Socially Responsible Procurement

1.1 The Bank Group contracts for the provision of a wide range of goods and services for its headquarters and country office operations (for example: furniture, technology equipment, printing, security services, cleaning services, mail sorting and delivery services, help desk services, travel agency, food services, and temp labor services). As a socially responsible organization, the Bank Group, through its corporate procurement practices, endeavors to integrate socially responsible suppliers into its supply chain. To this end, Bank Group procurement policy addresses supplier activities under the categories of diversity, wages and benefits, health and safety, and accessibility (equipment and facilities).

Wages and Benefits, Health and Safety

1.2 As part of the Bank Group’s solicitations and contracts for labor services will specify measures to be implemented to address service employees’ wages and their health and welfare fringe benefits, and will also specify criteria that address the need for contractors to provide their service employees with safe working conditions and fair and equitable work practices. The primary objectives of these practices are to:

1. ensure that service employees engaged in the performance of work under Bank Group service contracts or subcontracts receive appropriate wages and health and welfare fringe benefits for the respective job classifications within the geographic areas where the services are carried out;

2. remedy situations where contractors bidding on labor-intensive contracts use wage and benefit reductions as a means of competing for service contracts;

3. establish benchmarks for standardizing the appropriate levels of wages and health and welfare benefits for various job classifications; and

4. ensure that service employees engaged in the performance of work under Bank Group service contracts or subcontracts are provided safe working conditions and managed under fair and equitable work practices.

1.3 To achieve these objectives, the Bank Group’s Corporate Procurement Unit:

1. implements and continuously monitors guidelines based upon existing industry and governmental benchmarks and indices for identifying job classification, wage rates, and welfare fringe benefits;

2. references the US Department of Labor’s Service Contract Act (SCA) as the primary benchmark to be used for service contracts performed in the U.S.A. (benchmark indices for country offices are determined and approved by General Services Department Corporate Procurement Unit (GSDPR) on a case by case basis);

3. incorporates into, and implements under all service contracts, auditing procedures that validate the contractors’ execution of the requisite compensation, and benefits for service employees;

4. conducts training with designated Bank staff on procedures for monitoring all aspects of service employee compensation; and

5. conducts quality assurance procedures in conjunction with designated Project Managers (PMs) to ensure continual implementation of these objectives.

1.4 The Bank Group’s policy on socially responsible procurement will be reflected in Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Quotations (RFQs), Invitation for Bids (IFBs), and solicitations for the provision of labor services as determined appropriate by GSDPR. If appropriate, applicable evaluation criteria will be included in the technical evaluation and considered in the cost analysis of all quotations, bids, and proposals received in determining the successful bidders or offerors.

1.5 Unless specifically exempted, contractors and subcontractors performing labor service contracts for the Bank Group valued in excess of US$10,000 will be subject to the standards specified under 1.1-1.3 above. The applicable terms and conditions shall be incorporated in all solicitations and contracts for labor services, as determined by GSDPR.

1.6 Exemptions The following categories of workers are exempted from the use of wage/benefit determination requirements (although the application of criteria for safe, fair, and equitable work practices still applies):

1. Exemptions for certain classifications of employees: Bona fide executive, administrative, and professional positions, and certain computer-related professional positions. Professional positions are narrowly defined as those that fit the traditional professions, such as doctors, accountants, lawyers, and teachers. Exempt computer professionals generally include engineers and programmers who do design and other original non-repetitive tasks;

2. Employment contracts for direct services to the Bank Group (as covered by World Bank Group HR policy);

3. Transportation contracts governed by published tariff rates; and

4. Orders placed against GSA Schedule contracts (the schedule, as originally executed by GSA, makes provision for related SCA wage and budget levels as applicable to a given contract).

1.7 Responsibility for compliance with and implementation of this policy shall rest with GSDPR. The Procurement Officer’s responsibility will be to ensure that the Statement of Work (SOW) / Terms of Reference (TOR), under all applicable solicitations and resulting contracts, contains an accurate description of any and all services to be performed. The comparable job classifications for services to be performed shall be identified, including the geographic area within which the services are to be performed. The criteria addressing safe working conditions and fair and equitable work practices will be detailed and incorporated into the documentation and evaluation process. Furthermore, the Procurement Officer shall notify all prospective offerors of these guidelines and the required flow down provisions to all relevant subcontractors.

Supplier Diversity

1.8 The Bank Group procurement practices will provide opportunities for access and growth of minority-, women-, and disabled-owned business enterprises (MWDBE) with an emphasis on measurable results and continuous improvement. The primary objective of the Corporate Procurement Unit’s supplier diversity initiative is to increase the participation of MWDBE in Bank Group contracts both by direct contracting and by working with Bank Group prime contractors (first-tier vendors) to help them expand their subcontracting of Bank Group related business to MWDBE firms (second-tier).

1.9 To achieve this objective the Corporate Procurement Unit will:

1. assist MWDBE firms to identify procurement opportunities with the Bank Group;

2. learn about opportunities to work with other Bank Group vendors;

3. work with Bank Group clients to make supplier diversity a work program objective; and

4. maintain records and report on growth objectives.