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.

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

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.