It was developed in 1997 by Social Accountability International, formerly the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency, by an advisory board consisting of trade unions, NGOs, civil society organizations and companies.
[1] The SA 8000's criteria were developed from various industry and corporate codes to create a common standard for social welfare compliance.
[2] The goal of the standard is to encourages organizations to develop, maintain, and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace.
It also requires compliance with eight performance criteria, as outlined on the Social Accountability International website.
[6] It measures the performance of companies in eight areas important to social accountability in the workplace: child labour, forced labour, health and safety, free association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation.