August 2026 Newsletter

CIRCLE: Advancing Labor Rights through Community Engagement

Many labor risks, such as low wages, unsafe conditions, child labor, and limited opportunity, are rooted in problems that extend beyond the workplace. Lasting change means engaging not just the factories and farms where people work, but the communities where they live. This is the idea behind CIRCLE, our community engagement approach that bridges the gap between human rights due diligence and grassroots community work.

In recent months, CIRCLE has grown across Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, with each country's program at a different stage — from listening and learning through community diagnostics, to forming Community Circles that are becoming active partners in advancing labor rights.

Read our latest blog post to learn more about how the project is progressing →

What Does It Mean to “Respect” Rights to Living Wage and Decent Hours?

Meeting living wage and working hours expectations takes more than hitting a specific number. It requires an ongoing commitment: understanding where gaps exist, doing everything within an organization’s power to close them, and using external influence to drive change when internal action alone isn't enough.

This is reflected in SA8000:2026 by a deliberate language choice that asks organizations to "respect" the right to a living wage and decent working hours. This small wording shift signifies a bigger idea: these are genuinely difficult issues, often shaped by forces outside any one company's control, and progress looks different than a simple pass/fail.

Our recent blog post unpacks what this means for organizations working toward certification — including how auditors assess genuine effort and systems-level progress versus a lack of action, illustrated through two example scenarios.

August Snapshot

This month, SAI submitted feedback to the EU Commission's open public consultation to inform the CSDDD Guidance.

The IRIS Standard has been officially recognized as best practice for labor recruiters in Thailand. The Thai government agency Thailand Professional Qualification Institute (TPQI) now specifies that the highest level labor recruiters must manage international labor recruitment in accordance with IRIS principles.

Anker Research Institute

The Anker Research Institute recently released:

Subnational Living Income and Living Wage Estimates for Costa Rica — covering five of the country's six socioeconomic planning regions: Central, Chorotega, Pacífico Central, Brunca, and Huetar Norte. These estimates provide a clearer, evidence-based benchmark for wage adequacy across Costa Rica's diverse regional economies. Click here to download the reports for free.

Living wage Report estimates for Botswana, which calculates the monthly living wage needed for a full-time worker in the Gaborone metropolitan area. Click here to access the report.

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.

Learn More