September 2025 Newsletter

SA8000 Basic Auditor Training Course - Now Updated to SA8000:2026

We’re excited to announce that our SA8000 Introduction and Basic Auditor Training course is now updated to the SA8000:2026 Standard!

In this interactive training course, participants will gain an understanding of social auditing (specifically to the SA8000:2026 Standard) and the fundamentals of labor standards, common challenges and solutions for meeting them, methods for gathering and evaluating evidence, and more. See the 2025 training schedule.

SA8000:2026 Pilot Audits

As part of the revision of the SA8000 Standard process, SAI is currently working with Certification Bodies to undertake pilot audits of the SA8000:2026 Working Draft, which will be completed by December.

New Forced Labor and Child Labor Remediation Guidelines

We are excited to share new guidelines for companies about the processes, principles, and good practices for remediating forced labor and child labor. Each set of guidelines is accompanied by additional tools and resources.

These resources were produced by MY Voice, our project dedicated to combating forced labor and child labor in Malaysia’s garment and palm oil industries (funded by USDOL). Developed by MY Voice partner The Centre for Child Rights and Business, they are designed for companies in the garment and palm oil industries, but can be useful to similar stakeholders in other countries and sectors.

The Anker Research Institute

Check out the Anker Research Institute's recent Living Wage work:

Living Income Benchmark Report (with Living Wage Annex) for Rural Roi Et and Rural Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Updated Living Income and Living Wage reports for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru
Updated Living Income and Living Wage reports for Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

The Anker Research Institute is the independent research partner of the Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) and SAI is the institutional host.

Upcoming Trainings & Events

Webinar: Introduction to SAI (Spanish)

Join us for an online webinar on October 31! Learn more about SAI’s programming, training courses, and custom projects for brands and employers during this free event. Register here.

📅 October 31, 2025

⏰ 9:00am - 10:30am CST

Webinar: Introduction to the SA8000:2026 Standard (Spanish)

Join for an online webinar on November 28! During this free event, learn more about the SA8000:2026 Working Draft and and its framework for meeting due diligence expectations, as well as the specific challenges and risks faced by workers and companies. Register here.

📅 November 28, 2025

⏰ 9:00am - 10:30am CST

Introduction to Living Wages

Our new on-demand training introduces key concepts of living wages and their importance for responsible business conduct. In this course, participants will:

Learn how living wages differ from minimum wages, their relevance in international guidelines, and how to understand and address wages through human rights due diligence frameworks.
Examine the Anker Methodology's seven steps for estimating a living wage and review high level approaches to assessing current wages.
Gain an understanding of how companies can identify and address wage-related risks as part of broader due diligence processes.
Look at practical strategies for implementing and integrating living wage commitments into company policies, sourcing practices, and supply chains.