Also
in this this issue:

• Farewell to Julie Shaw
• APSCA Team Changes
• Social Compliance Audit Fee Update
• Industry Corner
• Save the Date
• Governance/IT Corner
• APSCA Exam Corner
• APSCA Ethics Corner
• Continued Professional Development Corner

• Reporting an Integrity Issue
• Resource Library
• Subscribe
  to our Newsletter

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It is with great sadness that we announce our
Business Manager, Julie Shaw, will be retiring at the end of
July 2023. Julie has been an absolutely vital part of the APSCA
team since its inception in 2016. Over the past 7 years, Julie
has had a significant role in the successful operation of APSCA
across multiple domains, having a hand in policy and procedure
development, data system processes and enhancement, and exam
functions, just to name a few. She has provided crucial support
to all members of the team, always finding time to offer her
guidance, encouragement and expertise, gained over her
illustrious career.

We are thrilled for Julie, as she enters this new and exciting
chapter of life that comes with retirement. With this feeling
of excitement also comes feelings of sadness, as we bid
farewell to someone who has, without a doubt, been a crucial
part of the APSCA foundation.

Thank you, Julie, for your dedication to APSCA over these past
7 years. The APSCA team and the entire community surrounding
this organisation, are incredibly lucky to have worked
alongside you. On behalf of APSCA, thank you, good luck &
all the best for a wonderful and fantastic retirement!

Please join us in welcoming three new members to
the APSCA Team,
Stephanie
Ragan, Silas Gilders and Meg Crawford!

Stephanie Ragan – Director of Code &
Compliance

With a wealth of experience in compliance and
ethics management, Stephanie brings valuable expertise to our
organization. Prior to joining us, Stephanie excelled in
offshore petroleum EPCI, overseeing compliance and ethics, and
provided consulting services in trade compliance and corporate
ethics program development. She also possesses extensive
knowledge in logistics management, project cargo, and freight
forwarding. Stephanie’s approach to compliance management
emphasizes fostering a speak-up culture, thorough due
diligence, and meticulous investigations to maintain
industry-wide integrity. Holding certifications in export
compliance, ethics, and FCPA expertise, Stephanie is a member
of esteemed professional associations. Her previous
international roles have given her a deep understanding of the
challenges faced by global organizations. Beyond her
professional accomplishments, Stephanie actively volunteers for
B.I.G. Love Cancer Care Services and serves as a dedicated
committee person with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We
are thrilled to have Stephanie on board and look forward to her
valuable contributions.

Stephanie can
be reached at Stephanie.ragan@theapsca.org

Silas Gilders (they/them) – Data Administrator  

We are pleased to welcome Silas Gilders to the
APSCA team as our new Data Administrator. Silas joined APSCA in
May 2023, replacing our Data Administrator, Josh Morris. Silas
is handling auditor enrolments, associations, dissociations,
responding to general email enquiries, Member Auditor profile
updates and supporting CPD. They will be working closely
with our Business Management team.

Silas can be reached at dataadministrator@theapsca.org

Meg Crawford – Business Manager

We are happy to announce that Meg will be taking
on the role of Business Manager, replacing Julie Shaw. Meg will
be commencing with APSCA on July 10, training closely with
Julie until her retirement late July. Meg brings extensive
experience in different fields, having previously worked within
travel, mining, and the Government space. Her main passions
involve clean data and change management. In addition to taking
over areas previously held by Julie, Meg will be assisting with
CPD, and quarterly and monthly reporting. Welcome aboard Meg,
we are very excited to have you!

Meg will be reachable at meg.crawford@theapsca.org
from July 10.

  Farewell to two APSCA team members, Josh
Morris and Emily Chen.  

Josh Morris,
Data Administrator

Josh joined APSCA in 2021 as Data Administrator
and immediately proved a valuable asset to the team. As he
leaves APSCA in pursuit of new career opportunities, we would
like to take the time to thank him for his tireless efforts in
maintaining our data system, having spearheaded various new
functionalities in order to streamline working systems and
maximize efficiency.
We wish Josh all the best in his career progression and are
certain he will thrive in his future endeavours and form an
integral part of any team, just as he has among the APSCA team.

Thank you for all your hard work and commitment to APSCA, Josh!

Emily Chen, former Compliance Analyst

Emily provided valuable support to the Ethics
Team since starting at APSCA in October, 2022. Emily played an
important role as Compliance Analyst in assisting with ethics
investigations and data triangulation.

We would like to wish Emily all the best with her professional
endeavours and give a big thank you for her work during her
time on the APSCA team!

 UPDATE 

As announced in May 2023,
starting July 1, 2023, the APSCA Social Compliance Audit Fee/
APSCA Audit Fee (AAF) (US$15) will be applied to Social
Compliance Audits for the following four programs:

• amfori (BSCI)
• Sedex (SMETA)
• Social
  Accountability International/SAI (SA8000)
• Worldwide
  Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)

The
AAF will deliver genuine benefits to the global social
compliance audit profession, enabling the delivery of our 2030
Strategy. The Strategy is
separated into three pillars identifying strategic objectives
and supporting goals for each.

At APSCA, work has already begun toward these objectives and
goals, laying the groundwork, detailed planning and early-stage
deliverables as timelines and resource requirements are mapped
out for the second half of 2023 and beyond.

Enhance the Professionalism and credibility of APSCA Member Firms
and Auditors.

• Strengthen
  the firm application and ongoing Member Firm oversight
  processes to validate information and ensure compliance to
  the APSCA code before and after Membership received.
• Increase
  efficiencies within the member auditor and member firms’
  disciplinary process while ensuring credibility and
  integrity of the disciplinary process is upheld.

Become an association of and for
Social Compliance Auditors.

• Finalize
  the process for Internal auditor / organizations to join
  APSCA.
• Establish
  a CSCA Council, which leads to representation on the SAB
  and/or Executive Board

APSCA
to increase market adoption and capacity levels amongst
stakeholders through communication and marketing strategies
that articulates social auditing as a required and valued
profession.

• Implement a
  process to bring auditors into the profession.
• Working with
  Members to develop an academy which would focus on
  supporting training for new auditors.

Build
awareness across the profession, industry, and society.

• Provide Members
  and Partners with the opportunity to influence and develop
  the work within APSCA.

We
continue to focus upon the priorities of:

• Developing a
  pathway to attract new social compliance auditors into the
  profession.
• Enhanced user
  experience through improved practices, including the exam
  and training process, and facilitating greater Member
  engagement.
• Expanded global
  reach and influence for the social compliance profession,
  to enable input into key and emerging issues for
  government and civil society.

These extra benefits require a step change for our
organization.

New funding is critical to allow us to build the organization
our profession needs and deserves, and to get on the front foot
with all stakeholders, so we can face tomorrow’s challenges
with confidence.
AAF implementation has been discussed extensively with
stakeholders, APSCA Members and staff, and will follow a
phased-in implementation process:

• Phase 1 – July 1,
  2023, AAF will apply to audits
  conducted during this period for supporting programs,
  (BSCI, SMETA, WRAP, SA8000).
• Phase 2 – October 1,
  2023, the AAF will be expanded to
  include all programs.
• Phase 3 – January 1, 2024,
  APSCA will introduce tiered membership fees for APSCA
  Member Firms.

To learn more about APSCA’s 2030 Strategy please listen to Episode 8 of The APSCA
Podcast as APSCA President &CEO Rona Starr takes us through
the vision for APSCA moving forward
For additional reflections upon APSCA’s history, organizational
structure, vision and mission and future direction in line with
the 2030 Strategy,  watch the new “About Us” Video

To read more about the AAF click here.

 May
2023 live Q&A – recap 

At the end of May, we held our
second live Q&A event virtually across 2 sessions. In these
sessions, we discussed the new 2030 strategy and funding model,
as well as topics related to Governance, Membership, CPD, and
Exams. We would like to thank everyone who registered for and
attended the events. Across the two sessions, we saw roughly a
50% engagement rate with available polls and questions
submitted via the Slido platform. Auditor as well as Firm
participation is what drives these sessions and we were pleased
to see so many engaging and sending us their questions.

We have finalised
two FAQ documents for this Q&A event, which are available
here.

 June
B&C Member Calls – recap 

On June 20 and 21 2023, APSCA
staff and Executive Board Representatives hosted two Member
Firm calls for APSCA B and C Category Member Firms to support
various time zones. The calls provided Member Firms with an
opportunity to receive updates from APSCA over various topics
such as Strategy/Funding, Part III Alt Language deadline,
phasing out of APSCA RA Level, planned Data System enhancements
and the Annual Meeting of Member and Stakeholders 2023.
The calls were well attended and mark the 3^rd APSCA
Member Call / meetings held during 2023.
Recordings of the meetings have been circulated to attendees as
well as follow up documents summarizing questions raised during
and following the meeting which were relevant to Member Firms.

We look forward to connecting with the Member Firms once again
in Q3.

 Welcome
New Members 

APSCA is pleased to welcome
our new APSCA Provisional Member Firms:

ASPIRATA Auditing Testing and Certification PTY LTD
Helmsman Quality & Technology Services Co., Ltd
IDFL Laboratory and Institute Inc.
SAC GmbH
Stantec Environmental Engineering (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
VJN Global Solutions

Please welcome them to APSCA!

• October 2023 –
  live Q&A online event, dates and time TBD
• November APSCA 2023 AMM (hybrid)

Planning to attend the 2023
AMM in Atlanta Georgia, USA. Please take this short survey and let us know if
you plan to attend in person or virtually!

Once again, thank you to all who participated in our May
Q&A sessions and our B & C Member calls. Member input
is always valued and assist us as we endeavour to provide
support to Auditors and Firms.

We have made some minor
changes to section 9.1 of the APSCA Competency Framework.
These changes are reflected in questions within the APSCA Exam
Process.

We also launched our Part I & II Exam Syllabus
which aims to provide greater clarity for Member Auditors and
Member Firms about the content of the APSCA Part I & II
exams.
We welcome feedback on this document. If you wish to provide
any feedback, please email director@theapsca.org

The exam team has a message
from Calendly regarding Google’s new anti-spam policies, which
may impact how your Calendly meeting will show up on your
calendar.

Google Calendar will now only
add meetings to an invitee’s calendar automatically if the
sender has previously interacted with the invitee in Gmail. If
you use Google Calendar and you have never interacted with
Calendly by email, you must click ‘I know the sender’ and ‘yes’
to the invite for the meeting to be added to your calendar.
That is all that is required!
An example of this is displayed in the below image. As you can
see, a notice will appear alerting you that this meeting invite
has been sent from someone you have never interacted with.
Simple click ‘I know the sender’ and accept the invite.

Some additional reminders from
the exam team:

• As at October
  1, RA will no longer be an available Auditor level, in
  line with the RA phase-out.
• If you are
  trying to re-sit a Part III exam, please schedule for the
  first available date, and continue to check Calendly
  regularly in case an earlier date becomes available. If
  you do find an earlier date, please use the
  reschedule/cancellation link on your original Calendly
  confirmation email. Incorrect rescheduling places you at
  risk of losing all exam dates previously booked.
• DO NOT
  reschedule your exam directly with ProctorU as this does
  not alert the interviewer of the change, meaning when you
  arrive at the exam your interviewer and translator (if
  being used) will not be there. The exam will then be
  cancelled, and you will be charged.
• When booking in
  Calendly, please use the same email as that listed on your
  ProctorU account.

Finally, in your exam preparation, make sure you read the How to Book document
before arriving at the exam and click through all of the links
contained in this document. Additionally, you should have read
through the Part III Exam Guide to
have an understanding of how scoring works and what the
interviewers are looking for to award points. Other essential
preparatory materials include the What to Expect video and episode 7 of the APSCA
podcast, all of which can be found in the Resource Library.

Hello from
the Ethics Team!

We’d like to
take a moment to introduce our team and remind everyone what
the Ethics Team does to support Member Firms and Member
Auditors to help achieve
APSCA’s mission to
professionalize social compliance auditing.

Our Compliance Manager, Emma Youngman, has been
associated with APSCA for several years. In her current role,
Emma is the front line for reported ethical concerns and
liaises with collaborative parties and Member Firms for
investigations and best practices. Additionally, she supports
Member inquiries and outreach to aid with any ethical concerns.
Stephanie, who was introduced at the beginning of this issue of
the newsletter, has joined the APSCA ethics team as the
Director of Code and Compliance. Stephanie will lead the team
in ensuring that our Code and Standards of Professional
Conduct, policies, and procedures meet the needs of APSCA
Members and support all ethical investigations, as well as
leading Member Firm investigations, and focusing on measuring program
effectiveness.

In 2023, the Ethics team is dedicated to
bringing more transparency to our Members. We have confidence
that through a better understanding of our investigation
process and with additional transparency around the functions
of the ethics team, Members will feel more comfortable when
reporting issues. The cornerstone of best ethical
practices is accountability. The APSCA Ethics Team relies on
whistleblowers and reporters to advise when there are potential
problems and ethical violations occurring in the workplace.
Reporting concerns is every Member’s responsibility. Please
reach out to your APSCA Ethics Team with questions, if ever in
doubt.  We hope to see enhanced engagement with our
surveys and increased communication outreach throughout the
remainder of 2023 so that we can better serve all APSCA
Members.

 Update on the APSCA Disciplinary Board
Activity – June 2023 

The disciplinary board heard 4
cases.   

1. False Auditing
   and Recordkeeping – 2-Month
   Suspension
2. Recordkeeping
   & Transparency with APSCA – 2-Month
   Suspension
3. Harassment –
   Revocation
4. Bribery &
   Corruption –
   Revocation

**To report any concerns or potential ethics
violations, reach out to ethics@theapsca.org**

Speak Up – Why it’s important to report issues
when they arise:

• It’s part of
  your commitment to APSCA. The Code and Standards of
  Professional Conduct, signed at the time of joining APSCA,
  outlines that every Member is responsible for reporting
  unethical behavior.
• Speaking up empowers
  you to tell your truth and benefits the profession by
  preventing continuing issues from spreading, which affects
  our ability to do our job with integrity and pride.
• Demonstrating
  your commitment to best practices in social compliance
  auditing, and your support for APSCA may even inspire
  quiet colleagues to speak up in the face of corruption,
  too.

CPD On-Demand 2023 has been
launched.

UPCOMING TRAININGS

The following trainings are
available in the months of July & August.

• July 6^th-7^th SAS – An LQRA Company
  – CSR Auditor Training (annual) in
  person, 20% discount being offered for APSCA Auditors,
  register here, APSCA Course
  Code SAS-001 (CPD 8h)
• July 10^th
  WIRE – Conducting
  Worker Interviews, online, more information
  here, APSCA Course
  Code WI-001 (CPD 8h)
• July 11^th
  WIRE – Grievance
  Mechanisms & Social Dialogue online,
  more information here, APSCA Course
  Code WI-003 (CPD 8h)
• July 17^{th
  _} 21st Social Accountability International –
  SA8000
  Introduction & Basic Auditor Training
  (HCMC, Vietnam), for more information click here, APSCA Course
  Code SAI-001 (CPD 36h)
• August 4^th
  CASPIUM – US
  Department of Labor Regulations (English)
  hybrid, more information here, APSCA Course
  Code CAS-001 (CPD 8h),
• August 7^th WIRE – Conducting
  Worker Interviews online, more
  information here, APSCA Course
  Code WI-001 (CPD 8h),
• August 8^th
  WIRE – Gender
  Sensitive Auditing – an introduction
  online, more information here, APSCA
  Course Code WI-002 (CPD 8h),
• August 11^th
  CASPIUM
  – US Environmental, Health & Safety Laws
  hybrid, more information here, APSCA Course
  Code CAS-001 (CPD 8h),
• August 16^th-18^th
  Social
  Accountability International – SA8000
  Advanced Lead Auditor Training (Mexico City), in person,
  more information here, APSCA Course
  Code SAI-002 (CPD 24h)
• August 21^st
  Social
  Accountability International – SA8000
  Introduction & Basic Auditor Training (Mexico), in
  person, more information here, APSCA Course
  Code SAI-001 (CPD 36h)
• August 28^th
  Social
  Accountability International – SA8000
  Introduction & Basic Auditor Training (New York City,
  USA), in person, more information here, APSCA Course
  Code SAI-001 (CPD 36h)

World Day Against Child Labor

June
12^th was the World Day Against Child Labor. As we
reflect upon this issue and the various forms in which it still
exists in the world, we encourage our Members to engage with
available resources which explore child labor in a modern
context. One great resource, in particular, comes from episode
1 of Rachelle Jackson’s podcast, which is available to listen
to here.

We are proud of the work being done by APSCA Members to combat
child labor globally, in line with section 9.2 of the Competency Framework.
There may be a ways to go before child labor can be considered
eradicated, though by spreading awareness of this issue we are
able to make steps towards this goal.

For more information and resources regarding child labor from
the International Labor Organization (ILO), click here.

  REPORTING AN INTEGRITY ISSUE  

If you wish to
report an action by one of our Members (Firms or Auditors)
which may be considered a violation of APSCA’s Code and
Standards of Professional Conduct, email our Ethics Manager at ethics@theapsca.org

Looking for Auditors? APSCA is
here to help!

Let APSCA apply the benefits
of our global network to your search for new Auditors.
Just tag us (#APSCA) on your LinkedIn job postings for Social
Compliance Auditors or send job postings directly to us and we
can share them on social media.

We are here to help, supporting APSCA Member Firms, Supporter
Brands & Retailers, and Collaborative Programs that we work
with, in their ongoing efforts to attract and retain Social
Compliance Auditor talent.

We would welcome your feedback – please forward your
suggestions to:  director@theapsca.org