Background Like many factories in Asia, Indonesian apparel manufacturer Hwaseung decided to temporarily halt its operations and send workers home in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Naturally, their workers had questions and concerns about their future job status and what would happen in the meantime. They sought clarification about COVID and hoped to get support from their management. Progress Workers had been using WOVO prior to the pandemic, but with the sudden change they doubled their usage of it to express concerns about their job security and reduced orders. Hwaseung management recognized that WOVO was key to keeping communication channels open and workers engaged. The factory even formed a WOVO Committee to better manage incoming messages and to develop communication strategies to keep workers engaged and updated while they were offsite. This resulted in expedited responses to and resolution of workers’ inquiries. Outcome Hwaseung is thankful they had WOVO during the crisis, noting that WOVO helped them “better communicate with our workers during COVID-19” as workers were able to use the WOVO App to ask about COVID-19 policies. Even in normal times Hwaseung appreciates the value of WOVO, saying “when we really cannot meet workers in person, WOVO helps us communicate with employees and respond to their questions and complaints.”

As 13,000 EU and 4,000 Non-EU Based Firms Held Accountable Under New Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Law Photo courtesy of Google Images The EU Commission released a proposal for the long-awaited Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence law. The proposed law would hold companies liable for adverse human rights or environmental impacts from their direct business activities and those of their suppliers. The law also requires companies to take active preventive measures, including conducting risk assessments at least once a year and before any major business decision. Now if breaches in duty-of-care are found within a company’s supply chain, the company will risk sanctions and lawsuits in Europe. The proposed law puts the protection of the environment and human rights at the heart of companies’ business model. “We can no longer turn a blind eye on what happens down our value chains,” said Didier Reynders, the European Union’s commissioner for justice. "These are critically needed incentives and will be immensely impactful for workers globally. Human rights due diligence is now becoming a prerequisite to doing business globally.” By creating high standards, the law aims to provide EU companies with more leverage to push global suppliers to improve conditions. “These are critically needed incentives and will be immensely impactful for workers globally. Human rights due diligence is now becoming a prerequisite to doing business globally,” remarked Elena Fanjul-Debnam, Labor Solutions’ CEO. “Unfortunately, until the passage of this law and similar ones in other countries, business looked at protecting human rights as something ‘they should do,’ now it is something ‘they must do.’” “Unfortunately, until the passage of this law and similar ones in other countries, business looked at protecting human rights as something ‘they should do,’ now it is something ‘they must do.’” Until now, a lack of legal incentives resulted in corporations ignoring human rights violations in their supply chain or focusing on surface level risk identification and removal, not remediation or prevention. At Labor Solutions, we believe remediation and prevention must be at the center of any human rights strategy. Policing suppliers and setting up a global grievance line is simply not enough. To effectively ensure human rights, companies must partner with their suppliers to improve governance, human resource systems, hiring practices and communications with workers. We are excited to see rules and regulations that support and promote this strategy. Photo courtesy of Labor Solutions To meet the growing need for robust human rights due diligence, Labor Solutions has launched a Human Rights Due Diligence Program. The suite of tools and advisory services include support designing and implementing scalable human rights risk assessment and improvement systems, policies, and programs in line with pending legislation in the EU, US, and Canada. Variations of our program are now functioning at scale for over a dozen brands headquartered in Europe. Labor Solutions' supplier ownership, empowerment and improvement approach, is not only scalable, but also allows companies to tackle the problem at the source and collect unparalleled data sets. Our solutions are designed to help your business go beyond tick-box solutions and meet the intention of these laws; creating sustainable solutions customized to your business and built around respect and trust between workers, buyers, suppliers, and brands. According to a recent article in Reuters: “The main criterion would be that a firm employs more than 500 people and has net turnover of more than 150 million euros.” This would apply to an estimated 13,000 EU and 4,000 Non-EU Based Firms. After two years, the range would be expanded to 250 employees and 40 million turnover, including smaller businesses in so-called high-impact sectors, such as textiles, food products and mining. Since the law demands wide-scale implementation across complex supply chains, companies liable under the law need to start preparing now or face fines later. Human Rights Due Diligence legislation + mandates are increasingly becoming common place globally; businesses of all shapes and sizes should not risk falling behind. To find out more about this new law and how it might impact your business, get in touch with Labor Solutions here or at info@laborsolutions.tech .

Photo: The New York Times Background China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy has brought uncertainty across the nation and in early 2022, shut down manufacturing plants and factories critical to global supply chains. One factory in China using Labor Solutions’ WOVO experienced an unexpected lockdown during Chinese New Year; a festive period where many workers were already at home visiting their families. When one COVID-19 case was identified in their facility, factory management followed the government’s policy and took rapid response to ensure every remaining factory employee was quarantined in their dormitory. During that period, WOVO helped factory management stay connected with both employees in the dormitory and those celebrating at home with their families, building long-lasting patterns of trust between workers and their managers. How WOVO Helped: Factory management posted a Newsletter on WOVO with the latest government mandated COVID-19 testing requirement and procedure. Factory managers sent messages to assuage employees’ anxiety and improve confidence + trust between workers and managers. For employees back at home and away from the factory site, management used WOVO’s Broadcast Feature to share the reopen date, remind them follow government’s anti-group-gathering policy, and encourage them to take a PCR test before arriving back at the factory. Workers away from the factory used WOVO Connect to tell their managers when they were placed under home quarantine and clarify why they were unable to return to work in time, improving staff retention and communication between workers and managers. Management also launched a feature through the WOVO app where workers whose friends or relatives joined the factory received a financial reward. This helped to strengthen employees’ engagement with factory while ensuring the factory met staffing goals. Result After three weeks of quarantine and zero positive COVID-19 cases, the factory resumed normal production. Employees leveraged the WOVO app to express their sincere gratitude for factory management’s communication and emotional support during these uncertain times. Based on the positive impact from WOVO, factory management is now considering leveraging WOVO to provide psychological support services so that all workers are aware of how they can raise and cope with concerns during this and future challenging times. To ensure your company’s factories have the support they need for support and communication in uncertain times, get in touch at info@laborsolutions.tech or here: https://www.laborsolutions.tech/contact

Read in Español , Việt Nam , 中文 In 2021, Labor Solutions’ tools became critical to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We supported leading organizations, like Better Work, to promote worker rights and wellbeing. We built partnerships with international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) , Winrock International, and USAID CTIP to support the sustainable and valuable change our industry needs. Now Labor Solutions serves over 1,500,000 workers in 25 countries and 24 languages. In 2022 Labor Solutions will continue to focus on work on building resilient workplaces and supply chains while educating , connecting , and engaging workers, buyers, suppliers, and brands. We will also focus on providing tailored issue-specific programs with a focus four key areas: Human Rights and Legislative and Corporate Due Diligence Building + Fire Safety Forced Labor and Responsible Recruitment (Migrant Worker Focus) Gender Equity and Gender Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) Labor Solutions will provide data-driven and tailored advisory services, policy development and integration, program design and implementation. Our team can customize and deliver global worker surveys , offer tailored eLearnin g for supplier management, workers, or other stakeholders in your supply chains, and provide internal capacity building . The Labor Solutions team will continue to not only provide technology solutions but ensure successful and sustainable implementations through advisory services aimed at supporting and enabling social eco-systems. Our goal is to not only help you meet corporate due diligence laws but to also affect change and improve lives. Expanding our Advisory Services Labor Solutions continues to develop subject matter expertise by building a team with extensive experience. Zuzana Mocilenkova, joins the Labor Solutions team in 2022 as the Vice President of Brand Advisory Services , bringing a unique point of view and understanding of to challenges faced by internal brand stakeholders. She will be key in helping clients enhance and rebuild their sustainability initiatives to meet increasing legislative demands. Ms. Mocilenkova's joins other recent additions to the team, Senior Directors of eLearning and Worker Engagement , and new client advisors serving Europe and Latin America. Our global teams reflect ever changing supply chain map. Diversifying partnerships in gender and forced labor In 2022 Labor Solutions will continue to build partnerships with industry leaders to better support clients and provide wholistic solutions. In 2022 Labor Solutions will focus on enhancing our gender and responsible recruitment workstreams. Why Gender? Nearly 190 million women work in the global supply chain, making up 41% of the workforce but a declining percentage of management. Few industry standards and assessments thoroughly consider the impact of labor conditions, cultural norms, and stress on women in the workplace. Women continue to make up a minority in facility, supplier, and union management. Valuable perspectives persistently go unheard, and in many cases, never even get a seat at the table. Meaningful and scalable change is needed to protect and promote women throughout the supply chain. Over the last decade, our technology tools have supported women by giving them a voice, connecting them to information and providing education tools that help equitable workplace advancement. In 2022, the Labor Solutions team will build on these learnings, add additional trainings, and work with key industry stakeholders to help brands and suppliers improve workplaces for women. As an organization proudly founded, owned, and operated by women, Labor Solutions is excited to enhance our capacity to serve and support women in global supply chains. Why Responsible Recruitment? Over the past two years, COVID-19 has exposed the additional risks posed to the 169 million people who migrate internationally for a job. An estimated  24.9 million people  are victims of  forced labor ; working against their will and under threat of punishment and beginning with enormous debt from their recruitment process. Only through engaging workers, employers and agencies can we effectively combat forced labor. In 2022, Labor Solutions looks forward to supporting brands, agencies and employers in identifying and preventing forced labor through worker surveys, advisory services, grievance mechanisms and eLearning tools. We look forward to continued innovation and expansion in 2022. As always we are thankful for our brand, supplier and multi-stakeholder partners who have supported our success thus far. 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.

Ayu is a garment factory worker in Tangerang, Indonesia. When she returned to work after her maternity leave she noticed a few things had changed at the factory. Her colleagues in the bus were talking about a new app their management had introduced. Curious to be up to speed, Ayu asked Nita to help her register after downloading it from the app store. Nita explained “It’s easy, you just need to enter this number under the Factory Code”, typing into Ayu’s phone, “and now you can enter your Employee ID Number and click Register”, giving Ayu her phone back. Nita added “WOVO is also completely anonymous. You can report cases or send your feedback and your identity will not be revealed”. Ayu was eager to start using the WOVO app. She arrived at her line at 7 AM and began to sew care labels onto garments. By lunch time when she turned her phone back on Ayu had two notifications from WOVO. The app’s newsfeed displayed a welcome message followed by an announcement about the breastfeeding facility reopening. Ayu opened the Connect module and asked her first question on how to access the breastfeeding facility. At 12.55 PM, her break-time was almost over. Ayu rushed to the water station to refill her water bottle before resuming back to work. Sadly, there was no water left. She took a picture of the water dispenser, attached the image and submitted a report via WOVO as she rushed back to her line to resume her work. 4 PM, it was time to head home. Ayu made her way to the bus and turned her phone back on. She had received two responses on WOVO. First, her management advised her to open WOVO’s My Company module and go to the Documents and FAQs uploaded by HR to find more information about the breastfeeding facility. Then she was informed that they had arranged for the water gallons in her building to be refilled and that she could access the water station in the building next door in the meantime. On the bus home, Ayu opened the My Company module on her WOVO app. Among the documents uploaded was that month’s Newsletter with details on departmental updates, lunch menu updates and upcoming events. She read through the Newsletter and then proceeded to read the FAQs with guidelines on the dos and don’ts for using the breastfeeding facility. She was now feeling well informed. Ayu was half-way home when she received a broadcast message from WOVO with updates on a new Parenting course that was launched. Since she had some time left on her commute, Ayu opened WOVO’s Learn module and enrolled in the Early Parenting topic. Ayu was feeling sad that day, as it was her first time away from her baby. Not only did the topic share helpful tips on how to care for her newborn, it also explained that her emotions were natural. She obtained helpful tips on how working moms can deal with separation anxiety. She was eager to start applying the practical tips. As she got home, Ayu carried on with her mom duties and household chores. After dinner she was ready for bed. At 8 PM, two Calendar reminders came in on WOVO. One was for that month’s payroll date, and the other was an announcement of the public holiday on Friday. Ayu was excited to have one extra day to spend with her daughter. Feeling grateful that she downloaded the WOVO app, she suddenly remembered that she had a few pages left in her Parenting topic. She laid in bed navigating her way through the remaining facts and tips, responded to quizzes and completed the topic. Time for bed. Ayu set her alarm for 4.30 AM and dozed. WOVO was developed using worker-centric design, with the goal to improve worker access to information, decision makers and learning to be successful and safe. The app is available for FREE via iOS and Android. WOVO is available in 18 languages and currently supports over 1 million workers across different industries. Click here to learn more.

Nike, Inc. has published its 2018 Impact Report, highlighting the company's efforts towards a more sustainable and equitable future. As part of its commitment to sustainable sourcing, Nike partners with Labor Solutions to promote worker wellbeing within supplier facilities. WOVO, Labor Solutions’ worker engagement technology platform, is playing a key role in helping “improve communication, enhance worker knowledge and experience, and improve ease of access to HR tools and policies.” To learn more, see page 32 of the report. NOTE: This report was published while Labor Solutions was still part of Workplace Options, thus in the report the work of Labor Solutions is attributed to Workplace Options.

COVID-19 Pandemic has posed tremendous challenges to workers’ livelihood and wellbeing worldwide, and Cambodia is no exception. Disruptions to production, temporary closures of factories and overwhelmed management have prevented factories from providing effective and stable professional and wellbeing support for workers. Workers desperately need resources to keep growing their workplace knowledge and maintain emotional health during this challenging time. Labor Solutions and Winrock (USAID CTIP-Cambodia) are collaborating to provide learning digitally to workers in Cambodia, leveraging Labor Solutions’ easy-to-access and scalable WOVO platform. The interactive and self-paced eLearning courses, developed by Labor Solutions and subject matter experts include topics on professional development such as gender equality and communications, as well as wellbeing such as physical and mental health. The courses include gamifications, testing your knowledge exercises, can be downloaded offline to support the environment without the internet. Winrock (USAID CTIP-Cambodia), with its substantial experience in supporting workers in Cambodia, have been dedicated to the acculturalization and localization of the courses to ensure they adapt to the specific context and workers’ needs in Cambodia. Under permissible conditions, CTIP-Cambodia will also provide onsite guidance and training to factories and workers on leveraging Labor Solutions’ Worker Voice, Survey, and eLearning tools to improve worker engagement and wellbeing. Labor Solutions, a social enterprise, leverages technology to engage and educate workers throughout supply chains. Over a million workers in 25 countries have access to Labor Solutions’ eLearning platform, WOVO. The Labor Solutions team will digitize the content and focus on strategic deployment and implementation to ensure as many workers as possible are able to access eLearning on a variety of topics. Winrock (USAID CTIP-Cambodia), a seven-year program (2016-2023) sponsored by USAID, engages stakeholders from government, NGOs, and private sectors to address regional and local challenges faced by migrant workers and improve workers’ livelihood and wellbeing. With a team of local experts, it focuses on providing awareness and capacity building activities for both factories and workers.

A study by the Fair Wear Foundation and Care International found that female factory workers in Vietnam face systemic sexual harassment and violence at work. Approximately 2 million people are employed in Vietnam’s garment sector, with some factories having as many as 20,000 workers. More than 80% of the workers are women. Participants interviewed as part of the study reported being exposed to physical violence, sexual jokes, obscene gestures, and offensive emails, among other abuses. Excessive overtime was also uncovered. The study found violence and harassment had a negative impact on workers’ health and wellbeing, as well as the organization’s productivity, competitiveness and reputation. The study also found that when clear complaint procedures were in place, women reported significantly lower levels of abuse, 25% compared with 58.7%. “Anonymous reporting options are critical in factory settings, which often operate in areas with few worker rights and protections,” explains Elena Fanjul-Debnam, Head of Labor Solutions. “Workers can face serious retribution from their employers, as well as family members if they are seen making complaints.” In 2018, Labor Solutions launched WOVO, a worker voice and wellbeing solution that allows workers to report concerns anonymously using mobile phone technology. The tool also offers workers access to personal and professional e-learning, as well as confidential wellbeing support.

Henry Ford famously said “you can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people and I’ll build it right back.” His sentiment underscores the importance and value of putting employees first. Direct worker feedback is the foundation of all successful human resource and management teams. Putting employees first means listening to workers to identify performance improvement opportunities and to design engagement programs that work. We often encourage employers to conduct a worker survey, no matter where they are in the evolution of their worker engagement program. Worker surveys allow you to hear directly from your workforce, gather reliable data and better understand needs. Surveys, when conducted correctly, are effective at gathering a balanced and representative view of what employees think, enabling organizations to make data-based decisions and spend funds more effectively. Just the act of conducting a survey can increase employee engagement and loyalty. It allows employers to demonstrate that their employees’ opinions matter. Employees feel more empowered when they are given the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. This is especially true when employees see organizational change take place as a result of feedback gained through surveys. On the other hand, neglecting survey results can diminish employee engagement and lead to cynicism. For this reason, it’s important that employers communicate survey results, as well as any steps that are being taken to address areas of concern. This is true even if the decision is to not take any steps. Simply saying, “We heard your concerns, but we can’t make this change because of ,” can be an effective engagement strategy. Employees now feel like they have a voice and understand how the decision was made. How often should an organization survey its workforce? Opinions vary on how frequently organizations should survey their workforce, but I think it ultimately depends on how quickly a company can implement change. If a company is nimble and able to execute necessary changes within six months, then it makes sense to conduct a survey twice a year. For many employers, organizational change takes much longer. In those situations, surveying employees every 12 to 18 months is more realistic. For years the consumer industry has been conducting Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys to track customer perceptions. These are quick surveys that some companies do weekly to keep their finger on the pulse of their buyers. This same concept can be extremely useful for employers to better understand employee needs. Increasingly, more and more of our clients are asking for these Employee Pulse Surveys to better track employee engagement. Labor Solutions’ Employee Pulse Surveys include three questions and we typically suggest employers conduct them once a quarter, and sometimes after a significant event—either positive or negative. It fosters understanding of how changes made in the company are perceived by employees. Maybe there was a restructuring, merger or change in policy. It is important that these surveys are conducted often and during times of relative calm, so you have a baseline and are more easily able to identify trouble spots or change. Because Employee Pulse surveys are short they help guard against survey fatigue, which can lead to incomplete responses or inaccurate data. Is it necessary to survey the entire workforce? Clients are relieved to hear it’s not necessary to survey their entire workforce, which can be time consuming and expensive. Unless the company is very small, statisticians agree that a randomly selected sample of a population can be used to reasonably estimate the views of the entire population. A recent article in the New York Times illustrated the validity of probability sampling by using the analogy of a chef checking the flavor of his sauce. In short, it’s not necessary for the chef to eat the entire batch to know how his sauce tastes. To determine how many employees should be included in a survey sample size, employers need to determine their desired margin of error. The margin of error indicates the survey’s degree of accuracy. For example, a survey with a 5% margin of error found that 70% of the population prefer the color red and 30% prefer the color blue. The true value, based on the 5% margin of error, would be anywhere in the range of 5% more or 5% less than what was reported in the survey. For red, the true value would be between 65% and 75%. For blue, it would be between 25% and 35%. At Labor Solutions we typically use a margin of error of +-7.5 percent. This tends to minimize costs, while also delivering trustworthy results for this type of survey.  You can use a sample size calculator to determine how many employees you should include in your sample size.  For a company with 10,000 employees, for a +-7.5 margin of error, a sample size calculator shows you will need a sample size of 171 employees. If you increase your sample size, you will decrease your margin of error. But at some point the law of diminishing returns makes the increased accuracy negligible. In addition, increasing the sample size typically increases the costs associated with executing a survey. Not to mention the time and effort involved in encouraging workers to take a survey. While surveys are key to organizational success, surveys can’t stand alone and they are only one piece of an effective employee engagement program.  An effective program is constantly seeking input and adapting to the needs of employees.

These are resources and tools available for the public. If you are a client, please reach out to your client adviser for more tailored resources and services. Engage and educate workers even if they are not on-site Tell workers to download atun. atun, is a free mobile application current and former factory workers that provides e-learnings and support on a host of critical topics including, parenting, finance, and health. We’re working with The Empower@Work Collaborative to digitize their materials as well. If you are an employer and want to send an SMS to all your workers telling them about the app, to make sure they download it, please reach out to Bijie Li. We’ll also be able to help you reach out to those workers again when you reopen your facility. Stop rumors, spread only creditable information We’ve set up Google Drives for the following languages with local images, links to local resources and other critical information English Bahasa Indonesia Chinese If you are not able to use Google Drive to get these resources, please send your request to: Bijie Li. Vietnamese Hindi Burmese Spanish Khmer Non-language specific images The WHO is constantly providing accurate information and promotional materials to be shared. You can visit their website page and join their Whatsapp group just send a Whatsapp that says  “hi” to +41 22 501 76 15 Protect Human Rights Just because there is a pandemic does not mean that workers’ human rights should not be protected. Keep up-to-date on the latest stories, programs and more at the Business for Human Rights Resource Center Protect your Business Labor Solutions has posted several articles with tips for business including: Addressing Coronavirus for Factories Outside of China Addressing Coronavirus for Factories in China Monitoring Human Rights from Afar McKinsey & Co also published a report about Coronavirus that offers lots of tips for businesses. We’ll be updating this regularly so please keep coming back. Hashtag #coronavirus #blog