|  Central to MAYA ORGANIC is a labour and social compliance that draws from a bottom-up approach. The compliance is evolved by the worker-owned enterprises themselves through a process that seeks to continuously improve labour standards and social protection, looking at developmental aspects beyond the workplace and towards the family and community. Such development compliance works to improve each collective from its current level, rather than attempting to achieve a top-down absolute standard.
MAYA ORGANIC believes that though well intentioned, monitoring a compliance code introduced by international buyers for ensuring decent working conditions of the workers is extremely difficult, if not impossible, when it comes to outsourcing practices. Therefore, the code of conduct or other social standards often become tokenistic, since it is externally imposed and not inherent to the existing work-culture.
Carefully considering experiences of existing labels and social compliance efforts, the development compliance proposed by MAYA ORGANIC is an inbuilt and organically grown practice that seeks to ensure the wellbeing of each worker owned enterprise and its members. It also seeks to improve each enterprise from its current level, rather than attempting to achieve an absolute standard. The goals set by the people themselves, for labour standards improvement, in the manner perceived by them are more achievable and honest, rather than lofty external standards, which are very often proclaimed only to please international clients, much to the detriment of the workers and sometimes the industry, since there are already several labels existing.
Furthermore, the efforts of MAYA ORGANIC development compliance are towards continuous improvement rather than be restricted to merely achieving the minimum compliance an enterprise has to fulfil; for instance, the compliance MAYA ORGANIC propagates goes beyond minimum wages, and the minimum level of protection set by legal provisions. The development compliance standards include a commitment for continuous learning & regular assessment of group performance, enrolment of their children to school (no child labour), working at a common workplace, regular contribution to membership, contribution to social security where possible and percentage share of profit to collective.
Practising the development compliance 
All the members of the worker-owned enterprises are self-employed and shareholders of the enterprise; therefore entitled to the profits and benefits generated through the work executed. Even in other small private enterprises that MAYA ORGANIC interacts with, the employer and workers are supported to form self-help groups and initiate small savings. Over time, this ensures that the individuals are able to break their cycle of indebtedness and become increasingly self-reliant.
Job orders are paid on the basis of quantity and quality of production as individuals within the group. MAYA ORGANIC ensures that increasingly the income earned even for low skilled members within the collective will go beyond the minimum wage prescribed, as their training investment and learning will increase their productivity and skills levels. Though most often, the workers are reluctant to engage in training as they see it as wasting productive time or irrelevant, this has gradually changed since MAYA ORGANIC integrates skill development (technical, entrepreneurial, etc) with their ongoing work.
In terms of a work environment, all the worker-owned enterprises are supported to function from common worksheds, equipped with basic facilities (including water, toilets, ventilation, light,etc) and infrastructure. 'No child labour' is a non-negotiable adhered to in all the worker-owned enterprises and members are supported to send their children to preschool/ school.
The experience so far has clearly indicated the impact of such a bottom-up development compliance. MAYA ORGANIC has become a key partner, ensuring social compliance demanded by international buyers abroad. For instance, companies such as GAP, H&M, etc have, declared MAYA ORGANIC as their main partner through which hand embroidery has to be produced here in South India.
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