APSCA Newsletter April 2020

April 30, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, we echo our hopes for your continued health and safety.

The situation is subject to ongoing monitoring by our team and apart from Stakeholder Events, we are pleased to report APSCA remains fully operational. Should you require any assistance, we encourage you to reach out via email or connect with us via the links below.

During April the CSCA program formed a core focus with yet another record month of exam scheduling. Further updates are provided below

In this this issue:

Disciplinary Board Update
Provisional Member Announcement
APSCA’s New Certification Coordinator
Cancelled – APSCA Stakeholder Events
Membership Application Process
Coming Soon – Resources Library on APSCA Website
CSCA Examination Update
Auditor Enrollment Summary
FAQs
APSCA Out and About

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Disciplinary Board – Allegations and Sanctions

APSCA Member Auditors
During April, allegations received for 2020 increased by 15% with new reports of bribery, corruption and misuse of the APSCA Member numbers. To date, APSCA’s Ethics and Integrity team have addressed over 120 allegations across eleven (11) violation classifications. Of these allegations there have been thirty (30) cases resulting in the enforcement of sanctions.

A full summary of allegations and substantiated cases related to Member Auditors can be downloaded via the link below.

Provisional Member Announcement

Congratulations to our newest APSCA Member Firm, Primus Auditing Operations on your commitment to the realization of APSCA’s mission “To enhance the Professionalism and Credibility of individuals and organisations performing independent social compliance audits”.

For information on Firm Membership definitions and how your Firm can commence the application process, please visit our website.

Applicants

As APSCA continues to receive applications from interested organizations looking to gain membership, we want to share the number of new and re-applications under review/processing at this time.

Note, the duration of an applicant’s review period can be delayed for one reason or another (often for reasons not in APSCA’s control), but on average we find applications take anywhere from 3 – 6+ months to process prior to being put forward to the Executive Board.

An overview of the current number of applicants and the processing time of these applications is provided below.

APSCA’s New Certification Coordinator

APSCA are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Certification Coordinator, Shannon McNulty. Shannon joins APSCA with experience as an auditor in the social compliance auditing space and enjoys spending time with her family and horses. Shannon is based East Coast USA and can be reached via email at shannon.mcnulty@theapsca.org.

Cancelled - APSCA Stakeholder Event for 2020 (Germany and Thailand)

Unfortunately due to the global impacts of COVID-19, APSCA have resolved to cancel the Stakeholder Events which were due to be held in Germany (June) and Thailand (August).

Further announcements on additional Stakeholder Events planned for 2020 will be made in due course.

Membership Application Process

APSCA’s Audit Firm Membership Application process was formally released in November 2018. Details can be found on our website. All applications should be sent to applications@theapsca.org.

Important Reminder - Member Firm Deadline June 2020

ALL Member Firms who were accepted as an APSCA Provisional Member Firm prior to 2019, MUST reapply BEFORE June 2020.

If you are unsure if your firm needs to re-apply, please email director@theapsca.org

Coming Soon – Resources Library on APSCA Website

APSCA is developing a Resources Library on the website to improve accessibility to reference documents (including available translations) for our Members and Stakeholders. These will include the likes of the Competency Framework, our Code & Standards of Professional Conduct, Glossary of Terms and Use of APSCA Number (Member Auditor Guide) and a Member’s Disciplinary Guide.

These documents are being translated into Spanish, and Chinese (Simplified / Traditional) and will be posted as they are finalized. We encourage you to stay tuned for news on when this page has been published via the newsletter. In the meantime, available documents are posted on the website and are publicly accessible via theapsca.com/about-us.

If there are additional resources you would like APSCA to consider for future inclusion in the library, please express your interest to director@theapsca.org – we welcome your input!

CSCA Examination Update

During April, examination rates continued with sustained momentum from March as the total number of Auditors having passed Part I reached 2,247, 618 Part II and 41 Part III.

Across Part I and II, some 14% of exams scheduled for 2020 (to date) were not completed due to participant forfeiture (failure to present for exam) and or IT issues. Results of completed exams are summarized below.

CSCA - Part I Exam Results

A total of 946 CSCA Part I exams have been completed during 2020 with a pass rate of 84%
Results of completed exams are provided below.

CSCA - Part II Exam Results

A total of 699 CSCA Part II exams have been completed during 2020 with a pass rate of 75%.
Results of completed exams are provided below.

For all CSCA Exams (Part I – III) auditors MUST confirm their eligibility BEFORE they schedule each exam. Please ensure you follow the guidance in the Auditor Handbook to notify APSCA prior to enrolling to sit the exam. If you have attempted an exam and experienced IT issues, you need to inform APSCA that you are rescheduling your exam to have a new invoice raised.

CSCA Exams Part I and II are available in four languages (English, Spanish, Simplified & Traditional Chinese).

CSCA Exam Part III interviews anticipated to commence scheduling during May. Exams will be available in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. We are finalising the scheduling process which has proven to be more complicated than Part I and II.

Auditor Enrollments

During April, the total number of enrolled auditors increased to 4,437 (as of 30 April 2020). The enrolled Auditors comprise approximately 59% Registered Auditors, 40% Associate Social Compliance Auditors and 1% Certified Social Compliance Auditors

Changes to Auditor Status – April

Leading up to March 2019 APSCA communicated to all auditors and audit firms, a 31 March 2020 deadline which required all Registered Auditor (RA) level auditors who identified as advanced in at least one of four languages (English, Traditional, Simplified Chinese, Spanish) of which the Part I exam is available in, must have successfully completed the exam in order to maintain their RA level. Due to COVID-19, APSCA extended this deadline to 30 April. Any auditors who met this criteria and did not have an exam scheduled during April were moved from RA to ASCA, and will remain there until such time until they successfully complete Part I, at which time they will be moved back to RA. This update impacted approx. 314 auditors.

Reminder of Upcoming Deadlines

Part I: Those Auditors who have become RA Level 1 from November, 2019 onward have 6 months to sit Part I, otherwise they will be moved to ASCA.

Part II: Those Auditors who are advanced in one of the 4 languages and have completed Part I, have to complete Part II by the end of September 2020 (or 3 months after completing Part I whichever is the latest).

FAQs – Helpful Resources on the Website

Be sure to check out APSCA’s updated FAQ page. Have a question We’ve got answers here.

Don’t see a question / answer you’re looking for? Contact us at Director@theapsca.org.

APSCA Out and About

Please note that due to the global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, APSCA have postponed or cancelled all travel. Updates on any future travel will be provided as soon as practicable. Please visit our Out and About page for updates!

In seeking to further support our Members, we also welcome you to tell us how your organization and auditors are navigating today’s dynamic work environment. It is our intention to share these insights across our media channels to foster industry collaboration and unite our community during this difficult period. Please send responses to director@theapsca.org.

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