A social audit checks working conditions at a facility against the code a buyer requires. Most findings are sitting in the payroll and timesheet records weeks before the auditor arrives, so there is time to deal with them.
ESGweise supports social compliance in supply chains across the UAE and wider GCC. The ESGweise delivery team, made up of certified experts, runs pre-assessments against SA8000, SMETA and amfori BSCI criteria, carries out supplier audits commissioned by buyers against their own codes of conduct, and takes corrective action plans through to closure verified with evidence.
Your buyer picks the code
Suppliers rarely choose which social audit to take. The customer names it, and a facility selling to several customers can end up with two or three.
- SA8000 is a certifiable standard from Social Accountability International, certified by accredited bodies. The current edition is SA8000:2026, published in January 2026
- SMETA is the Sedex audit methodology, in two-pillar (labour, health and safety) or four-pillar form (adding environment and business ethics)
- amfori BSCI is the amfori code of conduct, with audited sites rated from A to E
- Buyer codes are retailers' and brands' own supplier codes, often audited directly by the buyer or on its behalf
The official SA8000, SMETA and amfori BSCI audits are carried out by firms those schemes recognise. Our work sits either side of that audit: getting the facility ready for it, and closing what it finds.
Where facilities usually fail
- Working hours: overtime over the limit, missing rest days, timesheets that do not reconcile to payroll
- Wages: deductions, late payment, and pay below the legal or contractual rate
- Recruitment: fees charged to migrant workers, retained passports, contracts in a language the worker cannot read
- Health and safety: fire exits, drills, machine guarding, personal protective equipment, and accommodation standards
- Grievance and voice: whether workers can raise a complaint without it coming back on them
In the Gulf, worker accommodation and recruitment through agencies deserve particular attention. Both sit partly outside the facility's own walls, and both are where serious findings tend to come from.
Records, site, workers, closure
Records review
Payroll, timesheets, contracts, recruitment files and safety records, sampled and reconciled against each other before anyone walks the floor.
Site and accommodation
Production areas, stores and worker housing, checked against the criteria of the code that applies.
Worker interviews
Held privately, away from supervisors, in a language workers are comfortable with. This is where records and reality are tested against each other.
Corrective action to closure
A plan with owners and dates, and each item closed only when evidence shows it has worked. A plan that was submitted is not the same as a problem that was fixed.
Related: assurance and audit covers supplier ESG audits and ESIA, and HSE systems builds the safety management that fixes health and safety findings for good.
Social Audits: questions we hear most
What is a social audit?
An on-site assessment of working conditions at a facility, usually a supplier, against a defined code: labour practices, wages and working hours, health and safety, freedom of association, and how grievances are raised and handled. The best-known codes are SA8000, SMETA and amfori BSCI. Buyers use social audits to show due diligence over their supply chain, and suppliers use them to stay on approved vendor lists.
What is the difference between SA8000, SMETA and amfori BSCI?
SA8000 is a certifiable standard issued by Social Accountability International, and a facility that passes receives a certificate from an accredited certification body. SMETA is an audit methodology from Sedex that produces a shared report rather than a pass or fail, covering labour and health and safety, with environment and business ethics added in the four-pillar version. amfori BSCI is a code of conduct used by amfori members, with audited sites rated on an A to E scale. Which one applies is normally decided by the buyer, not the supplier.
Can ESGweise issue an SA8000 certificate or a SMETA report?
No. SA8000 certificates come from accredited certification bodies, and SMETA and amfori BSCI audits are carried out by audit firms recognised by those schemes. What we do is the work around the official audit: a pre-assessment against the same criteria so the facility knows where it stands, supplier audits commissioned directly by a buyer against its own code, and corrective action plans taken through to verified closure.
What does SA8000:2026 mean for a certified facility?
Social Accountability International published SA8000:2026 on 1 January 2026, replacing SA8000:2014, with a stronger risk-based approach, wider worker engagement, a more accessible grievance mechanism and more supply chain oversight. From 1 January 2027 all new certifications and recertifications are to the 2026 edition. A facility certified to SA8000:2014 moves across at a recertification audit, not a surveillance audit, and must have done so by 31 May 2029. SAI also requires certified organisations to complete its Getting Started with SA8000:2026 course and self-assessment by 31 December 2026.
Is ISO 26000 an alternative to SA8000?
No. ISO 26000 is guidance on social responsibility across seven core subjects, including human rights and labour practices, and it cannot be certified. SA8000 is a requirements standard for labour conditions with an accredited certificate at the end. Organisations often use ISO 26000 to set their wider social responsibility agenda and SA8000 where a buyer wants certified proof about the workplace.
Why do facilities fail social audits?
Working hours and records are the most common problems: overtime above the permitted limit, rest days not given, or timesheets that do not match payroll. After that come health and safety gaps such as blocked exits, missing fire drills and inadequate personal protective equipment, followed by recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and retained passports. Most of these are visible in the records before the auditor arrives, which is why a pre-assessment is worth doing.
Tell us which audit your buyer requires.
SA8000, SMETA or amfori BSCI, the site and the audit date. We run the pre-assessment and close the findings before the buyer's auditor arrives.