FLOCERT launches Living Wage SmartCheck

FLOCERT, the leading provider of ethical assurance services, has launched its “Living Wage SmartCheck” today. The service is designed to support retailers and businesses in making living wages a reality for workers within their agricultural supply chains.

The new service fulfils the increasing customer demand for ethical and sustainable sourcing by providing a comprehensive approach to determining the wages in their supply chains and closing living wage gaps.

The Living Wage SmartCheck service includes an assessment of the wages paid to plantation workers via the renowned IDH Salary Matrix tool and on-site audits to verify that the data in the tool is accurate and complete. If additional payments are needed to reach the living wage, FLOCERT verifies that the workers receive these payments. A final report summarises the assessments, achievements, challenges and suggestions for further improvements, and can be used to show credible, third-party-verified information.

FLOCERT’s Director Business Relations, Tyler Mahn Jones, and Director Business & IT Solutions, Frank Brinkschneider, are introducing the new service at the Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trade Forum in London on 20 March 2024. “The forum looks into how companies can develop and implement robust human rights due diligence and responsible sourcing policies. Our Living Wage SmartCheck provides a transparent and effective solution to address living wage gaps in global supply chains, allowing companies to respond to the growing consumer and legislative demands for living wages,” Mahn Jones commented. “From our first experiences piloting the service with retailers, we know it works very well for the banana sector. We are now also offering it for other commodities like fresh fruits or flowers.”

For the Living Wage SmartCheck, FLOCERT has partnered with IDH, the platform behind the IDH Salary Matrix. “With our work, we want to achieve living wages for workers”, says Sonia Cordera, Director Sector Initiatives at IDH. “We are pleased to have FLOCERT as a partner to assist companies in verifying living wage gaps.”

More information about the service is available at flocert.net/living-wage-smartcheck/.

View the press release here

If you have any questions, please contact us at comms@flocert.net.