The short version
- Principle 1 mandates full social compliance across feed manufacturing operations, grounded in International Labour Organization conventions.
- The standard enforces zero tolerance for forced labor, child labor, human trafficking, and workplace discrimination.
- Feed mills must strictly limit overtime to twelve hours per week, ensure living or legal minimum wages, and provide comprehensive occupational health and safety protections.
- Workers must have access to functional grievance mechanisms, transparent employment contracts, and the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Ensuring ethical treatment, safe working conditions, and respect for fundamental human rights is at the heart of the ASC Feed Standard V1.2. Under Principle 1, certified feed manufacturers must establish robust management systems, policies, and daily operational practices that protect workers across all feed manufacturing facilities.
Principle 1 is aligned directly with the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), creating clear compliance expectations that feed mills must verify through internal monitoring and third-party audits.
Zero-Tolerance Pillars: Child Labor and Forced Labor
The standard maintains a strict zero-tolerance position on severe human rights abuses:
-
Prohibition of Forced Labor: Indicator 1.4.1 prohibits all forms of forced, bonded, indentured, or involuntary prison labor. Feed mills cannot retain original personal identification documents, passports, or security deposits from workers. Migrant workers must not be charged recruitment fees or trapped by debt bondage, and freedom of movement must be maintained at all times.
-
Prohibition of Child Labor: Criterion 1.5 prohibits the employment of children below the legal minimum school-leaving age or under fifteen years of age. For young workers between fifteen and eighteen years old, strict safeguards apply: they must not perform hazardous tasks, work night shifts, or engage in duties that harm their health, safety, or educational development.
-
Anti-Discrimination and Ethical Treatment: Criterion 1.6 requires mills to ensure equal opportunity and fair treatment. Discrimination based on gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, union membership, or political opinion is prohibited in hiring, pay, promotion, and termination decisions. Physical abuse, verbal harassment, and intimidation are strictly forbidden.
-
Maximum Working Hours and Overtime Limits: Indicator 1.11.4 establishes that standard workweeks must comply with local law and not exceed forty-eight hours. Overtime must be voluntary, compensated at a premium rate, and strictly limited to a maximum of twelve hours per week, except under exceptional short-term emergency circumstances defined by law.
-
Fair Wages and Benefits: Under Criterion 1.10, all employees must receive wages that meet or exceed local legal minimum wage standards or industry benchmarks, whichever is higher. Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure are prohibited. Pay slips must be detailed, understandable, and provided regularly.
-
Transparent Employment Contracts: Indicator 1.9.1 requires that every worker receives a written, understandable employment contract prior to starting work. Contracts must detail job responsibilities, working hours, pay rates, leave entitlements, and notice periods.
-
Risk Assessments and Safe Environment: Criteria 1.7 and 1.19 require regular risk assessments across all operational areas, including chemical storage facilities, grinding units, and high-noise zones.
-
Free Personal Protective Equipment: Appropriate, well-maintained personal protective equipment must be provided to workers free of charge at the point of use. Where specialized equipment is required by chemical Material Safety Data Sheets, management must enforce its immediate availability and use.
-
Emergency Response and First Aid: Facilities must maintain clearly marked, unobstructed emergency exits, functional fire alarm systems, accessible first aid kits, and an adequate number of trained first aid responders on every shift.
-
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Criterion 1.8 guarantees workers the right to join or form trade unions and bargain collectively without employer interference or retaliation.
-
Operational Grievance Mechanisms: Criterion 1.12 requires feed mills to establish an effective, accessible grievance process. Workers must be able to submit complaints anonymously without fear of penalty, and management must document, investigate, and resolve grievances within set timeframes.
-
Worker Representation and Induction Training: Indicators 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 mandate that workers receive formal induction training upon hire to ensure they understand their rights, safety rules, and company policies, supported by worker-elected safety or labor representatives.
-
Maintain Updated Time and Payroll Records: Ensure automated time-card systems accurately log standard and overtime hours for all workers, avoiding manual gaps.
-
Audit Internal Competency: Ensure internal auditors evaluating Principle 1 have completed specialized social auditing training as required by Appendix 10.
-
Finalize Employee Onboarding Systems: Verify that human resource databases confirm full completion of worker onboarding modules prior to employee start dates.
- ASC Feed Standard V1.2 (Principle 1, Criteria 1.3 through 1.20, Appendix 10)
- ASC Feed Standard Interpretation Manual V1.2 (Principle 1 Guidance and Auditing Considerations)
- Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
Manage this work in 4Auditee
Keep audit plans, problems, corrective actions and document versions in one place. See the records behind each change and decision.
Book a demo