Here we have collected answers to some of the common questions about the SA8000 Standard revision and feedback process. We will continue to update this page throughout the public comment period. If you have questions not answered on this page, please feel free to contact sa8000@sa-intl.org.
Table of Contents
- What is the SA8000 Standard?
- Why are we revising the Standard?
- What will happen to my feedback?
- How will this revision affect me as a user of the SA8000 Certification Program or other SAI products?
- When will changes take effect for SA8000 Certification and other SAI programs?
- Should I wait to take SA8000 Auditor Training courses?
- When will indicators and guidance be available for review?
- What other documents and resources will be updated based on SA8000:2025?
- In what ways does SA8000:2025 better align with other international management systems standards?
- How will scoring work within SA8000 Certification?
- How long will SA8000:2025 be in effect? (when will the next revision be?)
- How can I ask further questions?
1. What is the SA8000 Standard?
Based on contemporary international and national human rights norms and laws, SA8000:2025 describes principles and criteria of decent work and effective management systems that reflect society’s expectations for responsible business. As a voluntary international standard, SA8000:2025 provides a verifiable and implementable framework for organizations to respect the rights of workers through effective governance, management, due diligence, and continual improvement. In doing so, it serves as a framework to guide policy makers, regulators, investors, civil society, unions, and other stakeholders in their efforts to promote and enable respect for workers’ rights by organizations. SA8000:2025 incorporates and defines key elements of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, ILO Conventions, UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, and OECD Guidelines for Due Diligence, integrating universally applicable management system principles.
SA8000:2025 is universally applicable to every type of organization, regardless of size, location, industry, or maturity. It applies to an organization’s potential and actual impacts on decent work through its actions, operations, and business relationships.
2. Why are we revising the Standard?
Part of SAI’s mandate as the SA8000 Standard owner is to update the Standard regularly to reflect shifts in the landscape of global trade and the world of work, and to address new risks and expectations.
Since the last update was published in 2014, there have been significant advancements in regulatory regimes and internationally accepted frameworks for social performance, in particular the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, OECD Guidelines for Due Diligence by Multinational Enterprises, EU CSRDDD, and similar legislation around the world. There have also been significant changes in the ways that people seek, obtain, and perform work.
With this revision, SAI aims to increase alignment and harmony with these other leading frameworks, increase clarity and usability of the Standard, and again set the bar for decent work.
3. What will happen to my feedback?
All feedback received will be reviewed in collaboration with third-party experts and the SAI Standard Technical Committee will make relevant changes to the Standard. Decisions will be made by consensus.
SAI will publish a summary of feedback received following the public comment period, but will not publish individual comments or personal details. Please be aware we are soliciting feedback from many stakeholders. As a multi-stakeholder organization, we are committed to balancing these various interests and needs, while prioritizing the rights and wellbeing of workers. All comments will be considered fairly, but not all comments will result in changes to the draft Standard.
4. How will this revision affect me as a user of the SA8000 Certification Program or other SAI products?
SA8000-Certified Organizations:
Currently certified organizations should read and begin familiarizing themselves with SA8000:2025 upon its publication. After SA8000:2025 is finalized and published, SAI will begin work to define certification thresholds and develop supporting materials (see Question #8). We do not expect this revision to significantly change the final labor performance expectations for certification—if you are currently meeting the labor performance criteria in the Standard, we expect that you will have already met most if not all thresholds for certification to SA8000:2025 once those thresholds are available. The one exception is on the topic of Privacy, which has been newly introduced in SA8000:2025.
The most significant changes to the Standard are in the structure of the Management System sections. While the fundamental expectations have not changed, many expectations that were previously implicit have been made explicit. Most currently certified organizations will need to conduct a full review of their management systems and make necessary amendments to to align with SA8000:2025 requirements.
SAI will offer (and may require) trainings for certified organizations on all aspects of the new Standard, once the certification thresholds and supporting materials (e.g., assessment methodology, audit protocols, guidance, etc.) have been developed (see Question #8).
SA8000 CBs and Auditors:
After SA8000:2025 is finalized and published, SAI will begin work to define certification thresholds and develop supporting materials (see Question #8). SAAS-accredited CB staff and auditors will need to complete SA8000:2025 training once the certification thresholds and supporting materials (e.g., assessment methodology, audit protocols, guidance, etc.) are developed. This revision training will also be available to anyone who has taken an SA8000 Basic or Advanced training. The format, length, and exact requirements of this training will be determined in 2025.
SA8000:2025 will require a new approach to auditing—introducing a scoring methodology using a context-based approach. We believe these changes will provide auditors with much greater ability and flexibility to use their judgment when assessing complex issues, rather than limiting decisions to simple yes/no (conforming/nonconforming) options. We look forward to providing much more information about this approach next year.
Buyers:
Once SA8000:2025 is published, buyers who benchmark against SA8000 can immediately begin comparing requirements to their own codes. This will be further supported by the development of guidance and other supporting materials later in 2025 (see Question #8).
Social Fingerprint users:
While SA8000:2025 won’t change the core concepts or expectations of Social Fingerprint, the Social Fingerprint categories will be updated. We will map existing Social Fingerprint scores and implementation plans to align with the updated categories in SA8000:2025.
Consultants:
In order to support their clients’ transition to SA8000:2025, we encourage consultants to read and familiarize themselves with the standard and all related content as soon as it becomes available. SAI will provide training opportunities for SA8000 consultants once the certification thresholds and supporting materials (e.g., assessment methodology, audit protocols, guidance, etc.) are developed (see Question #8). Consultants that have already been trained as part of SAI’s Consultant Registry program will have the opportunity for re-training on the new Standard.
Organizations interested in pursuing SA8000 Certification:
Organizations interested in pursuing SA8000 Certification may still be certified to SA8000:2014 throughout 2025. More information about the final dates for SA8000:2014 certification activities and validity will be communicated well in advance to all affected parties. Subsequently, recently certified organizations will be required to meet the same SA8000:2025 certification criteria and deadlines as all other certified organizations (See Question #8).
5. When will changes take effect for SA8000 Certification and other SAI programs?
SA8000 Certification:
- January 2025 – Publication of SA8000:2025.
- January-December 2025 – Development, consultation, and piloting of SA8000 Certification thresholds, assessment methodology, and supporting materials (e.g., guidance, audit procedures, trainings, etc.).
- End of 2025 – Expected publication of SA8000 Certification thresholds, assessment methodology, and supporting materials. At which point, audits against the new standard can begin and organizations will have up to two years to transition to the new standard.
- January-December 2026 – Extensive training opportunities for auditors, certified organizations, and consultants.
Social Fingerprint:
We will make updates to Social Fingerprint thresholds and categories in early 2025. We will communicate about these timelines and expectations with relevant stakeholders as decisions are made.
Others:
SAI will make decisions about incorporating SA8000:2025 into other programs in 2025. We will communicate about these timelines and expectations with relevant stakeholders as decisions are made.
6. Should I wait to take SA8000 Auditor Training courses?
Those seeking SA8000 Auditor training should proceed with the current version, which will continue to address all pertinent topics and provide helpful insight into the future of SA8000. Auditor Training participants who successfully complete the current SA8000 Basic Training course in 2023 or later will be offered the opportunity to attend the revision training course(s) for free when available.
7. When will indicators and guidance be available for review?
SAI plans to publish an initial set of indicators concurrently with the SA8000:2025 Standard in early 2025. Subsequently, indicators will be updated and republished periodically, reflecting how the Standard is used in practice and developments in the field of social accountability. We invite your input on effective indicators during the public comment period and beyond.
SA8000:2025 guidance will be developed throughout 2025. We anticipate that preliminary guidance materials will be published beginning in late 2025. Subsequently, Guidance materials will also be periodically augmented and updated.
8. What other documents and resources will be updated based on SA8000:2025?
SA8000:2025 significantly changes the structure of the Standard and will bring significant change to how performance against the Standard is assessed. Throughout 2025, SAI will align all existing, supporting materials to SA8000:2025. Users can expect changes to materials including, but not limited to:
- SA8000 Guidance
- Procedures 200, 201 and other SAAS documents
- Performance Indicator Annex (will be replaced by Indicators section of Standard)
- Management Systems Maturity Declaration (will be subsumed into Standard)
- SAI Database
- SA8000 Auditor Training
- Social Fingerprint assessment, improvement plans, and training
- Social Accountability Consultant Training course
9. In what ways does SA8000:2025 better align with other international management systems standards?
While all the same elements have been included in the intent of SA8000 for many years, we believe SA8000:2025 significantly improves the clarity and structure of the management system section. In developing SA8000:2025, SAI aimed to align with aspects of other leading management systems standards, particularly those developed in accordance with ISO/IEC Annex SL framework (see cross-mapping table below).
| Annex SL | SA8000:2025 (Note: Some SA8000 criteria address more than one Annex SL requirement – many, but not all, of these instances are identified below.) |
|---|---|
| Sections 1-3 | N/A |
| 4. Context of the organization | |
| 4.1 Understanding the organization and its context. | M4; M1.4 |
| 4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties | M1.5; M2.1-2.4; M3.1-3.2; M4.2 |
| 4.3 Determining the scope of the XXX management system | M1.2; M4 |
| 4.4 XXX management system | O2; M4.5; D1.7 (and all other D sections) |
| 5. Leadership | |
| 5.1 Leadership and commitment | O1; M1.1 |
| 5.2 Policy | M5.1 |
| 5.3 Roles, responsibilities and authorities | M1.2; M1.3; M1.5; M7.1 |
| 6. Planning | |
| 6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities | M4.1-4.4; M6 |
| 6.2 XXX objectives and planning to achieve them | M5.2; M6.1-6.6 |
| 6.3 Planning of changes | M7.2 |
| 7. Support | |
| 7.1 Resources | M6.2; M7.1 |
| 7.2 Competence | M6.2; M7.1 |
| 7.3 Awareness | M7.4-M7.6 |
| 7.4 Communication | M7.5-M7.6; M8.1-8.2; M9.4-9.5 |
| 7.5 Documented information | M6.2; M8.4 |
| 8. Operation | |
| 8.1 Operational planning and control | M7.1-7.4; M7.7 |
| 9. Performance evaluation | |
| 9.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation | M9.1-9.3 |
| 9.2 Internal audit | M10.1 |
| 9.3 Management review | M10.1-10.2 |
| 10. Improvement | |
| 10.1 Continual improvement | M10.3 |
| 10.2 Nonconformity and corrective action | M10.3 |
10. How will scoring work within SA8000 Certification?
Rather than a simple ‘yes/no’ (conformity/nonconformity) assessment, SA8000:2025 assessments will result in scores for the implementing organization, showing their level of conformity and management system maturity. This methodology is presently under development and will be piloted in 2025. We will share more information about the scoring methodology as it is finalized. See the Guide for Reviewing SA8000:2025 document for more on scoring.
11. How long will SA8000:2025 be in effect? (when will the next revision be?)
One of the goals with this full Standard revision is to once again set the leading benchmark for decent work. We expect that SA8000:2025 will remain relevant for many years to come, and therefore do not expect another full revision within the next ten years. We will review and may choose to make smaller revisions as often as every five years. In between revisions, we will periodically add to and update indicators and guidance, sharing this information with stakeholders as we do so.
12. How can I ask further questions?
Please feel free to contact sa8000@sa-intl.org with further questions or to share additional feedback on the draft Standard.
