SLCP — Social & Labor Convergence Program (industry social-compliance standard)
A multistakeholder initiative that operates the Converged Assessment Framework for social and labour assessment in textile factories, replacing redundant audits. It complements BSCI and SA8000.
Context
The Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) is a non-profit multistakeholder initiative launched in 2015 with operational headquarters in Amsterdam. It brings together brands, manufacturers, trade unions, audit agencies, certifiers (Sustainable Apparel Coalition / Cascale, Fair Wear Foundation, Better Work) and NGOs under the objective of eliminating the duplication of social audits that textile factories undergo. The operational tool is the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF), current version Sustainability Terms of Reference v1.5.
Operational functioning
The factory completes the CAF on the slcptools.com platform with verifiable data on labour rights, health and safety, social management, management systems, employment conditions and basic environmental management.
An Approved Verifier Body (AVB) reviews the data on site (in-person verification) and publishes it as a Verified Assessment.
Brands, certifiers and regulators access the same Verified Assessment without needing to duplicate the audit. One verification serves multiple addressees.
The Verified Assessment is valid for one year. After the deadline, the factory must renew the verification to maintain validity.
Articulation with BSCI, SA8000 and EU legislation
SLCP does not replace code standards (BSCI Code of Conduct, SA8000:2014 certifiable norm). SLCP is a converging operational tool that gathers evidence for those standards and reduces duplication of visits. SA8000 remains a certifiable norm under SAAS; BSCI remains an Amfori monitoring programme with its own audit system. SLCP is an operational complement: it allows the same in-person verification to feed data for BSCI, SA8000, Better Work and other frameworks.
Applied case
A European textile brand with 12 tier 1 suppliers in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Portugal incorporates SLCP into its social due diligence policy.
It asks each tier 1 supplier to complete an SLCP Verified Assessment renewed annually on the slcptools.com platform as baseline evidence of social and labour compliance.
It uses the SLCP Verified Assessments as one of the documented inputs of its CSDDD due diligence (Dir. (EU) 2024/1760) and of its risk mapping under the Forced Labor Regulation (Reg. (EU) 2024/3015).
It imports the SLCP data via API or connector into its traceability platform to feed its Sustainability Statement under ESRS S1 (Own workforce) and ESRS S2 (Workers in the value chain).
Where a supplier does not have an SLCP Verified Assessment, it offers technical and financial support (training, partial subsidy of the verification cost) as part of its supplier upgrade policy.
Common mistakes
SLCP is NOT a code standard: it is a converging operational tool.
SLCP does not replace code standards such as the BSCI Code of Conduct or SA8000:2014. SA8000 remains a certifiable norm under SAAS with its own audit. BSCI remains a programme with its own system. SLCP is an operational tool that gathers converging evidence, reducing duplication of audits. Confusing it leads to believing that an SLCP Verified Assessment is equivalent to an SA8000 certification, which is false.
An SLCP Verified Assessment is NOT a certification: it is verified evidence.
SLCP does not issue certification. It issues a Verified Assessment (verified assessment report). The SA8000 certification is a title issued under SAAS by an accredited certification body. The SLCP Verified Assessment is an evidence document that brands, certifiers and regulators use as input for their own frameworks. The brand decides how to interpret the Verified Assessment in its internal policy.
SLCP does NOT cover all sustainability areas: it focuses on social and labour matters.
The CAF includes a basic environmental management area but a limited one (legal compliance, licence register). For the broad environmental area (environmental footprint, chemical management, water, energy) the relevant frameworks are Higg FEM (Cascale), ZDHC for chemistry, EU Ecolabel for product. SLCP does not replace these frameworks; it operates alongside them as a converging piece of social compliance.
The SLCP Verified Assessment has an expiry: validity of ONE year.
The Verified Assessment is valid for one year from the AVB verification date. After the deadline, the supplier must renew the verification. A brand that assumes perpetual validity of the Verified Assessment operates with expired evidence. Annual renewal is mandatory to keep the document as a valid due diligence input.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP)?
A non-profit multistakeholder initiative launched in 2015 with headquarters in Amsterdam that operates the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF), an operational tool for converging assessment of social and labour conditions in textile factories. Its objective is to eliminate the duplication of redundant audits that factories undergo, replacing them with a single verification that serves multiple addressees.
Does SLCP replace the SA8000 certification or the BSCI programme?
No. SLCP is a converging operational tool that gathers evidence for those standards and reduces duplication of visits. SA8000:2014 remains a certifiable norm under SAAS with its own audit. BSCI remains an Amfori programme with its own system. SLCP complements both: an SLCP Verified Assessment can feed BSCI and SA8000 documentation without replacing them.
How is an SLCP Verified Assessment obtained?
The factory completes the Converged Assessment Framework on the slcptools.com platform with verifiable data on labour rights, health and safety, social management, management systems, employment conditions and basic environmental management. An Approved Verifier Body (AVB) reviews the data on site and publishes it as a Verified Assessment. Validity: one year.
How does SLCP articulate with EU legislation?
SLCP Verified Assessments are one of the documented inputs of CSDDD due diligence (Dir. (EU) 2024/1760) and of risk mapping under the Forced Labor Regulation (Reg. (EU) 2024/3015). SLCP data feed datapoints of ESRS S1 (Own workforce) and ESRS S2 (Workers in the value chain) in the Sustainability Statement under CSRD.
Fuentes oficiales
- International Labour Organization2024International framework
- European Parliament and Council · OJEU13 jun 2024Directive in force
