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2010 April

ICTI CARE Process is committed to ensuring safe and hygienic workplace and fair labor practices in the toy industry worldwide. From April 2010 onwards, the ICTI CARE Process will introduce new measures to increase access to information for workers to enable workers to take a more active role in supporting the achievement of our mission. These measures include the "CARE" Card, Poster, a worker section on the ICP website and Worker Hotline and its relevant training program. These measures start with factories in China first, where most toy factories operate, and will later be rolled out to other countries upon further notice from the ICTI CARE Process. All factories in China engaging with the ICTI CARE Process are required to comply with the relevant requirements for these measures.

"CARE" Card

From April 2010 onwards, factories in China who are newly awarded an ICTI CARE Process Seal of Compliance will be given an electronic version (soft copy) of a card called "CARE" card which the ICTI CARE Process has designed for workers. Factories can also choose to buy hard copies of the card from the ICTI CARE Process. The card contains key information about basic workers' entitlements included in the ICTI CARE Code of Business Practices. There is also a hotline number on the card that workers can call to make enquiries and a website link to do the same. The ICTI CARE Process requires all factories holding a valid Seal of Compliance and those in the seal renewal process to do the following as conditions for maintaining/renewing the validity of their seal:

• buy hard copies of the card at cost from the ICTI CARE Process (fees to be paid together with the seal fees. Each pack containing 500 cards and 5 posters is available at HKD 65. Factories should buy enough packs to make sure each worker has a card) and put them to the back of the worker badges;
• factories choosing not to buy the card from the ICTI CARE Process should print out the electronic copy of the card in Chinese and place it to the back of the factory worker badge of all workers, or consider to print the card out as stickers and paste it to the back of worker badges of all workers. In the long run, factories are strongly encouraged to print the card straight to the back of their worker badges;
• distribute the hard copies of the card to all production workers within 6 weeks from the confirmation of the seal.

It will be considered a major non-compliance if auditors in subsequent audits find that over 20% of the interviewed workers have not received the card or that the posters have not been put up. A follow-up audit will be required to ensure that the factory takes the necessary corrective actions. In case of continued non-compliance, more frequent audits will be required and the ICTI CARE Process may consider suspending the seal validity of the factory until the factory can demonstrate that necessary actions have been taken to meet the ICTI CARE requirement.

"CARE" Poster

A poster with content similar to that of the "CARE" card will also be made available to factories at cost. The poster is designed by the ICTI CARE Process. The ICTI CARE Process requires all factories holding a valid Seal of Compliance and those in the seal renewal process to do the following as conditions for maintaining/renewing the validity of the seal:

• buy posters at cost from the ICTI CARE Process (fees to be paid together with the seal fees. Each pack containing 500 cards and 5 posters is available at HKD 65) and post them in conspicuous areas recommended below:
  • Production buildings
  • Canteen
  • Dormitories
  • Notice boards
• Posters must be put up in conspicuous areas in the facility within 6 weeks from confirmation of the seal.

During audits, auditors are not required to count the number of posters posted up but it will be regarded as a major non-compliance if auditors cannot find posters in more than one of the recommended areas. A follow-up audit will be required to ensure the factory takes the necessary corrective actions. In case of continued non-compliance, more frequent audits will be required and the ICTI CARE Process may consider suspending the seal validity of the factory until the factory can demonstrate that necessary actions have been taken to meet the ICTI CARE requirement.

ICTI CARE Worker Hotline Training

To ensure that workers understand the information on the "CARE" card, basic information of the ICTI CARE Process and the hotline operation, the ICTI CARE Process requires worker training to be conducted in a limited number of factories selected on a random basis, including those on probation. The training will be conducted by training organizations appointed by the ICTI CARE Process and the relevant fees will be paid by the factories receiving the training. The ICTI CARE Process has the following requirements for the worker training:

• The number of training days and worker participation required -
  

  Factory's total no. of production workforce	Minimum no. of workers required to join the training	No. of training days required
  500 or below	All	1
  501 – 2000	500	1
  2001 – 4000	25% of the production workforce	2
  4001 or above	1000	2
  * Training fees will be charged at RMB 2000 per training day. The maximum number of training days required will be 2 days for RMB 4000. Expenses (transportation, food and accommodation, etc.) are additional and will be charged at cost. Failure to settle the training fees will result in suspension of the validity of the seal of the factory.

• Each worker should only participate in one training session each time.
• Each training session lasts approximately 90 minutes.
• Several training sessions will be arranged in a training day to cover the number of worker participation required. Factories must not assign the same worker to participate in more than one training session. This is to ensure that more workers can benefit from the training.
• The number of attendees for each training session should be no more than 250. Managers and supervisors are welcome to attend but at least 95% of the attendees should be production workers.
• The time for which workers attend the training should be regarded as part of their normal work day and should be compensated.

In case of factories not complying with the above, repeat training will be required. If non-compliance continues, the ICTI CARE Process may consider suspending the seal validity of the factory.

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