Process requirement 5
We explain what we mean by following-up action plans, engaging in meaningful consultations with rights-holders, and addressing deviations.
Excerpt from the contract clause
Supplier shall monitor the measures to prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse impacts, by
a) following-up established action plans for its own operations and risk suppliers, with a particular focus on the most significant risks identified,
b) engaging in meaningful consultations with rights-holders affected by its own operations, or their representatives, and to the extent possible in the supply chains of risk suppliers and
c) addressing deviations.
Following-up action plans
You shall follow-up established action plans for your own operations and for risk suppliers, with a particular focus on the most significant risks identified.
Follow-up is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of your measures to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts, both in your own operations and in the supply chains of risk suppliers.
A common method for follow-up is regular internal or external audits and reviews.
Action plans for your own operations
Action plans for your own operations (process requirement 3) shall be followed up according to national legislation, such as the Work Environment Act, the Discrimination Act and/or the Environmental Code. You shall similarly follow up action plans covered by certifications/sector-specific laws, including for corruption.
Action plans for risk suppliers
Action plans for risk suppliers (process requirement 4) shall focus on your own measures to ensure due diligence, including your expectations of risk suppliers. This means that the follow-up shall cover both your own measures and your expectations of suppliers.
This typically includes follow-up of suppliers through, for example, self-assessments, site visits, inspections and third-party audits, including through multi-stakeholder initiatives. Other methods you can use to follow-up suppliers are origin verification, open data and government databases.
Origin verification
To verify the origin of a raw material, you can use origin verification. The method is based on isotope analysis and is particularly effective for raw materials such as meat, cotton and wood.
Open data
Open data involves reviewing publicly available, unstructured information online, such as social media posts where rights-holders report on risks in the workplace or society, and public documents from government agencies. The review can be done manually or with the help of AI and can serve as an alternative to factory audits. Examples of follow-ups can be found at Globalworks.
Government databases
A third method is to use government databases. Here are three examples:
Withhold Release Orders
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues Withhold Release Orders (import bans) when there is sufficient evidence of forced laboir in the production of a product. These decisions are published on the CBP website and can be used to follow-up products.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Withhold Release Orders and Findings List
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List
The U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force is tasked with developing and updating a list of products subject to the import ban under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This legislation was enacted to strengthen the existing import ban on goods produced using forced labour and to stop the use of forced labour in Xinjiang, China. .
UFLPA Entity List
Conflict Mineral Reporting to the U.S. Stock Exchange
To verify the origin of the minerals tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG), you can search the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database. Companies listed on the U.S. stock exchange are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to report how they are working to reduce risks in their 3TG supply chains. The database is particularly useful for IT, medical technology and automotives. To search, follow the link below, enter the company name and type “SD” under “Filing types”.
EDGAR database
Particular focus on the most significant risks
As with all due diligence, the focus shall be on the most significant risks, assessed based on likelihood and severity. The follow-up shall reflect these priorities. If you have assessed the risks based on likelihood and severity and then drawn up the action plan based on the same priorities, you will automatically focus on the most significant risks in the follow-up as well.
Once the most significant risks have been followed-up, focus shall shift to the next most significant risks and thereafter in order of priority.
For support on how to prioritise risks based on probability and severity, see Process requirement 2.
Suggested verifications
- Instructions describing the monitoring process.
- Reports from internal audits or third-party reviews.
- Action plans with implemented measures.
- Self-assessments, for sample products.
- Reports from site visits or inspections, for sample products.
- Reports from multi-stakeholder initiatives, for sample products.
- Third-party audit reports, for sample products.
- Results from origin verification, open data, government databases, etc.
Guidance for auditor
Fulfils requirement
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it follows-up action plans for the company’s own operations, including:
- How the follow-up is carried out (internal or external reviews or audits).
- How the follow-up has a special focus on the most significant risks (assessed based on likelihood and severity).
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it follows-up supply chain action plans, including:
- How the follow-up is carried out (internal or external reviews or audits).
- How the follow-up takes aim at the company’s own actions, which include expectations on suppliers.
- How the follow-up has a special focus on the most significant risks (assessed based on likelihood and severity).
There is documented follow-up of action plans for the company’s own operations.
There is documented follow-up of supply chain action plans for sample products, including expectations on suppliers. Common methods for following-up supplier expectations include self-assessments, site visits, inspections, and obtaining third-party audits (including from multi-stakeholder initiatives). Origin verification, open data and government databases can also be used.
Does not fulfil requirement
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it follows-up action plans for the company’s own operations, or they are incomplete:
- It is not clear how the follow-up is carried out (internal or external reviews or audits).
- It is not clear that the follow-up has a special focus on the most significant risks (assessed based on likelihood and severity).
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it follows-up supply chain action plans, or they are incomplete:
- It is not clear how the follow-up is carried out (internal or external reviews or audits).
- It is not clear that the follow-up takes aim at the company’s own actions, which include expectations on suppliers.
- It is not clear that the follow-up has a special focus on the most significant risks (assessed based on likelihood and severity).
There is no documented follow-up of action plans for the company’s own operations.
There is no documented follow-up of supply chain action plans for sample products, including expectations on suppliers. It is not clear that methods such as self-assessments, site visits, inspections, obtaining third-party audits (including from multi-stakeholder initiatives), origin verification, open data or government databases have been used to follow-up suppliers.
Engaging in meaningful consultations
When following-up measures to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts, you shall engage in meaningful consultations with rights-holders affected by your own operations, or their representatives, and to the extent possible in the supply chains of risk suppliers.
Consultation with rights-holders, or their representatives, is important to ensure that the measures have been implemented. However, consultation in the supply chains of risk suppliers is only required to the extent possible.
If you have the capacity to follow-up risk suppliers through your own site visits and inspections, you shall also be able to meet the requirement for consultation. If you obtain third-party audits, including from multi-stakeholder initiatives, you shall ensure that these are based on interviews with workers.
For more information on consultations, including what constitutes “meaningful consultations”, see Process requirement 2.
Suggested verifications
- Instructions describing consultations with rights-holders in the monitoring of action plans for your own operations and how these meet the requirement for “meaningful” consultations.
- Instructions describing consultations with rights-holders in the monitoring of action plans for risk suppliers.
- Meeting minutes from social dialogue, hearings, and other consultation processes, for sample products.
- Results from worker voice programs and/or surveys, for sample products.
- Audit reports describing the consultations, for sample products.
Guidance for auditor
Fulfils requirement
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it engages in consultations with rights-holders or their representatives when following-up action plans for the company’s own operations, including:
- How statutory consultations are applied under the Work Environment Act, the Discrimination Act and/or the Environmental Code.
- How consultations are characterised by two-way communication, responsiveness, good faith and continuity.
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it engages in consultations with rights-holders or their representatives when following-up suppliers, including:
- How meaningful consultations are also sought in the supply chain, for example through employee interviews during audits or by obtaining third-party audits based on employee interviews.
There is documentation showing that consultations have been carried out in the follow-up of action plans for the company’s own operations, such as employee surveys or meeting minutes from statutory consultations with a focus on follow-up.
There is documentation showing that consultations have been sought in the follow-up of suppliers of sample products, for example through employee interviews in audits or by obtaining third-party audits based on employee interviews.
Does not fulfil requirement
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it engages in consultations with rights-holders or their representatives when following-up action plans for the company’s own operations, or they are incomplete:
- Statutory consultations are not applied under the Work Environment Act, the Discrimination Act and/or the Environmental Code.
- Consultations are not characterised by two-way communication, responsiveness, good faith and continuity.
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it engages in consultations with rights-holders or their representatives when following-up suppliers, or they are incomplete:
- Meaningful consultations, for example through employee interviews in audits or by obtaining third-party audits based on employee interviews, are not sought in the supply chain.
There is no documentation showing that consultations have been carried out in the follow-up of action plans for the company’s own operations, such as employee surveys or meeting minutes from statutory consultations with a focus on follow-up.
There is no documentation showing that consultations have been sought in the follow-up of suppliers of sample products, for example through employee interviews in audits or by obtaining third-party audits based on employee interviews.
Addressing deviations
When following up measures to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts, you shall address deviations.
This means that you shall address deviations both from your own action plans—which typically include measures to ensure due diligence—and from the Supplier Code of Conduct.
Severe deviations from the Supplier Code of Conduct shall be reported in your incident or deviation management system to ensure they are addressed at management level. This applies regardless of whether the severe deviation occurs in your own operations or in the supply chain. Severe deviations include forced labour, child labour, working conditions that pose a danger to life, serious environmental harm, grand corruption, and attacks on environmental and human rights defenders.
You can either ensure that your existing incident or deviation management system also covers severe deviations in the supply chain, or establish a parallel system for handling such cases.
Suggested verifications
- Instructions describing the deviation management process.
- Screenshots or printouts from the deviation management system.
- Action plans with implemented measures.
- Meeting minutes documenting the handling of deviations.
Guidance for auditor
Fulfils requirement
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it addresses deviations in its own operations, including:
- How deviations from the due diligence process are addressed.
- How severe deviations are reported in the company’s incident or deviation management system.
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it addresses supply chain deviations, including:
- How deviations from the due diligence process are addressed.
- How deviations from the Supplier Code of Conduct are addressed.
- How severe deviations are reported in the company’s incident or deviation management system. The company can use an integrated system or a separate supply chain system.
There is evidence that shows how the company has addressed deviations in its own operations, such as reports from incident or deviation management systems.
There is evidence that shows how the company has addressed deviations in the supply chain, such as audit reports and action plans.
Does not fulfil requirement
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it addresses deviations in its own operations, or they are incomplete:
- It is not clear how deviations from the due diligence process are addressed.
- It is not clear that severe deviations are reported in the company’s incident or deviation management system.
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation/templates that describe how it addresses supply chain deviations, or they are incomplete:
- It is not clear how deviations from the due diligence process are addressed.
- It is not clear how deviations from the Code of Conduct for suppliers are addressed.
- It is not clear that severe deviations are reported in the company’s incident or deviation management system.
There is no evidence showing how the company has addressed deviations in its own operations, such as reports from incident or deviation management systems.
There is no evidence that shows how the company has addressed deviations in the supply chain, such as audit reports and action plans.
Templates process requirement 5
- Responsible sourcing instruction template (section 3) (currently under revision)
- Supply chain risk assessment template incl. action plans and remediation plan
Process requirements
Integrate commitments into policies and allocate responsibility for policies and due diligence
We explain the requirements for policies and how responsibilities shall be allocated between the board of directors, managers, and employees.
Identify and assess adverse impacts
We explain the concepts of risk suppliers, supply chain mapping, rights-holder consultations and particularly vulnerable groups, as well as how to prioritise risks based on likelihood and severity.
Prevent and mitigate adverse impacts that you cause or contribute to
We explain the responsibility to cease activities that cause or contribute to adverse impacts, establish action plans, and promote sustainable purchasing practices.
Prevent and mitigate adverse impacts linked to your operations
We explain the responsibility regarding supplier assessments, action plans, and the forwarding of requirements—including transparency—as well as the ability to temporarily suspend or terminate the contract.
Monitor the measures to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts
We explain what we mean by following-up action plans, meaningful consultations with rights-holders, and addressing deviations.
Enable complaints
We explain the key functions of complaints procedures, for which stakeholders they should be accessible, and the need to address submitted complaints.
Provide for remediation
We explain the concept of remediation, when remediation is required, the importance of engaging in meaningful consultation with affected rights-holders, and the need to assess whether they are satisfied with both the process and the outcome.