Under Armour has published its 2021 Sustainability and Impact Report , highlighting the company's efforts towards a more sustainable and equitable future. As part of its commitment to sustainable sourcing, Under Armour partners with Labor Solutions to ensure "s uppliers are hearing the concerns of their workers." Labor Solutions' worker survey platform and program collect anonymous feedback on topics like workplace conditions directly and confidentially from workers. "The output becomes part of the suppliers’ due diligence processes and human resource management systems," and allows Under Amour to have visibility and to "spot trends at the factory level and further help our suppliers make improvements." Labor Solutions is proud of its ongoing work with Under Armour and their suppliers and looks forward to continued collaboration and growth. 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. Please reach out to our team to learn more: info@laborsolutions.tech.

Clients, particularly employers, often ask Labor Solutions, how WOVO can help to engage or improve relationships with trade unions, worker committees, and other worker representatives and organizations. Recently, a consultant on behalf of Labor Solutions spoke with worker organizing experts including trade union representatives (such as IndustriALL) and social dialogue experts to ask; How can technology like WOVO can support improved industrial relations and engage worker committees? The following recommendations are from these discussions and from Labor Solutions’ experience bridging the gap between workers, unions, and management. Simply implementing a technology platform like WOVO, is a good starting place to build an open, communicative workplace. As an operational grievance mechanism, WOVO’s Connect tool can help build good workplace communication, where speaking up is an everyday practice and accessing remedy is possible. By implementing something like WOVO, employers are communicating to workers, "we care what you think." Being open, providing a channel for feedback and listening is the first step to building a collaborative and safe working environment. But tools like WOVO alone aren't enough. Strong processes are key to ensuring a quick and effective access to remedy for workers. Most workplace grievances can and should be resolved in the quickest and most successful way by the organization itself. However, for this to be possible, well-functioning and effective internal grievance mechanisms are needed. When grievances are resolved internally by the organization, not only can the worker(s) get remedy quickly and minimize the negative impacts of the situation, but also the capacity of trade unions can be used in a more efficient way too. Technology Reaches More-- Use Technology to Train More Workers on their Rights eLearning tools can reach more workers than face to face trainings, supporting the goals of employers and trade unions alike. Workers need to know about their rights in order to advocate for themselves. Digital trainings like Rights & Responsibilities from Better Work are key to meeting this goal. Technology can help address issues where traditional approaches don’t work, such as supporting migrant workers. Migrant workers are some of the most vulnerable rightsholders within value chains, yet it is extremely difficult for them to access information, support and remedy due to their legal status and limited access to ways to enforce their rights. Trade unions are often not equipped to represent migrant workers due to language barriers, local laws, and other limitations. Migrant labor is one area where technology can provide innovative and effective solutions, and where usual approaches don’t work as well as they do for local workers. Collaborate + share with trade unions where possible. When implementing a tool like WOVO, it is critical that the social ecosystem In which the tool exists is strong, open and willing to change. This starts with engaging worker representatives in setting up processes and distributing information about the tools, including how to use them, any risks and benefits, and how responses will be processed. As employers face complex issues, seeking the support and advice of trade unions or representatives can be key to success to ensure they are not penalized for uncovering and addressing important risks. Leveraging the local expertise of trade unions employers may get a better understanding of Issues and appropriate solutions. Labor Solutions will continue to seek feedback and Input from trade unions and other experts on improving our technology and services. Labor Solutions Is keen to listen and react, adapt and try new approaches. We regularly invite trade unions to share their feedback on our work and how to provide our services in a way that meets the world’s complex and ever-changing needs.

Download our eBook on Strategies for Effective HRDD in Your Supply Chain to learn more about this topic. In the last few years, several countries and regions have passed Human Rights Due Diligence regulations over industries and imports into their country. Laws range from issue specific to disclosure reports to national-level mandatory due diligence and reporting that cover all human rights. A new era of socially responsible and sustainable business has taken shape and continues to build momentum. Many governments and businesses have used these principles to set regulations, policies, and set long-term goals. Recently we have seen several governments enact far-reaching laws and regulations in line with the Guiding Principles to help regulate businesses and their supply chains and ultimately protect workers. While there are many human rights-related laws and regulations you may have to comply with (we encourage you to consult your legal team), most HRDD laws are based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. As a result, there are several common requirements and principles that your business can put into place to ensure compliance across regimes and to help protect your businesses when practices are questioned. Key to most human rights due diligence legislation is the effective identification and protection of human rights in the day-to-day operations of the business as well as within your suppliers’ (and potentially indirect suppliers’ and consumers’) operations. Unlike audits and other compliance checks, this is a continuous and ongoing obligation. Businesses are required to; What does that mean? Implement an ongoing risk management system + policies for direct business activities + suppliers Businesses must have human rights policies outlining the rights and responsibilities of all rightsholders, actions to be taken if issues are discovered, and an ongoing method and or mechanism to actively identify and prevent human rights issues. Assess risks in your direct business + supply chain Look at your supply chain, consult local rightsholders, and ask questions like: Are you sourcing from a country in conflict or with high rates of forced labor? Is there a commodity you use in your products that is hard to trace and could be sourced from areas that required people to be evicted from their homes, or that are protected lands or otherwise environmentally vulnerable? Identify adverse human rights impacts + risks throughout your entire value chain Rightsholders must have a way to bring forward human rights issues and risks. A grievance mechanism is considered a minimum requirement by most laws to ensure the active identification of risks is possible. In addition, if you know there is a risk of your business having a negative human rights or environmental impact, you are required to take action on these issues. Not all risks must be actioned. Most HRDD regimes include risk prioritization, where your company weighs the likelihood of harm, the magnitude of negative impact, and the importance of a supplier to your business. [1] Actively prevent human rights violations in direct business and supply chain If something is a risk, or if you have identified an issue or rights violation, you are required to conduct countermeasures to prevent it from happening or reoccurring. Remediate violations to an end When an issue is discovered, through investigation, grievance mechanisms, or other systems, you are required to ensure the issue is remediated to a close. Remediation means engaging with affected people and restoring them to the situation they would have been in if the impact had not occurred and/or compensating and making amends for the harm caused. Report + Track Actions taken by the company under the above must be reported annually. All violations + identified risks + prevention & remediation actions taken throughout the entire supply chain must be tracked and reported. Evaluate Companies are required to review and assess the effectiveness of their tools and processes. By implementing HRDD practices, companies can ensure that their products and services are created without harming the environment or violating human rights. This can help build trust with customers, stakeholders, and investors, while also minimizing legal and reputational risks. Furthermore, HRDD helps companies to promote sustainability and improve the overall well-being of their employees, suppliers, and communities where they operate. Overall, adopting HRDD is a critical step towards building a responsible and ethical supply chain, which is increasingly important for consumers and society as a whole. [1] For example, here is the guidance on prioritization from BAFA, the agency responsible for the enforcement of the German Human Rights Due Diligence Law.

A Case Study Increasing wages alone does not always lead to improved financial wellbeing for workers. While employers should undoubtedly pay a living wage, they should also consider providing workers with additional support. The purchasing power of an employer is far greater than that of an individual worker and therefore employers can often provide non-salary benefits that have disproportional value to workers. Workers know this, and researchers have found that employees overestimate the value of benefits, perceiving them as 40 percent of total compensation, even though the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the figure at about 31 percent. In Vietnam, as elsewhere in world, inflation is on the rise and economic times are hard for both workers and businesses. The global economic downturn has been particularly challenging for Vietnam’s apparel and footwear industry, with suppliers facing reduced orders and revenues. Workers are also struggling; wages have not kept up with inflation and with high unemployment rates, workers are supporting more family members than ever and paying more for necessities. Labor Solutions works with nearly a hundred manufacturers in Vietnam to deploy annual worker surveys (amongst other tools) to understand worker sentiment, needs and wellbeing. As economic challenges mount, worker surveys are more important than ever to help employers get ahead of problems by proactively addressing concerns in their workforce. This case study examines how one factory leveraged worker survey results, Labor Solutions’ advisory services, and eLearning to better support workers during these challenging times and to support better business outcomes. Identifying the Challenge Even before the economic downturn, one factory frequently received low scores from workers on compensation. Late last year, as the economy started to take a turn for the worse, the factory decided to increase wages. Despite the increase in wages, a survey conducted one quarter after the wage increases showed workers’ perspectives on compensation had not changed and the factory was still receiving low marks from workers. Eager to ensure their efforts met workers’ needs, but confused on next steps, the factory engaged Labor Solutions. Listening to Workers Labor Solutions designed an additional survey to collect specific information regarding compensation and personal and family needs. Often compensation concerns are not just about money, but also can be addressed by providing additional support, tools, and systems that help workers and their families reduce daily expenses, so understanding what challenges workers are facing is key to providing the most impactful support. Our survey found that workers had low financial literacy and struggled to save and to use the formal banking sector. Over 80% of workers reported not planning before making a big purchase, like a motorcycle. Workers also reported that high childcare costs resulted in at least one adult family member not being able to work, reducing the overall family earning potential. In response to these results, Labor Solutions worked with the factory management to design two programs to better support workers’ financial wellbeing. The factory launched Labor Solutions’ financial literacy eLearning courses via WOVO to all workers. The factory was able to activate the courses almost immediately and workers were able to access a range of financial wellbeing courses on topics like savings, managing expenses, financial planning and more. Each lesson is designed to be digestible in one sitting (15 minutes or less), and is animated and designed with interactions and games to keep learners engaged. The factory announced that it had decided to set up an onsite daycare for working parents. The onsite daycare planning is under way and will launch later in 2023. Results In just one quarter, over 65% of workers completed at least one financial literacy online course. The factory continues to promote the program to ensure all workers who need the course know about it and can easily access the courses. Another worker survey was conducted three months after the launch of the financial literacy courses and announcement of the upcoming daycare center. The number of workers who were actively saving money increased from 8% to 40%. Sixty percent of workers reported they had started to make plans before purchasing big ticket items. Workers also gave the factory 23% higher scores on compensation with increased responses indicating they were able to meet their family’s needs. Still, there is room for improvement, and anticipation of the daycare center is high. We look forward to seeing next year’s results and the impact of employer-provided free childcare. Labor Solutions, a women-owned and -led impact-focused business, leverages technology to build resilient supply chains by connecting, engaging and educating workers. Over a million and a half workers in 36 countries use Labor Solutions’ worker engagement platform, WOVO. Labor Solutions’ advisory services focus on building healthy social eco-systems within companies with global supply chains that engage workers, suppliers and buyers and support and facilitate responsible business practices and protection of human rights.

Knowledge is power. For workers and other vulnerable people in global supply chains, the first step to empowerment is knowing what their rights are and how to exercise them. The lack of awareness about fundamental rights and responsibilities in the workplace has resulted in workers not being able to take necessary steps to safeguard their rights and wellbeing or to respond to risks. Labor Solutions sees eLearning as an integral part of reaching our goals to improve conditions for workers, and to making our other products (surveys and grievance tools) more effective. Workers access our eLearning courses and our partners' courses through our WOVO application and web-based platform, also available through workplace kiosks, tablets and computer labs. From the same platforms they can also access other tools from their employer, like worker surveys , key human resources information and Connect , a grievance and communication platform. The all-in-one platform provides workers with a holistic solution and makes it easier for them to quickly apply their learnings. Labor Solutions takes a worker-centric approach to eLearning, using our team of professional instructional designers, tech experts and UX designers to create an engaging, interactive learning journey in bite-sized pieces that workers can access easily from any device, and can digest quickly and effectively. We have courses for workers on physical + emotional wellbeing, including nutrition and stress management, as well as workplace safety topics such as fire safety, grievance tools, and effective communication. We also have a suite of courses for managers to help ensure, from line managers and supervisors to corporate office leadership, there is a consistent understanding of responsible business practices, proactive safety and risk management, and knowledge of new supplier obligations such as human rights due diligence. Our online courses are developed in partnership with the top experts and international organizations, and represent the best, most effective way to ensure knowledge of rights and responsibilities throughout your supply chains. In 2022 alone, we launched over 24 new eLearning lessons with topics ranging from Responsible Recruitment to Gender Equity and Fair Working Conditions . These lessons are available in at least five languages : Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, and English. Many of our most in-demand lessons are also already translated into Thai, Burmese, Nepalese and Spanish and we are happy to provide additional languages as needed for a minimal fee. We are very proud to have launched a 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, social dialogue, and fair pay. All modules of the course consist of core content built on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, explained clearly and incorporating examples and dialogue to help workers contextualize their rights and how to deal with difficult situations. Our other eLearning collaborations include: Kindling + Arup for Building and Fire Safety Better Work (ILO) eLearning on Worker Rights & Responsibilities FiftyEight's Responsible Recruitment Course ICRW Gender 101 Course ETI’s Course on Access to Remedy IOM on Migrant Worker Rights We are also building a library of content on common workplace issues to support both workers and managers at all levels to be constructive and proactive in their approach to common concerns and complaints. Workers have high levels of completion of our virtual workshops because of our responsive and interactive design, and we look forward to launching more sessions on topics that are important for your compliance needs, and to build better workplace culture, for happier, more productive workers. Collaborate with Us, Reach More Workers + Amplify Your Message At Labor Solutions we are always looking to help digitize and amplify leading industry content from partners around the world. If you have content you'd like digitized please reach out to Jen Green , our Sr. Director of Content and Partnerships, to learn more about how we can collaborate. 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 .

Shareholders, governments, and consumers increasingly are holding companies accountable for harm caused in supply chains. These new demands are driving companies and multi-stakeholder initiatives to look for innovative scalable, solutions to identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights risks. As a result, Labor Solutions’ business doubled in 2022, with clients planning on expanding LS services to more suppliers and workers in coming years. Labor Solutions’ design and product development teams are based in Asia and many live next door to large manufacturing facilities. Our team knows our userbase well and strives to create products that meet their needs, while gathering data that can effect global change. Read more about how they think about product design here. In 2022, we continued to update our tools to meet market demands, focusing on ease and flexibility of the design process and increased accessibility for diverse markets to simultaneously and rapidly improve both global and local value in data. To help our clients scale and meet the global mandates, in 2022, Labor Solutions focused on building systems, data sets and tools to help clients scale to thousands of supplier sites and cover millions of workers. Here are some of our 2022 product design achievements; Expanded Access Expanded access by updating design and functionality to support illiterate users (like adding emojis) Added new access points for our grievance mechanism tools. Added security features to support workers in high-risk places like Myanmar. Improved Data + Reporting Simplified the data output to make it easier to track and identify high + low risks sites. Structured data to focus on ensuring suppliers have functioning workplace systems that protect workers, instead of data focused on identifying specific issues. Additional data filters to help users better understand the specific needs and trends in each sourcing country, supplier and worker demographic group. Reporting features that make it easier to track progress over time Easier Deployment Created a more adaptive survey design system to support gathering data from a more diverse population, like more flexibility around mass translations, and simultaneous deployment in multiple locations Added features to streamline recurring survey deployment Easier to do quick deployments and track live results Reach out to our team to get a demo of WOVO platform. 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 .

Shareholders, governments, and consumers increasingly are holding companies accountable for the harm caused in the supply chains. These new demands are driving companies and multi-stakeholder initiatives to look for innovative scalable, solutions to identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights risks. Workers are the most likely to see and hear issues first, so many companies have turned to digital worker surveys to gather direct worker feedback. While there are many survey tools on the market, few meet the unique needs of multi-tiered complex supply chains. Labor Solutions’ Vice President of Innovation and Product, Lordiclaire Suriawinata, leads the design of Labor Solutions products. In the following article, she shares how she and her team think about worker surveys. Their framework has resulted in an industry-leading tool and the collection of feedback from millions of workers. [Read more about how Labor Solution conducted a survey of 350,000 workers for adidas] In nearly a decade, Labor Solutions has never closed a survey without reaching the determined sample size, a fact that Ms. Suriawinata, is proud of, “We strive to create tools to be used efficiently and effectively at scale. Our worker survey tool is just that. We never have to go back to a client and say, ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t get enough responses.’ That to me says we’re doing something, well a lot of things, right.” Below, Ms. Suriawinata gives readers insight into the framework that guides her and her team's work. A worker survey is only as good as the responses collected To ensure surveys have quality input—sufficient, accurate, reliable responses — the survey tool must be scalable, accessible, trusted, and valuable to users; Scalable: supply chains are huge and issues to identify can be complex. Tools need to provide enough guidance through content banks, translation and localization support and surveys need to be able to reach millions of workers quickly and affordably around the world to ensure that their efforts are successful, and their results are accurate. Accessible to targeted population: Flexibility to meet them in their preferred channel is a priority, but worker surveys conducted on a global scale need to also account for the diversity of the population and their circumstances. Tools need to provide enough guidance to support multiple languages, varying literacy, and digital connectivity levels, and solutions to prevent response training. Trusted + valuable to the targeted population: Everything humans do is based on trust. A worker survey is no different. Naturally, workers have lots of questions; Why are they spending time taking a survey? Who is collecting the data and what will they do with the data they find? Survey participants need to feel like their voices are valuable and their responses will create demonstrable change for them. This trust is built outside of the technology. It comes from engagement (at all levels), good questions, and follow-up. At Labor Solutions, we first build trust with the employer and work with the employer to build trust with workers. Worker Survey output must be relevant, insightful, and actionable Just as important as the collection of reliable data, is the output of the survey data. Complex supply chains have thousands of suppliers and millions of workers, aggregating, comparing, and presenting meaningful, actionable data is key. Aggregated: Companies want to see how the whole supply chain is performing first and foremost to understand their overall performance. Reports need to pull data from multiple different sources to give this oversight. Surveys created for supply chains conducted at a global scale need a level of standardization that can be shared and implemented with other companies to achieve this automatically. Comparable: Issue identification can happen at any level of the supply chain and breaking down data into specific suppliers, demographics, and time periods is a necessary step of risk management. Reports need to be automated to process and organize large datasets for easy analysis between these groupings to gain more targeted insight. Meaningful and actionable: Are the results of the survey going to help them make effective solutions? Coordinated surveys are a balancing act of what the companies want to look at on a global level and what the individual suppliers need on a local level. These surveys and their reports need to be flexible enough to present the specific information that each party needs so each of them can focus on making directed and meaningful changes. For almost a decade, Labor Solutions has worked closely with complex supply chains to identify and address these complex needs to create an effective and industry-leading survey tool that covers all these bases and more. [Find out How Labor Solutions conducted a survey and leverage those results to make meaningful changes in Myanmar] Labor Solution provides the industry's standard surveys such as Nike's Engagement and Wellbeing Survey and is a Social & Labor Convergence recognized Worker Engagement Tech. We have fine-tuned our methods over a decade to deliver value + actionable insights. Find out more about Labor Solution's Worker Survey here.

Download our eBook on Strategies for Effective HRDD in Your Supply Chain to learn more about this topic. Photo by Euroactiv In February 2022, the Spanish government published their Legislative Plan for 2022, including a national law requiring Spanish transnational companies to undertake human rights and environmental due diligence in their supply chain (Plan Normativo 2022 p.114). Supported by Plataforma por Empresas Responsables – a group of Spanish civil society organizations – the law is based on the draft EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Law and proposes: Due diligence throughout the entire value chain, including the adoption and development of due diligence plans that prevent, eliminate, mitigate and/or remedy human + environmental rights violations Include unions and non-profit entities in taking collective action on behalf of victims and in the development, implementation + supervision of due diligence processes A sanctions system against companies that fail to comply with their obligations Guaranteed access to justice for all people or communities that have been victims of human and environmental rights violations derived from the activities carried out by companies in their supply chains This new legislation follows increasing pressure from civil society in Spain to promote human rights in business, including for the approval in December 2021 of a National Action Plan against Forced Labour and ratification of two key International Labor Organization (ILO) standards: the Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) and the Home Work Convention (C177). Following national acts supporting human rights due diligence in 2021 in Netherlands, Norway, Germany, the US and Canada and in 2022 in Japan, national governments are increasingly shifting the framework on human rights from volunteerism to business asset. While progressive mechanisms are being adopted to ensure rights are respected, piecemeal mechanisms have been inadequate to reduce human rights violations at scale. Regulations now establish a framework of obligations, infringements and sanctions for companies if they violate human rights in third countries, ensuring that all victims have proper access to justice. Businesses can proactively remediate human rights risks by developing holistic ecosystem to promote mandatory supply chain due diligence. To find out more about how Labor Solutions can leverage our decade of human rights risk assessment experience to support your business, get in touch here or at info@laborsolutions.tech.

For years, Nike, Inc. has been a leader in improving factory worker conditions, going beyond compliance by providing resources and support to its manufacturing partners. Over the last few years, with the help of vendors like Labor Solutions, Nike has developed, piloted, and deployed at scale their worker Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (EWB). The EWB is designed to help suppliers better track and facilitate factory worker engagement. Featuring 21 questions, the survey covers topics like safety, stress, financial security, and general wellbeing. The goal of the survey is to help managers identify opportunities to better support employees and encourage two-way communication. Recently, Nike publicly shared the EWB survey in an effort to encourage industry-wide support of worker engagement and wellbeing activities. “Industry collaboration is critical in preventing the replacement of ‘audit fatigue’ with ‘survey fatigue,’” comments Bijie Li, Head of Client Advisory Services at Labor Solutions, “I am encouraged by the sharing of this survey so the industry can work together to use surveying strategically and successfully to create change.” According to Li, the biggest challenge facing the survey industry is that surveys will be used as a scoring mechanism for factories. “If brands and industry groups start applying value judgments to survey results, we risk that workers will be coached, results will be skewed, and change will not occur,” explains Li. “Rather than viewing feedback from workers as either good or bad, we should recognize that getting any kind of feedback from workers is valuable. Disengaged workers rarely give feedback and when they are forced to do so they often lie because they don’t believe their voice can create change.” Li is encouraged that Nike, in addition to releasing the EWB questions, is sharing a white paper that includes best practices for survey use. Among other things, the white paper highlights the importance of factory management engagement and follow-up with workers in a timely manner after the survey is completed. It also notes that a survey is not the solution, but a “starting point to catalyze factory management to further engage employees.” Nike explains that the survey was created as a way of providing better feedback to management, so “it is most effective when bundled into a technology platform that enables communication with management.” Over the last three years, Labor Solutions team has partnered with Nike and its suppliers to implement a significant number of EWB surveys. Labor Solutions has conducted the EWB throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. Beyond delivering the survey, Labor Solutions has also conducted follow-up focus group discussions and helped craft solutions for participating facilities. One such solution is WOVO, a mobile and web-based worker engagement and communication platform developed by Labor Solutions. The EWB is now available to all Labor Solutions clients via WOVO. Learn more about Labor Solutions' Industry Standard Survey offers. “The Labor Solutions team has learned a lot through the consistent deployment of the EWB around the world, including how to respond to unexpected results, how to successfully deploy the survey using technology platforms like SMS and WOVO, and how to navigate the relationship between a brand and its supplier when presenting data,” explains Li. “Perhaps the most rewarding part of the process is seeing how the factories are using the data to effectively create change.” For more information about the EWB survey, contact info@laborsolutions.tech.

This post was written in collaboration with The Mekong Club and originally posted on their website. The Mekong Club carries out regular anonymous surveys of private sector professionals working within retail and manufacturing industries. One of the key questions they ask is ‘Are workers within the supply chain of your company able to easily report concerns about their employment conditions, in their own language?’. In other words, are workers able to easily access appropriate grievance mechanisms? Less than 50% of the respondents surveyed in 2021 answered ‘Yes.’ But over 70% of respondents claim to have a modern slavery policy in place; which by definition should include grievance mechanisms. Lack of access to worker grievances is a glaring example of policy not being supported by tangible action on the ground. Consumers, investors, and shareholders now expect companies to support social sustainability policies with action. A grievance mechanism can help and is understood as a formal complaint process that workers can use when a business’ activities negatively impact them. Grievance reporting enables companies to validate and monitor the policies they construct. Companies with high engagement levels make two and a half times more in revenue than their competitors with low engagement levels. Yet, worldwide, only 13% of employees are engaged. [Read What does a good worker complaint process look like?] Increasingly, grievance mechanisms are being required under mandatory human rights due diligence laws (mHRDD) across in the EU, Canada and the US. The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act notably mandates all companies with more than 3,000 employees that are either based in Germany or German branches of foreign companies must have a grievance mechanism in place by January 1st, 2023. Grievance is a rare area of the anti-slavery strategy that is measurable and works to scale if done correctly, generating clear ESG-friendly data points and case studies; gold dust in the murky world of sustainability reporting. Scrutiny should be applied to those who claim they have no grievances, as grievances can be found even in the most respectful workplaces. While no grievances may look great, it often means that the feedback collection systems are faulty or workers are fearful of reporting grievances. Both the correct worker feedback collection system and the right response process are essential to deliver returns and impact worker engagement. Effective worker voice systems are composed of an ongoing cycle of decisions and actions that all impact one another. We asked our grievance partner Labor Solutions to define “effective grievance mechanisms” and got a breakdown of what success looks like in practice for all actors involved: FROM THE WORKER’S PERSPECTIVE ANONYMOUS: Our team works with often factories and hears management sing praises about their worker feedback system: “Our workers come into our offices and tell us how they feel every day. We address their issues on the spot. We have a great relationship with them.” This alone is not an effective worker feedback system. While it open dialogue with employees is great for an open door policy, when workers are unable to log their grievances, some will not come forward and serious issues may not be addressed. KNOWN: Workers need to know about the system. It needs to be promoted consistently and openly. It should be discussed as part of the onboarding process, announced during team meetings, and posted in public places. If workers don’t know about the system, they won’t use it. ACCESSIBLE: Whatever system you choose needs to be accessible to your workforce. If workers don’t have email addresses or mobile phone access, an email or mobile phone system would obviously be inaccessible. FROM THE EMPLOYER’S PERSPECTIVE CONFIDENTIAL: Employers are more likely to seek worker feedback if they know the feedback is confidential and not shared with unions, their clients, or others. We have seen that many third-party helplines have low utilization, often around 2%, while those that are run by employers directly are much higher, around 25%. This also means that small misunderstandings can be kept from ballooning into huge complaints because management can address worker concerns quickly and directly. TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION: If an employer has no way to follow up with a worker on a complaint or question, it is unlikely that they will be able to find an effective solution. For example, if a worker drops a message in a grievance box that says, “My manager hit me,” there are a lot of additional questions that need to be asked—like “who is your manager?”, or “when did the incident occur?” If the employer isn’t able to have a two-way, anonymous conversation with the worker, they won’t get the information they need to make change. In addition, if they do solve the problem, they aren’t able to let the worker know how it was solved, leaving workers feeling like their questions went unanswered. EASILY AGGREGATED DATA: A system which collects data, aggregates and organizes it, allows top management to identify and follow trends and decide when executive action is needed. It also helps with investigations. If the same problem is being reported consistently, it helps investigators uncover the root of problems faster. [Read more about how WOVO can help align different stakeholders' interests] INVESTIGATION AND RESPONSE PROCESS EFFICIENT: Efficiency is key to ensuring that a concern is properly addressed, and that both parties stay engaged and committed to resolving the issue at hand. Efficiency in responses is characterized by its directness, timeliness, and clarity. Even if you don’t have a resolution to the issue, or think the feedback is impractical, it is still important to respond directly, emphatically, and promptly. Across all of our clients at Labor Solutions, we see a direct correlation between the speed of response and the utilization rate—the faster the employer works to respond to the worker, the more likely the worker will use the system. A message like this is fine to start: “Thank you, we are investigating and will get back to you as soon as possible.” EXPLAINED: An efficient solution is great, but is lacking if only one party understands it. Management needs to make clear what the proposed resolution, or at least response, is and what it will look like for the worker. If management does not plan to resolve the issue, there should be a response explaining why. This ensures that at the least the worker feels heard and will hopefully continue to use the feedback system. PROMPTS ACTION: A quality resolution is only as good as the action it prompts. Feedback systems that create win-win outcomes are dependent upon the resolution being meaningfully and continuously carried out throughout the workplace. This allows a worker to see that their feedback spurred change, causing them to feel increased engagement and can consequently increase their productivity. It is important to consider if feedback should prompt a review of internal procedures and processes in addition to reviewing the specific issue at hand. For example, if a worker is reporting abuse, in addition to addressing the specific claim, it is also important to determine if the abuse is just a singular event, or if it is systematic and widespread, indicating a need for procedures to be altered to prevent similar events in the future. For a response process to be effective, it is important that the facility is not scared of punitive actions for issues brought to its attention. The facility needs to feel safe admitting there is a problem and asking for support from surrounding resources to solve that problem. Leadership and management should encourage open dialogue and improvement activities. Typically, punitive actions should take place only if the facility does not work to address issues brought to its attention. Technology can be at the core of any good grievance system identifying cases of modern slavery, forced labor, and sexual and gender-based violence and harassment (SGBVH), but it cannot act alone. With a healthy amount of scrutiny towards a lack of grievances and a proper system in place to address and respond to worker feedback, worker trust will naturally grow stronger. Ensuring that the feedback system in your workplace has the above attributes will create a space that allows management and workers to maintain that trust; therefore, fostering a safe and healthy workplace environment that promotes both wellness and productivity. ----- Labor Solutions, a social enterprise, 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. Please reach out to our team to learn more: info@laborsolutions.tech.