3.0 FAQ’s

1. What is the main difference between FLA 2.0 and 3.0?
FLA 2.0 is audit-based. This means that under FLA 2.0, compliance is checked for all areas of the code in a yes/no (complies/does not comply) format. It is black or white – you are either compliant or not – there are no gray areas.

FLA 3.0 is a capacity building process in which a factory first undergoes a needs assessment and subsequently, an impact assessment. The answers reflect the actual status of the factory, not whether it passed or failed a compliance test. The factory and the FLA-affiliated company it works with together carry out an analysis of the results and arrive at a capacity-building plan to fill the gaps identified. During the capacity building, the factory continues to measure its own progress and on completion of the process, an external impact assessment is conducted, which allows comparison of the results with those gathered in the original needs assessment.

2. What are the differences between an Audit and an Assessment?
An Assessment poses broader questions and gives a score as a result; an audit poses yes/no questions and gives only a “compliant” or “not compliant” result. There are two types of assessments – needs and impact. A needs assessment establishes the form a noncompliance takes at a factory and what the factory needs in order to resolve that noncompliance issue in a sustainable manner. An impact assessment measures the actual change as a result of that resolution.

3. Who does the Assessments?
The initial self-assessment is completed by the factory on the FLA’s web-based Assessment Portal. The Impact Assessment is conducted by an Independent External Assessor after the capacity building is completed.

4. How much time do I have to put a solution in place?
Normally, a factory will have around 12 months after the needs assessment to build capacity before the FLA conducts an impact assessment. We appreciate that capacity building is a process, especially when attitudinal or cultural change is required. The FLA’s goal is to ensure that factories address the root causes of a noncompliance to avoid the recurrence of the problem. However, given that it may take up to three months to mount a capacity building program, a factory may only have nine months in which to implement the improvements.

5. Will this mean more work for the FLA-affiliated company at the regional level?
The role of the local compliance officer will change. The FLA 2.0 process involves local staff monitoring factories and following-up on corrective actions. FLA 3.0 involves the supplier as an active partner to a greater extent and so the local compliance staff member will need to provide more facilitation and support to suppliers as they complete self-assessments and undertake capacity building programs.

6. Will FLA 3.0 cost more than FLA 2.0 for the Participating Companies/Factories?
No. The self-assessments completed by suppliers will not cost the FLA-affiliated company anything. The cost for the capacity building process could be borne by the supplier (on a fee for service basis) or shared between the supplier and their buyers. The cost of an impact assessment (Independent External Assessment or IEA) will be similar to that of the Independent External Monitoring (IEM) it replaces, so there will be no change in the budget for an FLA-affiliated company.

7. Do the factories have to use FLA materials for Capacity Building?
No. The FLA has developed training materials and courses that are available for purchase if the factories choose to use them, but they are not compelled to do so. The FLA also provides a list of local service providers that are accredited by us to provide training in those areas. However, if the factory is aware of a local consultant, NGO, or other service provider that they wish to use, they are free to do so.

8. If one of my factories participates in FLA 3.0 will they only going to focus on a few priority areas or will they still have to work on all the other areas in the Code?
The FLA-affiliated companies that participate in FLA 3.0 have years of code implementation in their factories behind them. Given that broad foundation of compliance work, FLA 3.0 focuses in on specific areas and concentrates on capacity building in those areas. This is not to say that the Participating Company and the factory can choose to ignore all other Code elements, but most factories have already had several audits and work on noncompliance issues is ongoing. A certain amount of leeway can be given to other areas unless they present a safety hazard. Anything that can have dangerous consequences (fire risk, chemical hazards, and similar issues) must be handled immediately. The advantage with FLA 3.0 is that the focus is on finding the root causes of noncompliance. Once those have been identified and capacity built up, it means that a sustainable solution is in place – if the problem has been dealt with at the source, it is more likely to stay solved.

9. I have two buyers in my factory – do I have to do double work or will my two buyers cooperate?
The FLA encourages sharing of resources and solutions. The two buyers can, and hopefully will, cooperate to improve the conditions at the factory. A factory should not have to undergo duplicate audits and then put in place two different solutions to the same problem. The factory should work at getting everyone together around a table to agree on protocols and benchmarks for internal monitoring, sharing of results, and joint remediation. If problems arise, the FLA is available to facilitate further dialogue.

10. What kind of factory should an FLA-affiliated company include in 3.0?

Factories the company knows well, has worked with (and plans to continue working with) mid- to long term.
Factories that have already gone through at least a part of a code implementation program
Factories where the management is committed to code compliance
Factories that have the management capacity to participate (i.e. professional managers in key positions relevant to the areas to be worked on)
Factories in which the company’s brand accounts for a large part of the production capacity. The FLA can help identify factories shared with other FLA-affiliated companies.
If a factory has challenging issues in the chosen priority area, it is a good factory to include in FLA 3.0. However, if the factory has problems in all code areas, it may not yet be ready for FLA 3.0.

11. Who decides if a factory participates in FLA 3.0?
The FLA-affiliated company nominates the factories they would like to include in 3.0. If a factory is against participating, we would encourage further discussion to explain the advantages of 3.0 to the factory.

12. How do I find a local service provider?
You can check with local NGOs or universities or you can turn to your FLA Regional Coordinator as they are aware of local service providers they can recommend. We emphasize that we do not compel factories to choose the service providers we have accredited.

13. Where can I find more information on FLA 3.0?
You are in the right place! Read more about FLA 3.0 in this section or visit the FLA’s Assessment and Training Portals (www.ap.FairLabor.org or www.tp.FairLabor.org). Some of the information is password-protected. FLA affiliates and factories nominated for the program will be provided with a username and a password.

14. My company is not yet accredited – can I still participate in 3.0 if I want to?
Yes, we encourage all FLA-affiliated companies to use FLA 3.0 methodology. However, only accredited companies can receive replace their monitoring quota for Independent External Assessments with FLA 3.0 activities. If you are not yet accredited, but interested in participating in 3.0, please contact us. If you have already done a substantial amount of code implementation work, the Executive Director has the discretion to permit your company to participate in FLA 3.0 if you satisfy certain conditions.