Many countries have legal requirements for the provision of maternity protection for women employees. These typically include:

written confirmation (either in contracts or a company policy or information document) that maternity provisions have been included that meet the requirements of local legislation

evidence of maternity leave being paid, where national law requires.

employees’ understanding of maternity or paternity leave rights;

employees who have taken maternity/paternity benefits have rejoined work at the same or similar position without a reduction in wages;

the UoC does not discriminate in hiring between genders so that they can avoid being obligated to pay maternity (or paternity) benefits to employees, see ASC Farm Standard Criterion 3.4 (Discrimination).

International Labour Organization (ILO) V. Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)

Wage payment can be documented in several ways, often through a payslip including all wage information. This can be given to the employee:

If loan interest rates are charged by the UoC, they should be:

For each payment cycle, the UoC should provide a written pay record (such as a payslip) to each employee detailing the following:

The pay record should:

employee contracts

payslips

any loan agreements in place

working hours records

documented wage information, including advances or any withholdings.

records of wage payments;

accuracy of wage payments;

employees’ access to wage information through employee interviews.

Legal tender does not include:

There are situations where withholding salary, property or benefits are legally required, and so allowed under this indicator. For example:

salary withholdings, as required by the government. For example, part of a salary is sometimes withheld by a government for:

employee contracts

payslips

payment transactions.

direct, regular, and accurate payment to employees through records review and interviews with employees and management;

if there are any instances when wages were delayed, deferred or withheld in the past and why;

employees understand the process for raising grievances if wages are delayed or inaccurate;

when foreign migrant employees are employed, apart from legally required deductions, no other deductions shall be made from their wages before payment, for example:

General principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment and definition of recruitment fees and related costs: <https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_protect/@protrav/@migrant/documents/publication/wcms_536755.pdf>

The wage improvement plan should:

completed wage improvement plan.

the presence of the completed wage improvement plan including reporting towards previous year’s goal;

that the plan provides a clear rationale and explanation where no progress has been made towards closing any living wage gap.

ASC’s Wage Improvement Plan template

GIZ Living Wage Costing Tool: offers various simulations to analyse the direct cost implications for producers to pay workers a living wage: <https://www.nachhaltige-agrarlieferketten.org/en/tips-tools>

This is a reporting requirement, not a disclosure requirement, which means that all data is held confidentially by ASC, who does not share it publicly.

Companies should never publicly share personal employee data.

Wage gap data is generated by the UoC through their remuneration calculation (Indicator 3.8.2), and is uploaded by the UoC to MyASC on an annual basis.

The information collected through wage gap reporting will enable ASC to:

confirmation of data uploaded to MyASC.

that data uploaded to MyASC is consistent with results of the wage gap analysis.

Living Wage Data Reporting Template

A living wage is: ‘the remuneration (wages, bonuses and benefits) received for a standard workweek by a worker in a particular place sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and their family. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs including provision for unexpected events.’

A living wage is different to the national minimum wage: it is usually higher and is adjusted yearly for inflation and is voluntary rather than required by law.

Living wage benchmarks are location-specific monetary amounts calculated by the Anker Research Institute (ARI) and the Global Living Wage Coalition designed to ensure employees receive sufficient income for a living wage. Sites can find relevant benchmarks in the ASC Living Wage Benchmarks document found online, which is regularly updated.

The living wage gap is defined as the difference between the local living wage and the actual remuneration (wages, bonuses, and benefits) provided to employees.

ASC’s requirements on living wage are focused on measuring and reporting wages:

These requirements do not require the UoC to:

Through the results of this calculation, the UoC should be able to:

An example of a possible result from the calculation is:

completed Salary Matrix or similar wage measurement analysis calculation

employee contracts

payslips

payment transaction records.

the accuracy and completeness of wage measurement analysis;

what bonus payments, and in-kind benefits have been paid, through employee and management interviews and document review;

the value and benefit of in-kind benefits recorded in the wage measurement analysis, through employee interviews;

calculations used in calculating in kind-benefits used for wage calculation, including document review, through management interviews;

wage payments.

Living Wages Around the World, Manual for Measurement by Richard Anker and Martha Anker, Chapter 15 Comparing Prevailing Wages to a Living Wage: <https://www.elgaronline.com/monobook-oa/9781786431455/9781786431455.xml>

Wage measurement tool: IDH Salary Matrix

List of living wage benchmarks on ASC website

The following countries do not have a minimum wage established by law:

In these countries wages should be negotiated:

In-kind benefits can include:

employee contracts

payslips

working hours records

payment transaction records

any collective bargaining agreements that are in place.

national legal requirements on minimum wage;

relevant collective bargaining agreements on wages in the sector (recommended prior to audit visit);

that no in-kind benefits have been paid in place of the legal minimum wage.

Regularly updated list of minimum wages by country: <https://wageindicator.org/salary/minimum-wage/minimum-wages-per-country>

This is a reporting requirement, not a disclosure requirement, which means that all data is held confidentially by ASC, who does not share it publicly.

Companies should never publicly share personal employee data.

The information collected through this reporting requirements will enable ASC to gain insights into employee composition, which will inform the future development of ASC’s requirements related to employees.

confirmation of data uploaded to MyASC.

that data uploaded to MyASC is consistent with results of the wage gap analysis.

Systematic use of home working, labour-only contracting, sub-contracting, and fixed-term contracts is often an indication of attempts to avoid social or labour obligations.

Such employment arrangements can be legitimately used within employment relationships if:

Home working carries risks that:

Examples of when sub-contracting is used at a UoC are:

contracts with contract-workers, sub-contractors and recruitment agencies

documentation regarding social security.

employees are paid social security according to national legal requirements;

employees understand their right to social security and how that applies to their contracts.

The indicator does not permit false apprenticeships but apprenticeships may be legitimately used within employment relationships if they are:

apprenticeship agreement

contracts

that any apprentices at the UoC are aware of the terms agreed in their apprenticeship agreement and that their work fits in the scope of that agreement.