Responsible planning and purchasing guidance for companies

A framework for improving working conditions in manufacturing supply chains

Companies with global supply chains understand how challenging it can be to operate a business and the significance of doing so responsibly. A company’s purchasing decisions influence supplier activities, which in turn have a direct impact on workers’ labor conditions and livelihoods.

To address this, we created guidance offering a three-part strategic framework for purchasing companies (referred to as “buyers”) in the manufacturing industry to align their business operations with effective human rights due diligence (HRDD) and responsible purchasing practices (RPP). It emphasizes that a buyer’s purchasing practices directly impact the working conditions and livelihoods of factory workers globally.

This guidance does not seek to provide an exhaustive account of all responsible purchasing and production practices. Instead, it serves as a resource for buyers at varying capacities to deepen their RPP work. It is informed by industry-leading labor rights standards and frameworks; our learnings from evaluating over 50 companies’ responsible purchasing and production practices over the last decade; insights gleaned from conversations with buyers; and purchasing trends and publicly available information.

What are responsible purchasing practices?

Purchasing practices encompass all of the business operations buyers engage in to bring a product to market, including sales and merchandising, product development, planning and forecasting, calendar management, agreement creation, cost negotiations, sourcing, procurement, and payment terms.

The term responsible purchasing practices refers to procuring goods and services in ways that do not negatively impact human rights or the environment through collaboration and mutual partnership between buyers and suppliers. Buyers that engage in RPP can mitigate the risk of contributing to negative impacts on workers, build a more robust and effective social responsibility program, and generate organizational efficiencies and resilience within supply chains. RPP can lay the foundation for successful buyer-supplier relationships and decent work.

In contrast, poor planning and purchasing practices, such as inaccurate forecasting, incorrect technical specifications, last minute design changes, late order placement, and missing payment deadlines, contribute to negative working conditions. Workers report experiencing excessive overtime, inaccurate compensation, lack of safety measures, and stressful working environments.

Our commitment to RPP

We provides resources for buyers to progressively improve their business practices, minimizing harm to suppliers, workers, and communities. When a company becomes a member of the Fair Labor Association, its leadership agrees to uphold the Fair Labor Code and the Fair Labor Principles. The standards work in tandem to protect laborers and improve working conditions.

RPP has been part of Fair Labor Accreditation since 2014. Our Principle 2 on Responsible Purchasing and Production Practices is rooted in international labor standards and provides buyers a pathway to understanding how their purchasing practices influence workplace conditions.

Principle 2 cannot achieve meaningful impact in isolation. Its effectiveness depends on implementation in conjunction with broader HRDD commitments, including meaningful engagement with workers and their representatives, such as unions and civil society organizations. This ensures that purchasing practices are informed by worker perspectives and grounded in real-world labor conditions.

This guidance supports companies in meeting Principle 2 and offers a starting point for aligning purchasing practices with broader HRDD commitments and responsible business expectations.