When will the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) become available in Better Work countries? Which countries will be included in the 2021 launch?

When will the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) become available in Better Work countries? Which countries will be included in the 2021 launch?

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. Pending any unforeseen objections from constituents, the following 2021 roll-out timetable is expected. Better Work will do its best to meet agreed upon deadlines but will need to be mindful of changing national priorities and context due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

  1. 31 May: Indonesia, Bangladesh
  2. 30 June: Vietnam (to reflect the new labour laws)
  3. Other Better Work countries: Better Work is beginning consultation on SLCP in Cambodia and Ethiopia alongside development of national level overlays. The programme will review learnings in July/August from roll out in the first three countries before making a final decision on rollout in new countries.

As agreed with SLCP, brands will not introduce CAF v1.4 in BW enrolled factories until the tool is formally approved by constituents. Until the official joint launch, the use of the CAF in non-Better Work facilities in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam is technically possible but strongly discouraged by both SLCP and Better Work, as it will not yet include the ‘Law Overlay’ which is essential for compliance determination. Moving forward without sign off from the constituents also risks undermining the consultation process. If brands proceed to use CAF v1.4in their non-enrolled factories in BW countries, BW would not be formally connected to it.

Better Work will continue to work with SLCP to bring Step 1 of the Data Collection Tool (under CAF) into full alignment with the data sharing needs agreed upon with national constituents. This will include reducing questions in Step 1 and including data points related to social dialogue, management systems and other compliance areas. The updates will be incorporated in v1.5 of the Tool (launch Jan/Feb 2022). These revisions will also be based on constituent feedback upon review of the data collected through the Tool.