Education is the first step of advocacy and protection. The lack of awareness about fundamental rights and responsibilities has resulted in workers not being able to take necessary steps to safeguard their rights and wellbeing. Labor Solutions has launched a Digital Course on Fair Working Conditions, which brings workers an introduction to “dos and don’ts” around important workplace rights topics such as contracts, recruitment, harassment, and social dialogue. All modules of the course consist of core content built on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and a section tailored to country legislations to ensure workers’ understanding about their rights against global standards as well as local context. Giving workers access to training and reliable information about fair working conditions and their rights and responsibilities in the workplace ensures that expectations and information are aligned at every level of the company. Informed workers can help to identify potential unsafe conditions and risks before they become major issues and cause harm to people or facilities. Our digital courses are available through our app, WOVO, as well as on any device with a browser, in many languages including Khmer, Vietnamese to simplified Chinese, English and Spanish. Informed workers are happier and more engaged, which leads to higher retention, higher quality work product and lower costs for recruitment and training. Workers that know about fair working conditions also are better able to provide reliable and useful information through surveys and grievance tools— workers having knowledge of their rights is the foundation for protection and safeguarding of worker human rights. With new human rights due diligence laws in effect from January 2023, buyers will be more focused on ensuring workers know about their rights and responsibilities. Digital learning is a smart investment for factories to make in their employees and has proven positive results that buyers are looking for. A recent case show demonstrated eLearning on rights and responsibilities is key to a function grievance mechanism. Workers who know about their rights are better able to alert management when issues arise. Informed workers create safer, happier more productive workplaces. Factories and other facilities can share our Fair Working Conditions courses with their entire workforce at scale. We provide promotional materials and support management with a deployment plan that ensures engagement and success of each course. The courses themselves are interactive and created by our Labor Solutions team of instructional designers to ensure a high levels of information transfer and retention. Labor Solutions, an impact-focused business, leverages technology to connect, engage and educate workers to build resilient supply chains. Over a million and a half workers in 25 countries have access to Labor Solutions’ worker engagement platform, WOVO.

At Labor Solutions we pride ourselves on being able to provide global data and local impact through worker voice and worker engagement. By educating and empowering individual facilities, direct, lasting change is being made on the ground. Our tools are uniquely successful at embedding and supporting increased responsible business practices in global supply chains. We heard lots of stories of success this year, so our team got together to choose and talk about our favorite case studies. Thanks to all our clients who made these stories of success possible. Our tools don't work alone they require willing and hard working teams on the ground to effect real change. HRDD in Action: How One Factory Worked with Labor Solutions to Identify, Remediate and Prevent Safety Issues Read how a factory identified, addressed and prevented a safety issue to meet new HRDD laws. Cecilia, Senior Client Advisor, choose this article because: “ HRDD was such a hot topic in 2022, but with so many open questions about what it means and how to implement the different components. Its nice to see an HRDD program in action that actually created change for workers. It makes me excited about what’s to come from HRDD. It is great to see governments helping create real change in business practices and conditions for workers globally." Burmese Garment Workers Want to be Heard, Find Several Labor Solutions’ Surveys Labor Solutions collected survey responses from nearly 100,000 workers in Myanmar's Garment Sector in 2022. Workers were eager to respond and be heard about their perspectives on working conditions, and overwhelmingly were their family’s main source of income and are happy to have employment. Elena, Labor Solutions' CEO, commented when asked why this was her favorite case study of the year; "We were all really excited about this project. No one had been able to capture the voices of garment workers in Myanmar at scale. We thought it would be much harder, we went in worried about connectivity, outreach and more. But when the results came rolling in quickly, we were blown away with the sheer number of responses. It was clear they were saying 'I want to be part of the conversation.' In such a complex situation, with a lot of stakeholders, many who are loud, hearing from the people who are most impacted by the political and business decisions being made was key to our clients. We are honored to help elevate the voices of such a vulnerable, underrepresented population. It is why we go to work every day," Case Study: Educating Workers on Rights and Responsibilities is Key to a Functioning Grievance Mechanism Education is the first step to effective a grievance mechanism and management. This case study demonstrates measurable impact of adding eLearning to an existing grievance program. Xiaowen, Senior Manager of Worker Engagement said she loved this case study for many reasons; "Not only does the case prove the essential role education plays to ultimately prevent human rights risks, but also it is a good reminder that changes happen over time. Change, regardless of its form, scale, or objective, will always face obstacles and resistance, especially in supply chain where there has been a norm for decades if not longer. When implementing an innovative approach, it is important to have faith in what’s on the other side and proactively overcome the gridlocks with determination and patience." 75% More Workers Returned to Factories Using WOVO A fte r Factory Closures in Vietnam After almost 4 months of closures, factories in Vietnam struggled to reopen and return to production. Factories with WOVO opened and were back to full production faster . Clear and effective communication helps workers feel valued and secure in their work situation, and helped maintain trust between workers and factory management. “ COVID was hard for everyone, particularly workers, comments Senior VP of Client Services, Bijie Li. "We knew that our programs were important to workers during COVID. But we didn’t have 'measurable proof.' When we were able to put this piece together it was like—see we knew it! We were really proud to have made any kind of impact during such a difficult time. But more importantly, it was rewarding to share these results with our factory partners who had worked so hard during COVID to stay in touch with workers.” Decathlon Supplier Autonomy Program Starts with a Worker Survey LS, Decathlon and over 27 suppliers deployed a worker engagement and wellbeing survey and improvement programs. Labor Solutions helped Decathlon to understand the results and to help their suppliers identify opportunities to change existing practices for the better. Decathlon is now integrating worker surveys into their supplier support program and implementing WOVO in even more facilities and countries. Senior Director of Content and Partnerships, Jen Green, choose this case study because; Supplier ownership is a cornerstone of how we see meaningful change towards responsible business practices happen in global supply chains. When we can convince factories our tools add value to their business, and are not just top-down directives from buyers, we shift management practices and ensure human rights are embedded in the business, not just a show for visitors and auditors. We move from compliance to active risk management, and this benefits everyone, particularly workers. Worker Voice: How One Manufacturer Uses WOVO’s Grievance Mechanism Read how one manufacturer Gildan in South America used Labor Solutions' WOVO Tool for Grievance + Human Rights Due Diligence + Compliance. Raissa, Associate Client Advisor, choose this case study because she often hears clients ask 'how did others implement,' and thinks this is a great example of what success can look like; "This case study shows concrete evidence of how WOVO can create change and be helpful to factory management, to improve their grievance mechanisms, operations and work environment. " We love hearing client success stories and try to publish as many as possible. Please reach out to your client advisor if you want to share yours. Thanks again to all our clients who have made our tools come to life in their workplaces. We believe our tools help and often catalyze change but know that real change happens because of hard working individuals using the data from our tools to connect and engage with workers. Read the many more that we did not share here, on our Case Studies tab. About Labor Solutions Labor Solutions, an impact-focused business, leverages technology to connect , engage and educate workers to build resilient supply chains. Over a million and a half workers in 25 countries have access to Labor Solutions’ worker engagement platform, WOVO .

At Labor Solutions we believe that aligning diverse stakeholders interests is a cornerstone in constructing responsible and socially sustainable supply chains. This involves understanding and harmonizing the diverse objectives and interests of buyers, suppliers, workers, and even the wider community of consumers. It is a delicate balancing act, requiring strategic planning, proper mechanisms, and systems to openly communicate and work together. Suppliers, workers, and buyers often have different perspectives and priorities, which leads to conflicting goals and objectives. Moreover, there is usually a different level of access to information (e.g. supply chain regulations) between different parties, which can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations. Certainly, there are also power imbalances between these different parties, sometimes making it difficult to find a solution and negotiate on an equal footing. Labor Solutions aims to align these distinct needs through different mechanisms WOVO, our flagship application, and advisory service. Empowering Suppliers with Tools + Support to Build Socially Responsible Business Suppliers are the nexus of the supply chain, connecting the workers and buyers. That’s why our distinct approach in developing a socially responsible chain is to empower them with necessary tools + support, rather than policing them. WOVO is a platform made for suppliers to engage, connect, and educate workers at scale. WOVO is designed to put suppliers at the center of the solution to social sustainability. Allowing them to take control of survey deployment, workers’ education, and grievance management. Suppliers can add additional questions to the surveys developed by the brands to reflect the local contexts better; allowing every stakeholder to have a better understanding of the situation. Suppliers can also add customized lessons to onboard and train their workers more efficiently and effectively compared to traditional methods. Moreover, the grievance management system is in the hands of the suppliers; allowing them to manage, collaborate with internal teams or external stakeholders, and get a better understanding of their workplace conditions. WOVO for suppliers goes beyond compliance and grievances, it is also a platform connecting facility management with workers. The management can communicate key information to the workers directly from WOVO such as event announcements, information sharing, newsletters, pay slips, or messaging with individual workers. Essentially, it is also a human resource engagement tool. For example, in early 2023, an apparel manufacturer in Indonesia has been seeing a spike in worker accident rate. In the coming month, they used WOVO’s newsletter function to communicate the rise in accidents and provide information on how they can prevent and avoid accidents. This led to an 80% decrease in the number of accidents in the following month. For Suppliers: WOVO is a platform that manages human resources, employee engagement, local risks + issues to enhance their production. Improving Worker Lives through Accessible Mobile Application Workers are the reason we started Labor Solutions (almost) a decade ago and “Improving Workers Lives” is our vision. WOVO provides workers with multi-access points to get information, learn, and provide feedback on their workplace conditions. WOVO’s primary touchpoint with workers is our mobile application, both available on Apple and Android. Via the application, workers can get the latest information from their management and about the workplace through information notifications, event reminders, and newsletters. Moreover, they can also get their pay slips through the application, secured with personal passwords. Through the mobile application and other integrated access points such as QR code, web, and chat messengers such as WhatsApp or WeChat, workers can also answer the survey questions and provide feedback about their workplace. This process is made to be highly accessible to reach the maximum number of workers. The questions can be incorporated with audiovisual elements such as emoticons and voice-overs to make the experience easier for workers with literacy issues. Moreover, all the surveys the workers receive are ensured in their preferred language. To reduce the “survey fatigue”, we also provide standardized surveys such as Nike’s EWB and SLCP. In a notable case study from a Chinese factory, 60% of the female workers were having concerns about workplace sexual harassment, with 80% never expressing their concerns. A periodical survey revealed this issue and the factory conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGD) for further understanding. These studies show harassment happening outside the factory premises during their commute to and from home. Armed with these insights, the factory took some initiatives such as providing transportation led to workers feeling more safe and secure (45% reduction in concerns) within six months. Apart from the periodical surveys, workers can also anonymously provide feedback and report issues in their environment. WOVO allows workers to directly provide feedback to their management or third party about the grievances they are facing in their working lives while maintaining complete anonymity. This functionality not only empowers workers with more voices but also allows suppliers and brands to detect potential issues before they become a crisis. WOVO is also a place for the workers to learn and grow. WOVO has lessons available in 26+ languages across different topics from understanding their rights and responsibilities on general human rights or specific issues and lessons around worker wellbeing and growth. The individual lessons are bite-sized and inclusive for all types of workers, accompanied by quizzes and interactive options to ensure progress. For Workers: WOVO is an application to get updates, share feedback, report problems, and learn to improve their lives. Providing Brands with Transparent Information to Minimize Risk in Their Value Chains Buyers are central in making fundamental changes and long-term improvements to their value chains. To support brands in achieving it, WOVO provides an insightful dashboard and recommends long-term solutions to the social issues that they are facing in the value chains. Buyers can easily design surveys with the help of our survey templates written by experts. These surveys are designed to capture workers’ reality and understand the underlying risks through experiential questions. (Find out more about experience vs. fact-based questions here). The surveys can be customized to reflect localized risks based on the geography or commodity. Furthermore, suppliers can augment with their own questions to help brands better understand the reality on the ground. WOVO is also a platform to get insights + drive changes sustainably in their value chain. The dashboard provides brands with real-time + transparent aggregated data with direct input from workers. This data can be tracked across time and locations helping brands to identify issues and make proactive changes. To ensure a responsible supply chain, buyers are notified when their suppliers are underperforming in their own grievance management with workers. If there is low utilization of the tool, long responses from the factory management, or low worker satisfaction brands can focus on these particular cases and investigate further. This approach not only gives brands assured oversight while allowing suppliers to have the autonomy to remediate their local issues – ultimately ensuring a sustainable mechanism that solves issues within the value chain collaboratively. WOVO works beyond these three parties. A recent ILO study on union federations in partnership with Labor Solutions concluded that unions are facing challenges in managing grievance data and that digitization with tools like WOVO could help them overcome these challenges. For Brands: WOVO is a dashboard to monitor social issues efficiently, understand impact + track trends to minimize risks in their value chains. Overall, WOVO is an ecosystem of tools that can help to align the interests of different stakeholders in the supply chain. By providing suppliers with the tools and support they need to build socially responsible businesses, improving worker lives through an accessible mobile application, and providing brands with transparent information to minimize risk in their value chains, WOVO can help to create a more sustainable and equitable supply chain.

Collecting + analyzing data from worker surveys is just the start. Taking concrete actions, following up with workers improves worker satisfaction, and engagement, and protect against future risks. Companies must act on the data to drive change, build trust and, now, be compliant with new Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) laws and regulations. HRDD laws require businesses, not only to conduct identification efforts, but also, to make necessary improvements. Leverage worker data to distinguish incidents from weak processes How to act on an issue depends on whether it is an incident (isolated harm) or an institutional problem (weak processes). Here is how to tell if the issues you have identified are incidents or weak processes based on worker data. Incidents of harm or negative impact on workers are a failure of safety measures and need to be addressed immediately and then remediated. Incidents may occur because weak processes failed to provide early warning of a risk or danger or may occur despite processes being strong and working as intended. No workplace is free from risk, and while we should try to eliminate the most serious dangers, we cannot ensure that any place is free from all potential injury. When incidents happen, they should be addressed quickly. Because incidents involve real harm, it is important to treat them with urgency and to make remedies for the injured person/people impacted. Weak processes are the failure of safety or management systems in the workplace that should identify risks early and allow them to be addressed before harm is caused. A Weak Process includes corrupted audits, skipped safety inspections, and grievance tools that workers do not feel comfortable using. These weak processes pose an operational risk to the company that can be strengthened if recognized in time. Hiring and promotion processes, safety checks, training, and grievance mechanisms are all workplace processes that need to work properly for workers to be safe and have their rights respected in the workplace. Identifying weak processes requires a strong nexus of trust, because the early warning signs of weak processes and systems can seem minor, but quickly escalate. Analyze root causes and prioritize improvements Root Cause analysis goes beyond simple attribution. No problem can be fixed or improved without a good understanding of why it has happened and what the scope of the issue is. This can be accomplished through focus groups, management discussions, targeted surveys, as well as stakeholder engagement. Often, asking the management team of a facility if they know why workers gave low scores on a question, or why a complaint is recurring reveals facility-specific practices or processes that the survey or grievance tool could not adequately capture. In other cases, the management team cannot explain the results and the identified issues need to be addressed. Prioritization is the process of taking issues identified and weighing their relative harm (negative impact) and likelihood to determine where immediate action will prevent the most damage. This prioritization need not be a laborious process but should be practical and used to direct your resources toward the most impactful and effective action. Taking improvement actions based on the issue The response and resolution depend on the type of issue: Incidents need to be mitigated (the harm stopped) and remediated. Workers impacted need to be removed from harm as quickly as possible, the direct cause of harm needs to be isolated and neutralized, and then a remediation process needs to take place. Effective remediation or remedy requires the involvement of the people who are harmed or negatively impacted, to provide solutions (which can be both financial and non-monetary) that address the injury and failure to protect the person’s rights. The remediation process can be handled internally or with support from third parties and stakeholders like buyers, local worker rights groups and advocates, trade unions, and/or government as appropriate. Weak processes need to be improved through training, system design, good process management, and sometimes behavioral change to ensure uptake and utilization. For example, a poorly functioning or underutilized grievance mechanism can be improved by: (1) ensuring workers know when and how to use the grievance channel and what to do, (2) providing adequate safeguards for reporters and ensuring no retaliation, (3) training and incentivizing management to provide prompt and respectful responses to issues raised by workers, (4) improving accessibility and user experience for the grievance mechanism. Over the decade, Labor Solutions has collaborated with suppliers and third parties to deploy evidence-based improvement programs for worker well-being and good working conditions. Our tools connect grievance and survey data with bite-sized, tailored learning modules to tackle the root causes of your workplace issues.

Labor Solutions announced today that it is launching WOVO, a worker voice and wellbeing system designed to increase worker engagement through mobile and web-based tools. WOVO’s worker voice features are an updated and upgraded version of Labor Solutions’ most successful and popular tool, WPOConnect. Elena Fanjul-Debnam, Head of Labor Solutions, said “With WOVO, we continue to be the industry leader in worker voice tools. By providing secure, anonymous channels for workers to communicate directly with employers and human resource teams, risks are drastically reduced, workers are more engaged, and employers are better able to make data-driven decisions.”  Beyond providing Labor Solutions’ innovative worker voice tools, including two-way anonymous communication, corporate broadcast, and newsletter functionalities, WOVO also includes interactive e-learning and personalized coaching for workers. WOVO’s e-learning courses and personalized wellbeing coaching provide all workers with equal access to services that help them advance in their personal and professional lives. “We know that to create a level playing field, workers need not only unimpeded access to workforce development courses, but also support for their personal wellbeing,” said Fanjul-Debnam. She went on to explain that success and engagement in the workplace is directly impacted by personal stresses, especially related to health, family and finances. “Think about it, if your child is struggling at school, or your mother is sick at home, or you’re struggling to pay the bills, that all causes stress.  Stress isn’t something that you can turn on and off. If you’re stressed at home, you’re stressed at work.” WOVO sets out to support the whole worker, providing a level of support not often available to workers in the manufacturing, farming, and mining sectors. Krystal Bouverot, Labor Solutions’ Director of Innovation explained, “That’s why we’re excited about WOVO. With an e-learning feature that blends informative, user-friendly content with live coaches to assist workers, WOVO is a scalable solution that provides workers of all backgrounds around the world with access to the tools they need to truly succeed.“ The e-learning modules provide interactive lessons on topics such as safety in the workplace, managing stress, becoming a parent, and managing debt. The trainings include videos, photos, written instruction, and quiz questions to sustain worker engagement and encourage the highest understanding possible. When workers complete trainings they are awarded badges and can opt to use avatars to compete against co-workers.  For professional e-learning courses, including compliance programs, WOVO provides reporting to track worker progress and scores for the programs. Managers can use this data to ensure worker compliance, or even help determine promotions. Through WOVO, Labor Solutions brings its innovative Micro-Coaching program to a mobile application.  Workers will have access to coaches, via SMS or the WOVO mobile application, who are trained and qualified professionals dedicated to providing support. Coaching is available in local languages and fosters real and lasting change in workers through encouragement, reminders, and authentic relationships. Labor Solutions’ personalized coaching has yielded some incredible results: 92% of workers said they have made a change in their life 89% of workers who joined financial wellbeing programs said they were less stressed about their finances since the coaching program started Only 2% of workers who joined the coaching program resigned in the following year Labor Solutions’ services don’t just benefit workers; they also support employers. Our experienced professionals serve as consultants, problem solvers, and implementers in order to ensure WOVO’s continued success for both workers and their employers. WOVO serves a wide range of workers and employers, catering to factory, field, office, and other environments. WOVO is available in your local language as well, making it a practical and progressive tool for employees in various lines of work, all around the globe.  Labor Solutions’ clients who currently use WPOConnect for employee communication and engagement will transition to WOVO throughout the rest of 2018. More information about WOVO and the entire suite of Labor Solutions products is available at www.laborsolutions.tech

Atlas of Innovation for Economic Stability Identifies Eleven U.S. Innovations that Create Stable Incomes and Futures Labor Solutions, which offers a suite of technology products to empower the evolving global workforce, is featured in The Atlas of Innovation for Economic Stability, published today by international NGO FHI 360 with support from The Rockefeller Foundation. Labor Solutions' WOVO tool is mentioned as an "innovative mobile-based platform is designed to assess labor conditions and help employees improve their working standards, while giving international brands and retailers the ability to make more socially responsible sourcing decisions." The Atlas is the result of a global research and crowdsourcing effort, and features more than sixty innovations from around the world that help individuals, households, communities, and countries survive and prosper even in the face of economic volatility. Note: When this was published, Labor Solutions was still part of Workplace Options, thus the Labor Solutions' work is attributed to Workplace Options in this publication

Leading industry experts, Labor Solutions and Fifty Eight, partnered to design develop and deliver eLearning courses on responsible recruitment of factory workers for management teams. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 50 million people living in modern slavery globally in 2021, and 28 million people in forced labor. As the US, EU and other countries enforce bans on products and goods made with forced labor, it is more important than ever to ensure that your supply chains are aware of forced labor, comply with relevant labor rights regulations, and ensure responsible recruitment of workers. Unsafe recruitment practices harm both business and workers, and being able to identify issues, as well as having a process for handling grievances, are critical workplace practices for suppliers and global brands. Our new course offerings, created in partnership with Fifty Eight, are the most up-to-date and interactive courses on responsible recruitment in the industry. Safe and responsible recruitment practices ensure that workers in your supply chain or at your workplace are aligned with your business goals, perform better, miss fewer workdays, and stay employed at the business longer. Responsible recruitment saves your business expense and supports higher quality and fewer defective products. It is up to your company’s managers to identify and promote responsible recruitment for your business. This eLearning will ensure that your managers can prevent issues by knowing how to recognize when recruiters are not acting in accordance with Responsible Recruitment. “Good training is the most effective investment you can make to establish ethical workplaces and consistently address the challenges to worker rights and wellbeing.” Our new courses on Responsible Recruiting for managers includes: the elements of safe recruitment and how to look at the various people involved in a recruitment process; questions to ask recruitment agencies to assess their practices; ways to empower agencies and employees with information about fair recruitment; and how to handle concerns or complaints from workers about their recruitment. Contact us to ask about adding Responsible Recruitment for Managers to your eLearning offerings, or to discuss how Labor Solutions can support your team with an integrated system to support good management, responsible recruitment and grievance reporting and remedies. About Fifty Eight: Our vision is simple. Good work for people everywhere. At the core of 50eight is the ambition to help business align with its primary purpose in society: to provide products and services that are good for people. Fifty Eight reinvests profits into SMEs and organisations that are committed to good practices. Labor Solutions, a social enterprise, leverages technology to connect, engage and educate workers throughout supply chains. Over 2 million workers in over 30 countries have access to Labor Solutions’ eLearning platform, WOVO. Labor Solutions has created the learning journey with Fifty Eight’s expertise, to the standards and with quality interactions that keep learners engaged as our existing library of eLearning for managers and workers. Please reach out if you are interested in providing support or rolling out courses to your workers or workers within your supply chain.

The fight against forced labor is one of the most important challenges facing the world today. Millions of people are trapped in forced labor, and the problem is only getting worse. Photo Courtesy of Adidas-group.com A report by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre's KnowTheChain initiative found that only two companies, adidas and Lululemon, are only two companies meeting the minimum standards for due diligence on forced labor. adidas has achieved this in part through its partnership with Labor Solutions, a provider of risk assessment and grievance mechanism technology to adidas. Many evaluated companies are struggling to meet the minimum requirements for mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation pending or passed in the EU, US, and Canada. Labor Solutions can apply what we are doing with companies like adidas to help your company respond to the two biggest challenges from the report, setting your company up for success: Challenge #1: The report found that over 1/3 of businesses don't use risk assessments in their supply chains Biggest Obstacles to Success : Collecting live, accurate, actionable & transparent data on working conditions + human rights directly from workers is difficult. For global buyers with distributed large supply chains, it is more difficult to manage on their own and at scale. Companies might not have adequate legacy systems in place and struggle to get supplier buy-in. Our Solutions : Labor Solutions has been developing risk assessment technology for major multinational companies and SMEs for over eight years. Our Labor Line and its combination of eLearning can be customized to meet corporate needs, supplier realities, and worker accessibility. But tech-first or tech-exclusive approaches are just one part of proactively remediating risks before they arise. Every company and context is different. Effective risk management systems are an ecosystem of decisions and actions. That’s why LS Advisory helps your business implement and scale WOVO to what your business needs at every step. Challenge #2: Over 1/3 of businesses don't have grievance mechanisms in place Biggest Obstacles to Success : Scrutiny should be applied to those who claim they have no grievances, as grievances can be found even in the most respectful workplaces. Increasingly, grievance mechanisms and evidence of remediation are being required under mandatory human rights due diligence laws (HRDD) across in the EU, Canada, and the US. Our Solutions: One alternative to the traditional hotline model is Labor Solution’s Labor Line , a grievance mechanism designed to collect data directly from workers through the following four steps: a. Workers can scan a QR code to access a Labor line form. b. Labor Line asks workers customized questions and collects data – including for follow-up with workers – with their consent. c. Responses are sent directly to the brand d. Brands can follow up with workers directly, better target their audits, and produce live, auditable due diligence reports. In removing the phone call, Labor Line increases worker anonymity for workers, making them feel more comfortable sharing sensitive issues. Brand follow-up is directly in brands’ hands, giving them an opportunity to pass localized remediation responsibilities over to a third party. Worker contact information consensually shared through Labor Line allows brands to follow up with workers directly on their case, making workers feel heard and sustaining their engagement. Labor Solutions’ WOVO Connect was designed for companies looking to empower suppliers to resolve their own grievance issues – while maintaining brand oversight. Because of the sustained trust, it can build between workers and managers, WOVO Connect is 9x more effective than a traditional grievance mechanism. After one three-month pilot with a major footwear brand, WOVO Connect tracked cases from grievance to remediation with 25% of their suppliers and identified country-specific challenges that became integral to a brand’s sustainability strategy. Again, in just four steps, WOVO Connect simplifies the grievance-raising and remediation process : a. Worker anonymously submits reports, questions, or suggestions via WOVO, SMS, WeChat, QR code scan etc. b. Supplier management gets messages on their WOVO dashboard’s case management system and can manage, sort, and respond directly c. Worker and management have an ongoing confidential dialogue on WOVO connect to understand the key issue and follow up Management gets a WOVO dashboard grievance report to better understand issues. Brands can see live reports on their WOVO dashboard to better target audits/surveys/training for workers and managers. Few tangible outcomes for workers go beyond a “tick box” compliance approach – Labor Solutions has the case studies + research to get more companies up to adidas’ level and prove their success. Our HRDD Starter Kit can help companies to educate + implement grievance mechanisms within their value chain.

In Quarter 1 2022, Labor Solutions worked with a factory and brand to identify human rights challenges and then create a remediation and prevention strategy to bring all stakeholders in compliance with the new and pending Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) laws. Labor Solutions' supplier-ownership model meant the factory management was engaged in the process and took the lead on improvements and prevention strategies, allowing the brand to focus efforts elsewhere. Photo Credit: Quartz Assessing risks in the Factory HRDD always starts by assessing risks and understanding where more focus is needed. High production rates keep apparel and garment factories keep competitive, but have a significant, silent toll on workers’ physical health. A survey conducted in India revealed that almost 80% of sewing workers had lower back problems and 62% had shoulder pain. Repetitive activities in incorrect postures or poorly designed workstations lead to muscle pain and injuries to wrists, shoulders, neck, and back for workers. Protecting workers' health, safety and wellbeing is key to protecting their human rights. Our assessment indicated health and safety should be a focus of identification efforts in Indian factories. Identification of specific issues and priortizing: To understand specific health and safety issues at each factory and to provide clear improvement plans, Labor Solutions worked with management teams to conduct a Worker Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (EWB) using Labor Solutions’ WOVO platform. Thirty percent (30%) of the respondents reported the workplace negatively affected their health. The workers also reported not knowing how to access management to report such an issue. A 30% report rate indicates an institutional or structural issue, not an individual event or isolated issue. This issue had not presented itself in the annual health and safety audits, so it surprised factory management. The Labor Solutions Client Advisory team worked with factory management on an action plan to identify the root cause of the health issue. From our assessment, we knew that ergonomics might be key health and safety complaints. The Labor Solutions team conducted a focus group discussion and an in-depth health and ergonomics survey. The FGD and survey found workers were experiencing back and shoulder pain because factory workstations were placed too low. However workers had been hesitant to report the issue to management as they didn’t associate the risk to their health with their workstations. Understanding a health and safety solution requires accuracy. Labor Solutions also suggested the factory conduct on an ergonomic study of the workstations. Remediation according to HRDD Laws HRDD laws require once an issue is identified that remediation is taken. Since Labor Solutions employs an employer-engagement strategy throughout the HRDD process, the factory management was eager to take ownership of the problem and make changes. The brand did not need to get involved. Working with Labor Solutions' advisors the management team created a clear improvement strategy which included a series of actions to mitigate adverse impacts in the short term and put a system in place for long-term improvement: Factory management increased the height of workstations by 5 cm Workers were provided with mats to stand on while working Prevention: A Strategy for Factories to Communicate More Often The regulations also mandate that preventive action be taken to address the identified issues. It was clear audits alone were ineffective at identifying issues and the factory management needed to take another approach (as did the brand). Since workers wanted to report the issue earlier but reported lacking a clear path, the factory management was keen to implement a more holistic worker communication channel. The factory implemented the following prevention strategies: WOVO’s Connect feature was set up as a highly accessible and safe channel for workers to speak about their concerns directly with management Line leaders and supervisors were trained to trained on responding to workers timely and empathetic, either addressing in the morning meetings with the workers or directly via WOVO The factory management set up buddy groups for mutual support, where workers can discuss general issues faced them at work and bring this to the attention of the management Reporting and Tracking HRDD Progress Using Surveys Reporting and tracking are key to all HRDD regulations. Labor Solution's unlimited survey function allowed the brand and factory to conduct surveys to track progress and worker feedback on changes. Six months after these improvement actions were initiated, the factory conducted the same survey again and saw a 44% reduction in the percentage reporting negative health impact to the workplace and a significant increase in health & safety satisfaction score (from 43.5 to 77.2 out of 100). Now, the factory management’s goal is to ensure no workers’ health is affected by their workplace and continue to monitor the implementation of the Improvement Plan, continuously modifying it via ongoing feedback from workers. -------------------- To improve the health and safety of workers in your supply chain, get in touch at info@laborsolutions.tech

Labor Solutions announces the addition of a case management function for Labor Line, Labor Solutions’ Whistleblower tool to help companies meet new Human Rights Due Diligence Mandates. Combining the best of WOVO Case Management System and our Labor Line Whistleblower Hotline, the tool’s updated features make it easier than ever for global companies to implement a whistleblower line at scale and get detailed reporting from throughout the supply chain and meet new mandates and regulations. Background: What is Human Rights Due Diligence? Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) is the ongoing risk management process that a company needs to follow to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how it addresses its adverse human rights impacts . There is no one-size-fits all for HRDD; rather it is an umbrella term encompassing a combination of multiple tools and processes – including surveys, digital trainings, and grievance mechanisms. More governments than ever are implementing human rights due diligence, with growing anticipation around the German Supply Chain Act’s Jan 2023 start date; a deadline many companies are using to put effective HRDD mechanisms in place. For more information on what that law requires, request your free guide to the German Supply Chain Act here . Labor Solutions is already supporting HRDD through WOVO Worker Survey Risk Assessments and WOVO eLearnings for Workers and Managers, WOVO’s Grievance Management (managed by employers) and now offers an enhanced, improved process built alongside multinational companies for identifying grievances across complex supply chains. Whistle Blower v. Grievance Mechanism? A Grievance Mechanism allows workers to report problems internally to their direct employer. A Whistle Blower tool allows workers to report a problem to an external third party (i.e. government, civil society organization, global brand etc). It is important to offer both to workers, as a grievance mechanism allows problems to get solved quickly and, on the ground, while a whistle blower tool helps to hold accountable management when the grievance mechanism fails. For grievance management tools—check out WOVO Connect. Labor Line for Human Rights Due Diligence Labor Line for Human Rights Due Diligence allows you to manage and mitigate human rights risks throughout your supply chain and receive robust reporting tools to track sites globally. Sites Promote Labor Line to Workers via QR Codes: Sites use promotional materials and support from Labor Solutions to promote the tool. Each site has a site specific links + QR codes (customized to local language/custom). Workers Scan QR Code and Submit Grievance Workers scan QR codes and then are able to submit a question or complaint and respond to a few questions. The form accepts audio messages and text messages. Labor Solutions offers customizable question options co-designed with you, including open ended and multiple-choice options, to ensure workers provide all the necessary issue to close the case. Manage Cases Dashboard + Focus on Remediation: Three Options for Managing Cases: You, your suppliers or Labor Solutions can manage cases directly from the dashboard. With training and support from the Labor Solutions team, teams feel empowered to sort, manage, assign, close + attach files in the WOVO Connect Case Management System Robust Aggregated Global Data: From your global dashboard collect data on case types, resolution speed, type + number of cases + more. Use demographic data to break down by site or country. Labor Line can be implemented in less than a week and is available globally. Learn more about Labor Line here or schedule a meeting with Labor Solutions’ team at info@laborsolutions.tech. ---- About Labor Solutions Labor Solutions, an impact-focused business, leverages technology to connect , engage and educate workers to build resilient supply chains. Over a million and a half workers in 25 countries have access to Labor Solutions’ worker engagement platform, WOVO . Workers can respond to worker surveys, report grievances and access eLearning modules on rights and responsibilities.