Help Center

Which accreditations can I use to meet social criteria?

While GOTS does not require additional certification to a social accountability program, accreditation to any of the following programs will meet the criteria required:

• Social Accountability 8000
• Fair World Foundation
• SMETA-Sedex report (issued within the last year)
• Amfori BSCI
• Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)
• FLA

Earlier this year, the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) released version 6.0 of the standard. To make meeting the new requirements as simple as possible, we updated our Organic System Plan (OSP) forms for GOTS clients.

How do I fill out the new GOTS forms?

The new modular forms are set up to ensure you only fill out the sections relevant to your business.

To start, fill out the Operation Information (FT0) and Activities Checklist for GOTS (FT1) forms to learn which other documents are required for your operation. After you learn which forms you need, download them below.

How are the forms broken out?

The form modules are:

• FT0 Operation Information
  The FT0 form covers the basic information about your business for our records.
• FT1 Activities Checklist
  The FT1 form uses questions about your business to help determine which other OSP forms you need to fill out.
• FT2 Facility Information
  The FT2 form covers everything we need to know about your facility, including maps and flowcharts.
• FT3 Product and Ingredient Summary
  The FT3 form establishes what you are making your products with and directs you to other forms we may need from you to track your products, it covers everything from dyes to accessories. The FT 3 form also covers labels, co-packing, and private labels.
• FT4 Social Criteria Practices
  The FT4 form covers the basic requirements for the social criteria practices in the latest version of GOTS such as living wage.
• FT5 Sanitation, Environmental, and Water Practices
  The FT5 form evaluates environmental compliance and is where the GOTS monitor comes in handy.
• FT6 Receiving, Storage, Packaging, and Shipping
  The FT6 form also covers questions about single-use plastic hangers and PVC plastic bags — both of which are not allowed.
• FT7 Facility Pest Management
• FT8 Recordkeeping Practices
• FT9 Personal Care and Food Textile Practices
  The FT9 form is only required if you are producing personal care or food textiles.

What is a living wage?

Living wage varies based on where you live and is broadly defined as the amount a person needs to be paid during an average workweek to achieve a decent standard of living for their family. It can change based on the local cost of living, how many earners are in a household, and how many people are being supported.

A living wage is different from a minimum wage. A living wage is calculated based on current circumstances while a minimum wage is set by the government.

How do I determine the living wage for my business?

Some regions already have a defined living wage:

• In the U.S., you can use the MIT Living Wage Calculator
• The Living Wage Resource Library of Global Living Wage Coalition covers an additional 36 regions

If there is not a defined living wage for your region, you will need to calculate it. GOTS recommends using the living wage calculator from amfori BSCI. The calculator uses information about the cost of living in your region to define a living wage for a full workweek.

How do I determine the wage gap for my business?

The wage gap is the difference between the defined or calculated living wage for your area and what your workers are paid.

I.e. Living Wage – Actual Wage = Wage Gap

Do I need to pay my employees the defined living wage?

In the new GOTS version 6.0, all certified businesses need to have a plan in place to work towards paying workers the defined living wage for their area. OTCO encourages all GOTS-certified businesses to work towards closing the wage gap, as it may be required in the future.

GOTS version 6.0 requires businesses to calculate energy consumption and put a plan in place to make improvements. They’ve created a tool to help businesses with both calculation and planning for improvement.

What is the GOTS Monitor?

The GOTS Monitor Water/Energy Tool (GOTS WE Tool) helps you determine water and energy consumption relative to your business’s textile output.

Once you have compiled your data, the tool will also provide you with benchmarks for success that you can work towards to improve energy and water efficiency.

You can access the GOTS WE Tool here.

Am I required to use the GOTS Monitor?

You are not required to use the GOTS monitor to capture this data and set goals for improvement. However, you will need to use an alternative method to capture and report this data for your business.