SA8000 Certification: Standard for Decent Work

SA8000:2026 is an international, certifiable standard for decent work and social accountability. It defines requirements to protect workers’ rights, ensure fair and safe working conditions, and manage human rights risks through a performance based management system, extending responsibility beyond the certified site to the entire value chain.

International human rights are defined through key global frameworks agreed by governments and stakeholders, including UN human rights treaties and ILO conventions.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights establish the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework, defining the duty of states to protect human rights and the responsibility of businesses to respect them, avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts, and address impacts linked to their operations and business relationships. Both states and businesses are expected to ensure access to effective remedies when violations occur.

Social Accountability International (SAI) is a mission driven, non profit organization dedicated to advancing human rights in workplaces worldwide in line with these frameworks. One of its main tools is the SA8000® Standard for Decent Work, first published in 1997 and regularly revised through a multi stakeholder process.

Decent work refers to work that fully respects workers’ human rights, including fair income, safe working conditions, freedom of association, equality of opportunity, and opportunities for personal and social development.

What is the SA8000 standard?

The SA8000:2026 standard defines principles and requirements for ensuring decent work in all contexts. It is divided into two sections:

1. Section 1 - Management Systems: Due Diligence and Governance, describes the risk based due diligence approach organizations must apply across operations and business relationships.
2. Section 2 - Decent Work Principles and Performance Criteria, outlines the human rights linked to decent work and the performance criteria required for their realization.

These sections are interdependent: organizations must use effective management systems to achieve performance objectives with a clear focus on results related to the following “decent work principles”:

• Protection of Children and Young Workers: This principle ensures that child labour is prohibited and that young workers are protected from hazardous work, excessive hours, and conditions that could harm their health, safety, or development.
• Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining: Workers must be free to form or join organizations of their choice and to engage in collective bargaining without interference, discrimination, or retaliation, enabling meaningful social dialogue.
• Free and Fair Recruitment, Employment and Termination: Employment relationships must be voluntary, transparent, and fair, from recruitment through termination, with no forced labour, unfair fees, coercion, or abusive practices.
• Decent Hours, Wages and Benefits: Working hours, wages, and benefits must comply with the law and support a decent standard of living, ensuring fair compensation, reasonable working time, rest, and social protection.
• Freedom from Discrimination: All workers must be treated with equality and dignity, with no discrimination, harassment, or exclusion based on personal characteristics or status throughout the employment lifecycle.
• Health and Safety: Organizations must provide a safe and healthy working environment by identifying risks, preventing accidents and occupational illness, and promoting worker participation in health and safety matters.
• Privacy: Workers’ personal data and private life must be respected, protected, and handled responsibly, ensuring confidentiality, dignity, and protection from intrusive or abusive practices