Social audits, whether conducted by buyer representatives, third-party certifiers, or other independent groups, are a crucial tool for companies seeking to monitor on-the-ground conditions at distant supplier factories. These audits are high-risk undertakings for suppliers: findings of violations can spur buyers to intensify oversight or terminate a business relationship altogether. Suppliers therefore have a strong incentive to ensure they pass audits, which leads some to deceive auditors, resulting in misleading and inaccurate findings. Recruiters who connect workers to jobs may also hide abusive practices from suppliers in ways that later prevent auditors from detecting these problems.

Audit deception is a serious impediment to identifying and remedying human rights abuses in global supply chains. The issue regularly arises in Transparentem’s projects. In 2021, we published a special report, Hidden Harm, documenting worker testimony, the limitations of social audits in the apparel sector specifically, and recommendations for buyers to get accurate visibility into what’s happening in their supply chains.