Telecom Labour Conditions and Human Rights Question 1A

From RankaBrand

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Question

Does the brand (company) have a supplier Code of Conduct (CoC) and does it have an operable strategy for monitoring the CoC-compliance of the factories where its purchased products are made?

Dutch version: Heeft het merk (bedrijf) een Code of Conduct voor toeleveranciers (CoC) en heeft het een actieve strategie om de naleving van de CoC in fabrieken, waar hun ingekochte producten worden gemaakt, te controleren?

German version: Hat die Marke/das Unternehmen einen Verhaltenskodex für Zulieferer (Code of Conduct, CoC) und verfolgt es eine operationale Strategie, um seine Einhaltung in den produzierenden Fabriken sicherzustellen?

References

Telecom companies are service and network providers, but also play an important role in the sales and distribution of ICT hardware, for example mobile phones, routers and modems. These appliances may be purchased directly from the manufacturers and carry the Telecom company brandname, or it may be procured from other electronic brand companies like Samsung and Nokia.

According to reports like Fair Phones in the Netherlands: It’s your call and Computer Connections of the Netherlands based research centre SOMO, there are regular human rights and labour violations in factories where electronic materials are produced, and improvement and monitoring efforts are mostly lacking in the industry.

For now, we ask if the brand (company) has a Supplier Code of Conduct which would provide a 'yes' answer to at least one of the 3 Labour Conditions and Human Rights Questions used for Electronics and ICT Hardware. See here:
Electronics and ICT hardware Question 1
Electronics and ICT hardware Question 2
Electronics and ICT hardware Question 3
for the relevant questions. Also, there should be a clear strategy of monitoring the factories' compliance of this CoC. The factories can be part of the supply chain of the brand. As mentioned earlier, it is also possible that products from other brands are purchased. In that case, there should be a clear strategy stating how to monitor the factories of the brands from which those products are purchased. Note that as Rank a Brand expands and grows, this question as well as the ranking instructions will become more elaborated.

Ranking Guidelines

Rank 'yes' -When the brand has a Supplier Code of Conduct which would earn a 'yes' to at least one of the three Questions used for the Labour Conditions and Human Rights of Electronics and ICT Hardware (Questions 1, 2, and 3) and when the brand has an operable monitoring strategy observing compliance of this CoC. Note that the term ‘monitoring’ includes audits and corrective actions. Also note that, for the time being, the percentage of the supply chain is undefined for this question. During the course of Rank a Brand we can set a more clear rating criteria.

Rank '?' -When the brand doesn't provide information about improving labour conditions in the supply chain.
-When only a CoC is provided or only a monitoring strategy is given.

NOTE: When a brand is a member of an acknowledged Multi Stakeholder Initiative, but the brand has also published its own CoC on the website, the brand's CoC is decisive.