‘The Contracting Authority has included obligations within the contract conditions relating to ethical working conditions and labour standards, which are relevant to the products/services to be delivered.’
‘The Contract/Framework Agreement supports the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework, and the National Outcomes which articulate Scotland's Purpose ‘To focus Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth’. This Framework supports the following National Outcomes, and Contractors are expected to support the Authority’s aim to achieve these.' [Insert relevant National Outcomes - see above].
‘The Contracting Authority expects those it contracts with to adopt ethical business practice, to undertake appropriate human rights due diligence as laid down in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and to ensure transparency in their supply chains. Criteria will be included to ensure that bidders support these principles in practice.’
‘The Contracting Authority expects that those it contracts with will prepare and maintain appropriate policies and procedures to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for labour and human rights risks in its own activities and through its supply chains.’
‘Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.’
‘Bidders will be required to adhere to, and fulfil all obligations relevant under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015’
‘Bidders will be required to adhere to, and fulfil all obligations relevant under The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) (2012/19/EU) and The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) (2002/95/EC)’
‘Bidders will be required to confirm that they have (or have access to) the relevant supply chain management and tracking systems used by them to deliver the types of requirements detailed in the Contract Notice or the relevant section of the Site Notice.’
‘Relevant protocols, standards, systems include those by the International Labour Organisation, Fairtrade Foundation, Ethical Trading Initiative, SA8000 or ISEAL, or equivalent’
To highlight the requirement to meet ethical criteria the following wording could be included in a specification:
‘The Contractor is expected to have appropriate standards for its organisation and its supply chain regarding legal, ethical and social issues. This will include for example, arrangements for staff engagement, integrity lines or whistleblowing arrangements, processes for staff raising concerns and the organisation responding to such concerns?’
‘The Contractor will perform its obligations in accordance with the Authority’s ethical sourcing policy, which is to promote appropriate standards regarding legal, ethical and social issues including, for example, health and safety, security of employment rights, equality, corruption and fair trade, in particular in developing or countries with low production costs.’
“The Contractor must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all Goods supplied under this contract / framework agreement are produced in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, where the country of origin is an ILO member state, and with all other ILO conventions that have been ratified by the country of origin, in particular, in relation to labour standards, working conditions and the use of child labour.”
Below are some examples of wording that could be used as award criteria where there may be concerns over working conditions and labour standards in the supply chain.
'The Contractor must put in place processes that will ensure that labour standards are being maintained in line with ILO core conventions and local labour laws, throughout its supply chain(s) for Goods relevant to the Framework Agreement.'
‘Bidders must provide information to illustrate that suppliers and production sites should hold an independently audited and internationally-recognised standard relevant to the product, in order to demonstrate how they are addressing ethical and social issues such as the avoidance of child labour, application of fair trade principles and adequate working conditions, in the manufacture of [textiles].’
‘The Contractor will perform its obligations in accordance with the Authority’s, and Framework Public Bodies ethical sourcing policy, which is to promote appropriate standards regarding legal, ethical and social issues including, for example, health and safety, workers’ rights, equality, corruption and fair trade, in particular in developing or countries with low production costs.’ *this should be edited as appropriate to reflect the relevant risk elements prevalent for the contract.
‘The Contractor must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all goods supplied under this Framework Agreement are produced in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, where the country of origin is an ILO member state, and with all other ILO conventions that have been ratified by the country of origin, in particular, in relation to labour standards, working conditions and the use of child labour.’
‘The Contractor will be expected to have a comprehensive system which demonstrates an on-going and systematic approach to identifying, preventing, mitigating and accounting for risks relating to labour standards, working conditions and use of child labour, in its own activities and through its supply chains, relevant to the Framework Agreement. This should include, for example:
The Authority is seeking best practice in ethical sourcing, which goes beyond audits, implementing relevant capacity building programmes to better understand working conditions. This may include:
‘The Contractor will be required to demonstrate continual improvement in working conditions and labour standards, while enhancing policies and systems and, where relevant, work with the Authority during the term of the Framework Agreement to ensure compliance with new and emerging legislation.'
‘The Contractor will be required to undertake a supply chain mapping exercise, identifying all its suppliers, beginning with the higher tiers and moving in to lower tiers as the process is repeated. The results of the mapping exercise should be shared with the Authority.’
