Introduction

Under the Sustainable Compliance methodology of the FLA, a factory goes through a process of gap analysis (baseline study), capacity building and impact assessment. In order to ensure the accuracy and sustainability of the process, the views of workers should be incorporated into these processes. Workers perspectives should be part of the baseline study, workers should be involved in capacity building, and the experience and perception of workers regarding change should be an essential criteria in measuring impact. This document describes how the workers’ view is incorporated in the baseline study and the impact assessment.

Method & Organization of Interviews

Workers’ views are gathered through a standardized quantitative survey. Workers are asked to respond to a questionnaire mainly comprised of multiple choice questions. The organization of the workers interviews – i.e., group sizes, tutor support for workers etc. -- is adapted to the factory's circumstances and to the literacy level of workers. Workers who participate in the survey do so anonymously and are protected from possible retaliation by management.

Sample

Workers participating in the survey are chosen randomly from a list of factory workers. The sample size will be adapted to the size of the factory's workforce in order to meet the criteria of a fully representative sample.

Tool: Worker's Perception of Sustainable Code of Compliance (SCOPE)

The SCOPE survey instrument inquires about a specific compliance issue (e.g., grievance procedure) from workers’ perspective. It is constructed along the same line as the management self-assessment tool in order to collect comparable data, measuring a range of different factors:

• policy  
  
• procedure   
  
• workers integration
• implementation     
  
• communication
  
• training
• satisfaction
• awareness

Each of these factors is measured with 5 to 10 questions (items) which add up to a scale. These scales can then be directly compared to the results from the SCAT and over time. In addition to these subject focused questions every workers questionnaire has a set of fixed questions on independent variables, such as gender, age, time of employment in factory etc. These variables will be collected with every SCAT for the purposes of extensive and in-depth correlation analysis.

How it works:

1. The FLA selects a service provider (SP) to conduct the SCOPE survey.  SPs are selected from a pool of organizations, which have successfully completed training on the SCOPE methodology.

2. Venues and dates of interviews are determined by the FLA. This is done in order to ensure the independence and objectivity the interviewers and the interview process.
3. The service provider conducts the workers’ interviews using FLA instruments and FLA methodology.
4. The service provider prepares a simple analysis of the SCOPE results using bar charts to display the average scores for each factor and some additional information on the survey (see below). He/she sends this information to the factory, involved brands and the FLA.
5. After 12 months the process is repeated and the results are sent back to the factories with bar charts comparing the baseline and impact assessment.

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• SCOPE GP

The workers survey on Grievance & Complaint System gathers information of factory’s performance in this area from the workers’ perspective, e.g., have workers ever used a complaint channel, complained through other means, what was the follow-up, and have they been integrated in the procedure et cetera. Findings of the SCOPE workers survey are comparable to those of the Management Self-Assessment.

• SCOPE  HoW

The workers survey inquires on working hours from the workers’ perspective, e.g., how much they work, how often they have rest days, how happy or unhappy they are with the situation, and how aware they are of possible long risks et cetera. Findings of the SCOPE workers survey are comparable to those of the Management Self-Assessment.

• SCOPE HIRING

The workers survey looks at the HIring procedure from the workers’ perspective, e.g., on what criteria have they been hired, were they interviewed, and have they received orientation and/or skill training et cetera. Findings of the SCOPE workers survey are comparable to those of the Management Self-Assessment.

• SCOPE PREPARE

PREPARE workers survey takes a close look at factors that promote workers representation from the workers’ perspective, e.g., how are the worker representatives elected, what worker participatory bodies exist in the facility, have workers seen a report on the achievement/work of a worker participatory body et cetera. Findings of the SCOPE workers survey are comparable to those of the Management Self-Assessment.

Aggregated reports on the SCOPE surveys conducted as part of FLA 3.0 is available here.

 

For more info download the SCOPE INTRODUCTION ppt here.