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Indicator 3.3.5

Requirement

The UoC shall not employ children under the age of 13 under any circumstances.

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • Employing children under the age of 13 carries risks for their physical, mental, social and moral development and wellbeing.

  • There are no circumstances in which employing a child under the age of 13 is permitted under the ASC Farm Standard.

Evidence of Implementation

  • age verification records

  • employee contracts.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • whether there are any children living at the site or otherwise present;

  • whether employee contracts match the age verification records;

  • employees’ knowledge of any children having been on site.

Indicator 3.3.4

Requirement

The UoC shall report to ASC if the UoC is a family farm and if any children work on the site, according to ASC data submission procedures.

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • 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 family farms where children may help out their parents, which will inform the future development of ASC’s child labour requirements

    • foster open discussions about the challenges of family farms.

Evidence of Implementation

  • confirmation of data uploaded to MyASC.

Auditors Should Confirm

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

Indicator 3.3.3

Requirement

The UoC shall implement an age verification mechanism for all employees and shall maintain records of verified ages.

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • An employment process that includes an age verification mechanism helps to confirm that employees are of the age category indicated, thereby enabling the UoC to prevent all forms of child labour.

  • Age is verified by legal documentation in a robust age identification process where the UoC requires proof of identity:

    • preferably an official photo ID card such as a national ID or passport, or

    • birth documentation.

    • If there are concerns that the identification may not be authentic, the employer can interview the applicant including information on their background (for example about schooling history, family and family members) to make sure that the potential employee is being honest about their age, and the information provided is plausible.

    • If there is no identification available, the employer can interview family members and community members, using significant events to help to place the year of the person’s birth. For example, finding out if the person was born before or after the big flood in the village.

Evidence of Implementation

  • age verification records.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • how management implements age verification

  • the ages of employees.

Indicator 3.3.2

Requirement

If child labour is identified, the UoC shall implement remediation processes that prioritise the best interest of the child, following the method outlined in Appendix 10.

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • The remediation framework is set out in Appendix 10, including timelines, corrective action and reporting obligations.

  • Remediation of child labour:

    • will vary depending on the situation and the needs of the child in question

    • always takes into account the best interest of the child

    • is ideally carried out in consultation with local experts such as NGOs.

  • When remediating a case of child labour, there can be different steps in the process, which can include:

    • immediate actions to safeguard the child, for example removing them from the work situation to a safe location and locating their parents;

    • medium-term actions to develop a plan to protect the child both in the short and longer term and provide appropriate remedy to the victim, including but not limited to:

      • medical or other care as necessary

      • ensuring they are being safely looked after

      • access to adequate resources for the child and for their education;

      • long-term actions to enact and monitor the plan, which can take up to several years.

  • The UoC should engage in a process of developing corrective actions to prevent child labour reoccurring. This can include:

    • performing an analysis of what went wrong in their system to prevent it

    • implementing measures to prevent future recurrence

    • considering working with local experts on this corrective action.

  • Potential measures to prevent child labour include:

    • robust age verification system prior to employment

    • facilitate children’s access to school

    • employee education about child labour and child rights

    • facilitate access to childcare for employees

    • pay workers a living wage

    • promote community awareness on child labour

    • provide literacy and numeracy training for employees

    • birth registration campaign.

  • Given the complexity of human rights issues, partnership with external partners is often necessary to provide effective remediation. They can:

    • provide support for the development of a remediation plan

    • help in implementing the remediation plan

    • help to implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

  • These potential partners can include:

    • local NGOs

    • individual experts

    • community liaisons/leaders

    • government offices

    • supply chain partners, or others.

  • Potential support that these partners can provide could include:

    • training

    • improved access to social services and education

    • advocacy

    • directly financial support or other support for the affected person and their families to find other sources of income.

Organisation Type | Potential Services to Remediate Child Labour or Forced Labour

Human rights organisations or expert consultants | – Support with identification of the affected person(s)

|

| – Support for remediation plan development

|

| – Human rights and worker rights training

|

| – Addressing root causes of abuse

Unions or worker organisations | – Support for remediation plan development

|

| – Remediation plan monitoring

|

| – Human rights and worker rights training

|

| – Addressing root causes of abuse

Community-based and religious organisations and leaders | – Support services to former child or forced labourers

|

| – Advocacy and awareness raising regarding external drivers of the risk of child or forced labour—for example local advocacy with the government to provide access to schools, or campaigns against child labour as a cultural practice

School leadership and staff | – Facilitate access to education for former child labourers

|

| – Support advocacy efforts to address external drivers of child labour with community, parents and children

Healthcare providers | – Medical support to former child or forced labourers

|

| – Input into remediation plan when there are health concerns

Government agencies | – Social support services to former child or forced labourers— for example access to government benefits or social programmes

Buyers and retailers | – Joint efforts to address root causes

|

| – Financial support for remediation and prevention efforts

Industry organisations and multistakeholder groups | – Advocacy for system and national-level change in conditions that lead to child or forced labour or other human rights abuses

|

| – Joint efforts to address root causes

Evidence of Implementation

  • documented remediation procedures

  • records and documents of any remediation process that has taken place

  • records and documents of any corrective actions that have been put into place

  • documented monitoring system in place.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • existence of effective and appropriate remediation procedures;

  • knowledge and capacity of staff to implement remediation procedures;

  • the ability of the site to monitor any corrective actions within their management system;

  • knowledge and capacity of staff to develop corrective actions, where necessary.

Useful Resources

Indicator 3.3.1

Requirement

The UoC shall not engage in child labour. Child labour is work that: – is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; or – interferes with their schooling.

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • ‘No engagement’ means that child labour does not occur:

    • within the UoC’s production sites and facilities

    • as a result of actions taken by recruitment agencies for the UoC

    • within the UoC’s supply chain.

    • A child is anyone under the age of 18.

  • Child labour is any unacceptable form of work carried out by children and is prohibited by ASC, including the following:

    • all children under the age of 13 taking part in any economic activity;

      • all children aged 13 and 14 years old engaged in more than light work as stipulated by national, regional and/or local regulations;

      • all children under the age of 18 involved in work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children or interferes with their schooling.

  • Table 2 below shows the ages of children and the type of work that they are permitted to engage in:

Table 2. Ages of children and type of work permitted:

Allowed type of work Hazardous work Non-hazardous work Light work

Adult Employee Allowed Allowed Allowed

aged 18 or older

Young Employee Not allowed Allowed Allowed

between 15 — 17 years old (and older than the age of mandatory schooling)

Child engaged in light work Not allowedNot allowedAllowed**

**between 13 and 14 years old (and anyone younger than the age of mandatory schooling)

Child Not allowedNot allowedNot allowed**

**under 13 years old

  • ILO notes: ‘Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. The participation of children or adolescents above the minimum age for admission to employment in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes activities such as assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.’

  • If children are assisting at the UoC as part of it being a family business, this would be covered by the scope of this Criterion.

Evidence of Implementation

  • age verification records

  • employee contracts

  • job descriptions of all employees.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • presence of general risk factors for child labour in a country;

  • NGOs’ or other local organisations’ knowledge of any reports of child labour in the sector in this region;

  • human resources personnel’s awareness of any issues in the workplace;

  • worker or union representatives’ awareness of any issues in the workplace;

  • whether or not any children are present at the UoC;

  • that employees and managers have an understanding of what is hazardous work and what is light work;

  • confirm life or work histories of employees, when a suspicion exists that the age of an employee does not match the records.

Useful Resources

Indicator 3.2.15

Requirement

The UoC shall not require employees to purchase from employer-operated stores or services as a condition of employment. Where alternative stores or services are not available due to the remote location, the UoC shall ensure that goods and services are sold at fair and reasonable prices. **

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • The words ’employer-operated’ here includes the UoC itself and any services that they may contract to operate a store or service.

  • Requiring employees to purchase goods or services from employer-operated stores or services is a form of economic coercion and can limit their economic freedom and choices.

  • Prices of goods and services should be based on an understanding of reasonable pricing of the same goods and services in the local market. Employers can also make this transparent by providing a cost breakdown of these goods and services.

Evidence of Implementation

  • employee contracts

  • payslips and pay records

  • any cost breakdown of goods and services in the local market.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • if there are employer-operated stores and services on site;

  • the prices of goods at these facilities;

  • if any deductions are made from wages for goods purchased on site;

  • employees’ perception of their ability to choose where to purchase goods or services.

Indicator 3.2.14

Requirement

The UoC shall not require family members of owners or employees to work. Where family members have the opportunity to work, the UoC shall ensure they are separately and voluntarily contracted. **

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • If family members wish to be employed, the UoC respects their right to make independent employment decisions by contracting them separately.

  • This indicator can be met by:

    • implementing independent recruitment processes for family members, similar to how one would hire any other employee

    • avoiding any forms of coercion or pressure to compel family members to work for the farm.

Evidence of Implementation

  • employee contracts.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • whether family members live on site, which can increase the likelihood that they may work at the UoC;

  • everyone working at the UoC has an employment contract.

Indicator 3.2.13

Requirement

The UoC shall not require employees to reside in employee accommodation as a condition of employment for easily accessible sites. **

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • The UoC may provide housing for employees that meets the terms of Criterion 3.11: Employee Accommodation.

  • When the UoC provides housing, whether it owns, leases or contracts the accommodation from a service provider, the UoC communicates to employees that living in this housing is optional for them.

  • The freedom for employees to choose where they live respects employees’ dignity and autonomy and prevents coercion and potentially trapping them in exploitative conditions.

Evidence of Implementation

  • employee contracts.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • whether the worksite is easily accessible via public or private transport

  • how many employees live in accommodation provided by the UoC

  • that the decision to reside in accommodation provided by the UoC is the employee’s own choice

Indicator 3.2.12

Requirement

The UoC shall offer employees free-of-charge and safe transportation for employees to leave the site when it is not easily accessible. **

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • In order to ensure that the employee is freely able to leave the workplace as per Indicator 3.2.11, the UoC provides reasonable transportation for employees to reach nearby communities when:

    • there is no public transportation

    • there are no easily accessible, available and affordable private transportation options.

      • the UoC should agree with employees about what easily accessible and affordable means in their context. Employee representation can support with this.

    • An example of reasonable transportation to leave the premises would be the provision of a free shuttle at the start and end of each shift to the nearby towns where employees live, in areas where there is no public transport.

    • Where the workplace is remote, transportation may only be necessary at the end of an agreed upon time period, such as a shift.

Evidence of Implementation

  • company policy about transport for remote sites

  • transport logs / schedules

  • vehicle maintenance logs

  • third party transport contracts.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • whether there are public transport options to the site;

  • how employees travel to and from the work site;

  • available vehicles for transport appear safe and sufficient;

  • there are no transport fees in wage records.

Indicator 3.2.11

Requirement

The UoC shall not keep employees involuntarily at the site outside of a shift, including confining them in employee accommodation. **

How Do I Interpret This Requirement?

  • Keeping employees trapped at the workplace is a key indication that there is forced labour.

  • Preventing this can include that employers communicate to employees that they are allowed to:

    • leave the worksite

    • leave their accommodations when living on site, when they are not on their shift.

    • This does not apply where staying on site is part of the agreement of contracts, for example a two-week shift on a feed barge followed by one-week off.

Evidence of Implementation

  • employee contracts

  • working hours records.

Auditors Should Confirm

  • that employees understand that they are free to leave the site when they are not on their shifts;

  • that there are no restrictions evident, such as locked gates, or external locks on dormitories.