An audit tells a buyer what a site looked like on the day. WELL maps worker-driven findings to the UNGP and ILO frameworks buyers already report against — so worker voice becomes evidence they can put their name to.

"It exists" is not "it works." This case study follows how one electronics manufacturing site used worker voice to find where confidence in its grievance mechanism was breaking down — and rebuilt it, step by step, through the WELL Grievance Integrity Program.

Regulation stops at Tier 1. Exposure sits upstream. What a working Tier 2 grievance mechanism has to evidence — under CSDDD, LkSG, and the EU Forced Labour Regulation — and why buyers are already moving there.

From 14 Dec 2027, the EU will bar any product made with forced labour—at any stage, even in part. The new guidelines make this an obligation of result: prove your product is clean, fast. With only 30 working days to respond, the evidence that matters most is worker-held and confidential—testimonies, surveys, and grievance records a site can’t stage.

Across 50 sites and 80,000+ workers, WELL Grievance Integrity assessed grievance mechanisms against all eight UNGP Principle 31 criteria — and produced the site-level, worker-grounded evidence CSDDD and ESRS S2 now require. 83% of actions closed, 72% advanced a maturity level.

This case study shows how a pilot of the WELL Survey in the seafood industry validated its ability to capture worker voice, surface sector-specific risks, and generate actionable insights for seafood supply chains.