Press Releases / Solutions Updated to Advance Decent Work in Global Consumer Goods Supply Chains

Solutions Updated to Advance Decent Work in Global Consumer Goods Supply Chains

Higg Index Tools
Higg FSLM
Legislation and Policy

SLCP’s updated Converged Assessment Framework (CAF v1.7) and Cascale’s updated Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM), exclusively available on Worldly, include enhanced risk assessment and regulatory alignment.

Women working at a textile factory, using a sewing machine

April 10, 2025

Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – April 10, 2025: Solutions updated today will deliver greater transparency on credible, actionable social and labor compliance data to drive decent working conditions in global supply chains. Cascale’s Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM) and the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) from the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) address systemic labor challenges and advance fair working conditions across global supply chains, while minimizing audit fatigue for manufacturers and suppliers. The Higg FSLM is built on SLCP’s CAF, and is part of Cascale’s Higg Index suite of tools, which are exclusively available on Worldly, the leading supply chain sustainability data insights platform.

“The Higg FSLM is a critical tool underpinning Cascale’s Support Decent Work for All strategic pillar, through which we aim to champion workers’ rights, ensure fair purchasing practices, and streamline audits to foster safe and equitable workplaces,” said Jeremy Lardeau, SVP of Higg Index at Cascale. “Especially at a time when tariffs highlight the fragility of global supply chains, these tools are critically important. When companies use a common benchmark to measure and improve performance, they build efficiencies that reduce audit fatigue and, ultimately, save time and money.”

Janet Mensink, CEO of SLCP commented: “This update is part of our multi-year CAF roadmap, designed to ensure that the Converged Assessment Framework remains both relevant and scalable in an evolving regulatory environment. Version 1.7 introduces enhancements that will not only maintain high-quality reports and provide credible, actionable data, but also better align with emerging human rights due diligence standards. The new version also includes features that make it easier to identify and address social and labor issues, enabling facilities to share critical findings with brands during the assessment, rather than waiting for a final report.”

“Behind every supply chain are real people whose working conditions define the integrity of global businesses,” said Adele Stafford, Chief Growth Officer, Worldly. “With standardized assessments like the Converged Assessment Framework in the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module, companies get a clearer picture of risk — but visibility alone isn’t enough. Worldly turns that data into action, helping businesses proactively improve working conditions, protect workers’ rights, and strengthen their supply chains for the long term.”

“Adopting the CAF and Higg FSLM has been a good addition to our ecosystem,” said Khawaja Faheem Uddin, GM Systems & Compliance at Artistic Milliners Private Limited. “By streamlining our compliance processes and consolidating requirements, we’ve saved time and resources while still meeting rigorous industry standards. These tools not only support us in upholding decent work for our 17,500+ employees but also enable us to build stronger partnerships with our brand customers through greater transparency and accountability. We believe that it is a good beginning, and we should continue to improve the system collectively.”

Ray Zhang, global social compliance manager at Avery Dennison, commented, “The Higg FSLM/CAF have helped us significantly reduce audit duplication—hundreds of unnecessary audits avoided globally in the past few years. Beyond streamlining compliance, the tools enhance visibility into our supply chain, empower suppliers to manage their own social performance, and allow us to focus our resources where they matter most: building capacity and improving working conditions.”

Alongside the CAF update, SLCP is expanding verifications to 44 new countries and offering tool translations in additional languages for the self-assessment process. The CAF will now be available in Latin American Spanish, as well as already existing translations of English, Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

The Higg FSLM CAF v1.7 update enhances alignment with due diligence and governance requirements, ensuring a more standardized and structured approach to social and labor performance assessments while enhancing supply chain transparency in the consumer goods industry, making businesses more resilient and avoiding hidden risk. This structured approach enables facilities to systematically identify, address, and mitigate critical issues, reinforcing worker rights, well-being, and assess overall working conditions. Additionally, it more clearly identifies non-compliances across the data and aligns with Better Work Zero Tolerance Protocols and ILO Core Conventions, ensuring consistency with global labor standards.

The CAF and the Higg FSLM are updated annually by SLCP, Cascale, and Worldly in response to stakeholder feedback, ensuring relevance and improved functionality.

Blogs / Why Higg FSLM, SLCP’s CAF Are Transforming Social Policy Frameworks

Why Higg FSLM, SLCP’s CAF Are Transforming Social Policy Frameworks

Higg Index Tools
Higg FSLM
Partnership and Collaboration

As regulation evolves, so does SLCP and Cascale’s commitment to decent work using the Higg FSLM and CAF.

Woman working at a sewing machine in a factory

November 15, 2024

For the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) and Cascale, delivering on decent work means doing the work.

Today, that motivation necessitated creating a shared vision for policy.

“Regulatory efforts often run the risk of not taking sufficient account of the actual impact on the stakeholders concerned. In the case of our industry, we are seeing a huge disconnect between knowledge and needs for manufacturers, and thus workers are left in the fray,” shared Elisabeth von Reitzenstein, Senior Director of policy and public affairs at Cascale. “Especially in the area of human rights due diligence, policymakers are increasingly looking to our organizations, and those like Policy Hub, to help identify leading industry tools – such as SLCP’s Convergence Assessment Framework (CAF) and the Higg FSLM – into supporting policy implementation. By driving acceptance and advocating for the integration of such tools and data insights into broader regulatory frameworks, we are paving the way for a shared vision of social responsibility.”

Ever since global textile, apparel, and footwear industries began off-shoring production and out-sourcing labor in the late 1970s, the quest for fair wages, decent working conditions, and equitable treatment for millions of workers (the majority of whom are women) became increasingly fragmented and complex. Add to that transformation the recent push for legislation, and there is a sizable challenge ahead.

In this fight for social and labor rights, collaboration between industry players, policymakers, and other stakeholders to align on social responsibility standards has never been more important. It’s why SLCP and Cascale have strengthened ties.

“Through our joint work with Cascale, we are helping global supply chain actors prioritize social compliance and labor standards so that they are continuously adapting to new frameworks and legal requirements,” said Tom Mason, Senior policy and stakeholder engagement Manager at SLCP. “Our combined efforts are aimed towards keeping suppliers involved in the evolving policy discussions that impact them. Together with Cascale, we combine legislative analysis, gap analysis, expert feedback, and continuous updates to ensure SLCP assessments seamlessly adapt to evolving regulations, creating a more actionable approach to human rights due diligence.”

In February, SLCP and Cascale deepened their strategic collaboration to better align the tools and strategies for improved global working conditions. In their recent shared vision statement on public affairs, SLCP and Cascale outlined a collaborative strategy to enhance policy engagement and advocate for improved working conditions in the global textile, apparel, footwear, and consumer goods industries. Key initiatives include regular strategic touchpoints to align tools, regulations, and messaging, as well as educating SLCP signatories and Cascale members on social policy developments. This can include cross-participation in various webinars, meetings, or roundtable discussions. Overall, the collaboration aims to amplify co-developed positions, promote joint events and engagements, and advocate for the adoption of CAF–Higg FSLM data in social policy frameworks.

The framework is already making a difference for data collection efforts and a positive impact in reshaping power imbalances. More than 13,000 facilities across 50 countries adopted the CAF, unlocking an estimated $26 million annually in savings by reducing duplicative audits and alleviating excess burden on manufacturers. In 2023, over 9,000 facilities reported legal non-compliance data to CAF, with 94 percent of assessments identifying at least one non-compliance. The most common issues related to health and safety, working hours, and wages and benefits. While the data showed year-on-year improvement, smaller facilities faced higher instances of non-compliance due to resource constraints.

Outlining their support for greater policy alignment, one CAF–Higg FSLM user shared how the framework has paid off for their business.

Reflecting on the task ahead, Cascale’s von Reitzenstein summarized, “Everyone has a role in ensuring policy evolves with decent work as a priority. Through this strengthened collaboration with SLCP, we are standing by our commitment to mutual learning, tools empowerment, and an equal share of voice in this endeavor.”

Read the full joint public affairs vision statement now

Download Joint Vision Statement

Case Studies / CIEL Textile

CIEL Textile

Manufacturers
Higg FEM
Higg FSLM

Learn how one of the world’s leading and most innovative garment and fabrics manufacturers has achieved remarkable results on their journey towards a nature-positive and people-centric future.

November 07, 2023

“People are our most precious asset, and the Higg FSLM helps us measure the effectiveness of our practices and work toward a best-in-class employee experience. Similarly, we leverage the Higg FEM as our guide to weave purpose into every thread of our operations. Our journey is a testament to the power of dedication, collaboration and innovation in transforming not just our business but the entire industry.”

– Quentin Thorel, Group Head of Sustainability at CIEL Textile.

CIEL Textile, an industry pioneer in sustainable practices, recently completed a purpose-driven transformation with remarkable results. With a strategic focus on fostering a nature-positive future, and ensuring decent work for all, their 2023 impact is indeed impressive.

In 2019, CIEL Textile implemented the Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (FSLM) and Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) tools across all of its 19 facilities, which employ 23,000 talents. Three years later, the impact is clear: CIEL Textile achieved a verified FSLM score of 85 percent and an impressive average FEM score of 88.4 percent – with some locations exceeding 90 percent.

Meticulously tracking and monitoring sustainability metrics using several digital tools such as the Higg Index, the group tripled its investment in dedicated sustainability resources across all 19 facilities. This investment significantly impacted recruitment, working hours, wages, health and safety and more, emphasizing CIEL Textile’s commitment to improving the lives of its employees.

CIEL Textile’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond its own operations: the group actively encourages its brand partners and stakeholders to align and adopt the Higg Facility Tools, avoiding not only audit duplication, but also empowering them, fostering a shared commitment to industry-wide sustainability. The group has already achieved its 2030 target of eliminating coal from its supply chains and is on track for goals related to carbon, water, waste management and circularity – including environmental improvement projects such as conserving and regenerating natural ecosystems and installing rainwater harvesting systems. Looking ahead, CIEL Textile aims for a verified Higg FEM score of 95 percent at all of its factories by 2025, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to driving sustainability and positive change in the apparel industry.

Learn more about Higg Facility Tools Read CIEL Textile’s Winning Well Sustainability Report, 2022

Blogs / Using the Higg Index to Trace Environmental Impact Results as We Drive Towards More Sustainable Textile Production

Using the Higg Index to Trace Environmental Impact Results as We Drive Towards More Sustainable Textile Production

Higg FEM
Higg FSLM

Gemma Verhoeven

March 10, 2023

Current fashion supply chains are highly polluting and wasteful, making the fashion industry one of the most unsustainable industries. In order to measure and quantify the sustainability impacts of a manufacturing facility, the SAC’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) is a valuable tool. The Higg FEM offers standardized measurements for sustainability and helps manufacturers, brands, and retailers identify and prioritize opportunities for performance improvements through the use of a common language.

However, acting on the data can sometimes be a financial challenge for manufacturers. Although sustainable technology solutions exist today, manufacturers often lack the knowledge or capital to invest in such machinery to improve their production processes. The Good Fashion Fund (GFF), a first-of-its-kind initiative by Laudes Foundation, was established to create systemic change in the textile and apparel industry by encouraging mainstream uptake of impactful and disruptive production technologies. The fund provides long-term USD loans to apparel and textile manufacturers in India and Bangladesh to enable them to implement innovative and sustainable technologies.

The first loan by the GFF was made to Pratibha Syntex in 2021. By the first monitoring visit in November 2022, the impact results surpassed the targets of a minimum of 50% savings. At the end of 2022, another loan was signed with Progress Apparels in Dhaka, and the GFF expects to close three more loans—one in Bangladesh and two in India—by the end of the quarter. The investments are diverse and relate to the enhancement of effluent treatment plants, the adaptation of state-of-the-art spinning and weaving equipment, the installation or replacement of washing unit equipment, and the expansion of unique waste-to-yarn recycling facilities.

The technology we finance relates primarily to equipment for dyeing, washing, printing, and wastewater treatment and reduces the use of hazardous chemicals, water, or energy in the production process. Every GFF investment should lead to a minimum of 50% reduction in consumption of one of our three environmental goods: Good Energy, Good Water, or Good Materials (incl. chemicals).

The GFF is unique in its focus on sustainable and ethical fashion and we’re proud to be the first financial investor to join the SAC’s global membership, utilizing the Higg FEM as a key part of our environmental due diligence process. The Higg FEM measures the exact environmental impacts of a facility’s operations that we aim to improve, such as water use, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, and chemical management. It aligns perfectly with the GFF’s objectives.

In particular, the Higg FEM assesses a facility’s overall Environmental Management Systems and specifically gathers data on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, wastewater, air emissions, waste management, and chemical management. The score not only reflects absolute levels but particularly focuses on encouraging improvements and setting baseline levels and targets.

Having a verified Higg FEM score allows us at the GFF to limit our environmental due diligence efforts to desktop research and interviews conducted by our advisors Sphera and TUV Rheinland. When a facility is new to the Higg Index, our due diligence is more extensive and includes a site visit, but, ultimately, the manufacturers and operators in which we invest must receive a verified Higg FEM score. This allows the company to create value from the exercise and publicly communicate the results.

It is a complex analysis and will require continuous development. We are confident the SAC will maintain and leverage its close partnership with its member retailers, brands, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to continue improving and increase levels of adoption.

Moreover, the GFF uses the Higg FEM score, not only for the initial investment decision but also to better monitor continuous performance over the lifetime of our partnership with the manufacturer. As the Higg Index becomes more widely recognized and adopted, we will be able to more effectively communicate the sustainability performance of the portfolio companies to our investors. More importantly, it will help the manufacturers communicate their improved sustainability performance to consumers. The investments funded by the GFF typically improve a facility’s Higg FEM score substantially.

Our partner at TUV Rheinland, Rakesh Vazirani, Global Head of Sustainability Services, Consumer Products, noted: “Every facility we encounter for environmental due diligence is eager to make improvements to positively impact its environmental performance KPIs/metrics to showcase its progress, to explore cost savings, to highlight its uniqueness to customers, and to prepare for future regulation. Relying on existing industry frameworks like Higg FEM allowed facilities’ performance to be measured based on a harmonized framework; and GFF’s approach to fund improvements to make an impact fit into the wider mission of factories, local governments, and brands. We look forward to the continuous evolution of the Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) framework to add efficiency to the process, and further alignment with European Green Finance taxonomy.“

Of course, the assessment and improvement of working conditions and labour rights are equally important aspects of the GGF’s objectives. Currently, the social due diligence is being performed by Fairwear Foundation, and important topics such as labor policies, health and safety conditions, workers committees, adequate administration and execution of contracts, salary management and working hours, grievance mechanisms, and anti-discrimination policies are being reviewed on site. In one of the more recent transactions, for the first time, the social due diligence included assessing the company’s verified scores of the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM). Given social audits are at least as intensive for a company to accommodate as the environmental due diligence, we are exploring the possibilities of the Higg FSLM verification as more brands and manufacturers adopt the standard.

The GFF is dedicated to creating systemic change in the fashion industry, not only by the direct impact of its investments but also by sharing experiences and lessons learned widely. We aim to create partnerships with other actors in the fashion industry and financial sector, drive awareness of opportunities for sustainable technologies, and catalyze finance. GFF will continue to report on its investee companies extensively, encouraging further use of standardized measurements including the Higg FEM and Higg FSLM scores.