October 2026 Newsletter

Upcoming SA8000:2026 Transition Events

Meeting living wage and working hours expectations takes more than hitting a specific number. Join our upcoming webinars and in-person workshops dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of the SA8000:2026 Wages and Hours requirements:

💻 The webinar will cover conformance expectations, including the living wage benchmark hierarchy, nonconformity handling, and transitional provisions. Click here to register →

Date: November 4
Time: 8:00–9:00 AM EST / 2:00–3:00 PM CET / 6:30–7:30 PM IST

📍 In-person workshops will support companies to implement these requirements and auditors to assess them — from conducting a current state analysis to developing improvement plans and evaluating systems maturity and performance. Click here to register →

November 17, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM — Delhi, India (English)
November 23, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM — Venice, Italy (Italian)
November 25, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM — Rome, Italy (Italian)
December 1, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM — Coimbatore, India (English)
December 11, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM — Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (English)

These free online forums provide attendees with an opportunity to raise questions about the intent and interpretation of SA8000:2026 policies and procedures – including the formal transition process, auditing to the Standard, and implementation of SA8000:2026 requirements within certified organizations.

💻 November 9

7:00–8:30 PM EST /

4:00–5:30 PM PST

Click here to register →

💻 December 8

9:00–10:30 AM EST /

3:00–4:30 PM CET /

7:30–9:00 PM IST

Click here to register →

Due diligence expectations on companies and their business partners are changing quickly. This interactive half-day session is a chance to sit down with SAI leaders to discuss the evolving due diligence landscape and how SA8000:2026 can help companies meet those expectations. We want to hear about the local challenges facing workers and businesses, and about your perspectives on local labor priorities and risks in business operations and relationships.

📍Istanbul, Türkiye

November 13, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM
A conversation & workshop with John Brookes, Chief Standards and Impacts Officer
English with Turkish interpretation
Click here to register →

📍Bangkok, Thailand

November 13, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM
A conversation & workshop with Jane Hwang, President & CEO
English with Thai interpretation
Click here to register →

Featured Stories

Learning from Each Other: Peer Exchange in Community Circles

Training materials lay the groundwork for understanding labor rights, and peer learning helps bring them to life.

During a recent CIRCLE training session, a hypothetical case study turned into a practical conversation about the realities workers face locally. One participant's personal story about labor dispute resolution sparked a lively discussion among the group, and members began asking questions about the process, from what to prepare and what to expect along the way. Read our latest blog post to see how peer learning in Community Circles turns individual experience into shared knowledge that can spread to coworkers, families, and neighbors.

Read the full story→

October Snapshot

🏢 Engaging Business Forum: SAI joined the 16th Annual Engaging Business Forum in New York, where discussions on AI, worker voice, human rights due diligence, and the climate transition reflected the work we do every day with brands through social performance assessments, capacity building, community engagement, and worker-centered programs that turn commitments into measurable change.

Request a consultation to learn how we can work together on these issues.

🎤AAFA Apparel & Footwear Compliance Conference: Our CIRCLE team participated in a panel in Vietnam called "Beyond the Factory: Community Engagement as a Tool for Stronger HRDD." The session explored how engaging workers, families, and local communities can surface labor risks earlier, strengthen remediation efforts, and support more stable, responsible production. The team emphasized that the importance of starting small through a trusted relationship, a focused problem, and a commitment to act on what you hear.

Reach out to learn how we can support your community efforts.

Anker Research Institute

The Anker Research Institute recently released:

New guidelines for valuing in-kind benefits as partial payment of living wage: standard values based on worker replacement cost. Read it here →

A new Benchmark Report: Living Wage and Living Income for Istanbul, Türkiye. Read it here →

SAI is the institutional host for the Anker Research Institute.

Trainings

Introduction to Living Wages Online Training + Applied Learning Session

This online, on-demand training introduces key concepts of living wages and their importance for responsible business conduct. It can now be paired with a live, virtual Q&A session with SAI and Anker Research Institute experts to discuss a company’s due diligence approach related to living wages.

Working together, we will assess company needs and practical next steps to put knowledge into practice. The training and applied learning session are available in English and Spanish.

Learn More

SA8000:2026 Upgrade Training Requirement

This online, on-demand training is now available to SA8000 training certificate holders to stay current with updated requirements, terminology, and human rights due diligence principles. This training course focuses on changes from SA8000:2014 to SA8000:2026.