APSCA Newsletter January 2020

January 30, 2020

APSCA’s Membership base continued to increase through January with approval of new Provisional Member Firms and further auditor enrollments.

Participation in the CSCA program remains strong as results of Part I and II examinations deliver more candidates for future certification.

For more highlights, read below.

In this this issue:

  • Member Firm Summary
  • Disciplinary Board Update
  • 2020 Stakeholder Events
  • CSCA Examination Update
  • Auditor Enrollment Summary
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2019 Member Firm Summary

Processing of applications for Firm Membership continued through January. With recent approvals, total Provisional Member Firms reached 44 in addition to the three Firms which attained Full Membership status in late 2019.

Six applications are currently under review with the total Member Firm base on track to exceed 50 in Q1 2020.

Disciplinary Board Update

In 2019, the Executive Board approved procedures for handling alleged violations of APSCA’s Code & Standards of Professional Conduct by individual Member Auditors and formed a Disciplinary Board and an Appeals Board to consider these allegations. It also approved procedures for the President and CEO to separately handle allegations of integrity violations by an individual in connection with certification exams and misuse of APSCA Member Auditor Number.

Further, the Executive Board approved a Complaint Handling Protocol, specifying minimum requirements for Member Firms to follow when investigating misconduct that could constitute a violation of the APSCA Code & Standards. The Disciplinary Board Auditors held two meetings in 2019. The Board is chaired by the Senior Advisor, Ethics & Integrity. The other members comprise two representatives of Member Firms, one representative from the Stakeholder Board and an independent member with an ethics and labor background. The Disciplinary Board for Auditors will meet again in February.

January 2020 saw the first meeting of the Disciplinary Board for Member Firms. The Board heard 3 cases and those cases are going through the adjudication process. Further information will be provided once this has been completed.

A summary of issues reported, investigation outcomes as well as the actions and sanctions imposed since 2017 is provided below.

2019 AGM/Stakeholder Event Highlights

2019 AGM/Stakeholder Event Highlights
Visit our 2019 AGM and Stakeholder Event Page for video, photos and highlights from December!

See more highlights here

Save The Date –
Stakeholder Events for 2020

During 2020, APSCA will hold three Stakeholder Events – further information will be shared shortly. In the meantime please mark these dates in your calendar! The events will provide further opportunity to foster collaboration within our industry and celebrate new Auditor Certifications under APSCA’s CSCA program.

Save The Dates: 
  • Cologne, Germany  – 8 June 2020 
  • Bangkok, Thailand  – 6 August 2020 
  • Washington DC, USA  – 17 November 2020

Coming Soon – Resource Page on APSCA Website

APSCA is working on providing a Resource page on the website to improve accessibility to reference documents (including available translations) for our Members and Stakeholders. These will include the likes of the Competency Framework, our Code & Standards of Professional Conduct, Glossary of Terms and Use of APSCA Number (Member Auditor Guide).

We are currently having these documents translated into Spanish, and Chinese (Simplified/Traditional) and encourage you to stay tuned for news on when this page has been published.

In the meantime, available documents are posted on the website and are publicly accessible.

See here: theapsca.com/about-us

Reminder: Pathway 3 – Competency Framework Update

APSCA’s latest version of the Competency Framework now includes a third pathway in which Member Auditors can qualify for Registered Level Auditor (RA) status.

Please refer to our Competency Framework for a detailed outline of required qualifications to be considered eligible for RA status through Pathway 3.

Reminder: Now on the Website – Use of APSCA Number (Member Auditor Guide)

To help inform and support our Members with the proper use of Member Auditor’s APSCA Number, this guide addresses key uses of an Auditor’s membership number as noted under APSCA’s Code & Standards of Professional Conduct and Competency Framework.  Learn more here.

Website Accessibility

We have identified a solution which is currently under way; we anticipate this taking a few weeks to complete and will keep you posted. In the meantime please contact us via email (director@theapsca.org) if you require any information or access to forms and documents. 

CSCA Exam Part I

A total of 1,890 CSCA Part I exams have been completed to date with the pass rate holding at 80%. Since examinations commenced, approximately 13% of scheduled exams have not been completed. Of these uncompleted exams, some 53% were due to participant forfeiture (failure to present for exam) and 42% due to IT issues.

CSCA Exam Part I

A total of 248 CSCA Part II exams have been completed with the pass rate improving over the month to reach 69%. Since examinations commenced, approximately 7% of scheduled exams have not been completed due to participant forfeiture (failure to present for exam) and or IT issues.

CSCA Exam Part I

APSCA’s first Certified Social Compliance Auditors (CSCA) were announced in November 2018. Further certifications are expected during the year as rates of the Part III exam participation increase.

For all CSCA Exams (Part I – III) auditors are encouraged to confirm their eligibility BEFORE they schedule each exam. Please ensure you follow the guidance in the Auditor Handbook to notify APSCA prior to enrolling to sit the exam. If you have attempted an exam and experienced IT issues, you need to inform APSCA that you are rescheduling your exam to have a new invoice raised.

CSCA Exams Part I and II available in four Languages from 2 January 2020 (English, Spanish, Simplified & Traditional Chinese).

CSCA Exam Part III interviews are anticipated to launch in early April 2020 in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Auditor Enrollments

During January, the total number of enrolled auditors exceeded 4,200.

 

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Our news and thoughts on the Social Compliance industry

Webinars

APSCA Webinar – June 24, 2020 
To help keep you informed on the latest updates regarding exams, APSCA hosted an informational webinar in June on Part II – CSCA Exam.

The webinar presentation is provided below for your reference as well as the following:

  • Recording of the PPT – Part II Exam (webinar): Click HERE to view
  • PDF of PPT – Part II Exam (webinar): HERE (and below)
  • Part II Exam Guide (PDF): HERE (and below)
  • PDF of Q&A Summary:  HERE (and below)
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Part-II-Exam_Webinar_-23062020_Website.pdf
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APSCA-Exam-Guide-Part-II-V1-D-076.pdf
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Summary-QA-Part-II-exam-webinar-June-2020_FNL.pdf
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APSCA Webinars – September 4 & 5, 2019 
To help keep you informed on the latest updates regarding exams and APSCA’s Code & Standards, APSCA hosted informational webinars September 4/5.

The webinar presentation is provided below for your reference as well as the following:

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apsca_-_september_2019_webinar_w_speaker_notes.pdf
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q_a_summary_apsca_sept._webinars_2019_v9sept2019_fnl.pdf
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Press Release

APSCA AGM 2019
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APSCA AGM 2018
APSCA AGM 2017
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press_release_nov_2016_general_meeting_election_executive_board.pdf
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september_2016_new_members.pdf
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executive_director_appointment.pdf
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Industry Press Releases

​Verite  in partnership with the /  UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking held a workshop 31 October 2016 in New York, which many of APSCA members attended.  Follow this link to see their press release.  To get involved, contact Philip Hunter from Verite. 
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