SLCP assessment tools to meet the needs of ILO constituents, Better Work partners and SLCP signatories.
2. Protocol & Guidance: Better Work is not able to adjust its process to the protocols of the SLCP as these have not been approved within the ILO, but Better Work has agreed to provide advice and guidelines to SLCP on the verification protocol and specifically how to include workers more in the self-assessment and verification processes. Better Work would also explore how bipartite committees could be used to support the self-assessment process and build greater supplier ownership.
3. Consultation: Facilitating consultation with national constituents (in Better Work programme countries) and for SLCP to hear constituent views and incorporate their feedback.
4. Roll-out: The SLCP Converged Assessment Framework (CAF v1.4) will be launched with the ‘Law Overlay’ developed with Better Work, once national constituents (government, employers and workers) have signed off on the new Tool. From that moment onwards, the CAF v1.4 will be available for implementation in all factories in the country, including non-Better Work-registered facilities.

Further information on implementation time frames is included below.