The Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF) was born out of a recognition that ending exploitation of cleaners needs a whole of industry approach. As a result, business, union, government, academics and industry associations came together to form CAF and continue to drive our organisation today. Find out more about our partners here.

We are one of the world’s first worker-driven social compliance schemes

With an increased focus on Modern Slavery in supply chains, our Certification Scheme is a tangible measure business can take to slavery proof their supply chains.

CAF does ‘worker engagement’ as opposed to ‘social auditing’. While social auditing generally involves interviews with workers as part of an audit process, CAF’s worker engagement goes well beyond a social audit as it is designed to enhance worker agency. Worker engagement is essential to obtain greater buy-in from cleaners when it comes to improving labour conditions, and therefore leads to long-lasting improvements in compliance conditions compared to a point in time audit.

We collaborate with the entire supply chain

While collaboration is not new, the type of collaboration CAF benefits from is unique – our diverse stakeholders work together to advocate for sustainable change in the cleaning industry. The CAF Certification Scheme works because it has been built by all of these stakeholders, thereby making it truly fit for purpose.