A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights the snowball effect that trade wars, sanctions, executive scandals and consumer activism are having on corporate compliance departments. Given the frequency with which new risks are emerging, compliance officers are working increasingly more with other departments and third party organizations to stay a step ahead. In terms of cultural compliance, forward-looking companies are taking a proactive approach in an effort to stave off likely threats. “Organizations are seeking novel ways to identify and address concerning trends before they turn into full-blown issues, as the traditional grievance box and ‘open door policy’ approaches are not sufficient,” explains Krystal Bouverot, Director of Innovation at Labor Solutions. “We developed WOVO for precisely this reason.” WOVO is a mobile-phone based, worker wellbeing solution designed to help companies engage and communicate directly with employees with transparency. Featuring anonymous, two-way communication, WOVO provides employees and company leadership a private, confidential platform through which concerns can be shared and discussed in detail, without compromising employee anonymity. In addition, organizations can pull analytics data from WOVO to help identify trends and potential flashpoints. Corporate leadership can view and respond immediately to data via WOVO’s online dashboard, an important feature when trying to get in front of workplace issues. WOVO can also be used to facilitate employee surveys and deliver customized training. For more information about WOVO, contact info@laborsolutions.tech TAGGED COMPLIANCE, WORKER VOICE, WOVO

Supply chain factories are often located in emerging countries with low labor costs and few protections for workers. In these settings, challenges like unsafe working conditions and unfair labor practices are the norm. For women, who represent a majority of the factory workforce in many segments, the challenges are even greater. According to a United Nation’s Global Compact Group report, women working in factories are often subjected to verbal abuse, unfair labor practices, sexual harassment and other forms of violence. The  “Our Voices, Our Safety” publication by the International Labor Rights Forum adds that factory workers are often hesitant to report exploitive and dangerous working conditions out of fear of retaliation, including losing their job. And in some countries, where subordination of women is the norm, social and cultural practices discourage women from speaking out. Against this backdrop, major manufacturers are taking steps to protect workers by requiring that supply chain factories meet set standards for worker safety and wellbeing. Labor Solutions is playing an important role in this effort with the development of WOVO. A mobile phone-based technology platform, WOVO provides workers with a variety of resources and tools designed to address their health, safety and wellbeing needs, including the following: A safer work environment The International Labor Rights Forum estimates that globally between 40 and 50 percent of women experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work. In the garment industry, where three fourths of the workers are women, sexual harassment is rampant, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. It’s also under-reported due to fears of disbelief, blame, or social or professional retaliation. The report also argues that social audits currently being conducted in some supply chain factories are largely ineffective at uncovering harassment because they fail to protect worker confidentiality. WOVO’s anonymous reporting features and survey tools allow supply chain workers to maintain confidentiality while reporting unsafe working conditions, harassment and abuse. With WOVO, workers are able to use their mobile phones to anonymously text concerns or threats directly to human resource representatives. Through WOVO’s 2-way anonymous communication feature, factory representatives are also able to respond back, while maintaining workers’ anonymity. In addition, workers’ concerns and factories’ actions are logged and can be analyzed using WOVO’s robust reporting system. Professional and personal development opportunities Supply chain workers in poor countries often have limited access to education. This is especially true of women. However, through WOVO employees can access both professional and personal digital training modules on a variety of topics. WOVO’s digital training platform can remove bias and democratize professional development by allowing workers to select trainings, as opposed to traditional training programs where workers have to be selected in order to participate. Also, management can track professional training course completions through WOVO, which can make the process of rewarding or promoting workers less subjective. Digital training also empowers women, as they have the freedom to select subjects of their own choosing. In addition to professional development, WOVO offers courses for personal development and wellbeing. Approximately 80% of WOVO’s users are women, and popular personal wellbeing topics include pregnancy and women’s health, parenting, elder care, relationship support and finances. These trainings can benefit the entire family, in addition to helping women better themselves through ongoing education. Personal and professional coaching support Through WOVO, workers can reach out via smart phone app or SMS to local, qualified coaches trained to respond to professional and personal wellbeing issues. For example, one worker in her 33rd week of pregnancy, reached out to a coach through WOVO because she was wasn’t sleeping well due to headaches and hypertension. The coach encouraged the woman to visit her doctor and helped her put together a list of questions. After following the coach’s advice, the woman was hospitalized for delivery. After her baby was born, ongoing support was provided including lactation support and information related to newborn milestones.

By Guest Writer: Mark Evans, Omega Compliance The topic of ‘audit fatigue’ has been around for almost as long as the responsible sourcing profession itself.  When high-profile exposés in the 1990s revealed human rights abuses in the apparel and footwear supply chain, brands saw factory audits as part of the solution. However, the industry’s response was largely uncoordinated, resulting in a multitude of codes of conduct, each requiring its own version of supplier audits. As a result, factories became inundated with audits and ‘audit fatigue’ set in among workers and suppliers. For the last 20 years, brands and retailers in the U.S. have tried to address the fatigue issue by reducing the number of audits. Recognizing that 90% of brand requirements were the same, the industry embarked on numerous harmonization initiatives, such as the GSCP, with the objective of consolidating around a single audit tool. Not only could this address fatigue, it could also allow the industry to turn its attention to other important initiatives like capacity building and worker wellbeing. Despite these bold attempts at harmonization, it became clear that while brand requirements were similar, they were also completely distinct. The 10% difference was unbridgeable, reflective of the different values of the separate organizations. The industry in the U.S. turned its focus elsewhere. However, recently renewed efforts to solve audit duplication, coupled with fresh thinking, has revealed there is light at the end of the tunnel and a glimpse of a changing, more dynamic responsible sourcing landscape. In 2015, the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) was launched with the support of more than 200 signatory brands including adidas, Gap, Nike, VF Corp PVH, and Target. Rather than reattempting to harmonize standards, the SLCP’s mission was to create a converged assessment, performed by qualified verifying bodies, like Omega. The dataset collected would be broad enough to enable benchmarking against each brand’s proprietary standard. The SLCP has made considerable progress. A significant number of its high-profile signatories, acting as force multipliers, have recently committed to replacing their own proprietary audits with the SLCP assessment. Furthermore, a growing number of brands and retailers, including Walmart, which have sourcing footprints beyond apparel, are accepting a broad range of accredited audits, such as Sedex, WRAP and Amfori, rather than requiring their own.  The landscape seems to be finally shifting towards fewer, but higher quality, responsible sourcing audits. In addition, the audits are underpinned by a pool of auditors certified by the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA), another recent industry milestone. So what’s next? Presuming the consolidation of responsible sourcing audits continues, brands and retailers will have newly available resources. They should choose to reinvest their savings into other parts of the industry in need. But the question remains, will brands and retailers move from monitoring to collaborative efforts or will they double down on other tiers of their supply chain? Below are some key areas in need of more focused resources: Improving the conditions under which homeworkers are employed across their supply chains. After agriculture, the homeworking economy is the largest employer of women in the developing world. Given how prevalent piece rate compensation is in this sector, there are real challenges with payment of minimum wage, for example. More specialized responsible sourcing audits, under the IRIS standard, of labor brokers. Worker dialogue programs, such as WOVO, which provide workers with greater representation and agency within their supply chains. Greater supply chain traceability. As an example, growing concerns of forced labor in Xinjiang has recently prompted Cotton On to ban the sourcing of cotton from the region, where an estimated 80% of China’s cotton is produced. This issue is likely to grow in prominence as pressure is put on the U.S. Congress to intervene. In fact, Omega has recently built a cotton traceability assessment, performed upon both factories and mills, enabling brands and retailers to understand where their cotton inputs originate. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the position of her/his employer. Hashtag #uncategorized

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the limits of relying on face-to-face communication, and demonstrated the importance of having a digital communication platform in place to connect with workers.  The ‘new normal’ is about changing how we live and interact with others, including how we adhere to new laws and regulations. Communicating and listening to workers effectively is key to implementing these changes. As the journey to establish the ‘new normal’ begins, employers reflect on successful tools and strategies used during the emergency and formulate strategies for moving forward.  Team members who a year ago had been hesitant to implement WOVO, now see the urgency. Gauri Sharma, Operational Development Manager at Shahi Exports, says “Managers have come to me and said, ‘we need an effective communication system now… tools like WOVO are going to be the future of how communication is done in factories.’” Whether workers have stayed on-site throughout the emergency or were sent home, Labor Solutions clients around the world report a huge uptick in WOVO utilization. Both factory management and workers quickly turned to WOVO to stay in touch. Workers were able to voice their concerns, ask questions and get answers about topics important to them. This quick and comprehensive utilization of the WOVO tool by workers allowed management to quickly identify and address leading concerns and causes of stress. We spoke to several employers about how they used WOVO. Starting Communications Early Dianzhen Lin, the human resources manager at Dongguan Pouchen, a footwear factory in China, said WOVO has been essential to a smooth transition into the new normal, “WOVO has been our first choice for information dissemination since our factory reopened in the second half of February this year. With WOVO we were able to quickly inform workers what was going to happen. They can check immediately. The SMS accessibility of WOVO also allows companies to spread the word to those who do not own a smartphone, reaching basically everyone in the workforce.” When Pouchen started to reopen, they proactively used WOVO to send newsletters with clear and detailed steps for each worker to take to protect themselves and their coworkers. These steps included the proper use of disinfectants, conducting more frequent workplace inspections, adhering to social distance guidelines, and wearing masks and other personal protective equipment, where necessary.  Dongguan Pouchen reported that WOVO’s ability to send “dynamic and eye-catching content” was “important to make workers pay attention because that helps them digest the information.” Getting Organized When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Hwaseung Indonesia, an apparel manufacturer, decided to temporarily halt operations and send workers home. Workers quickly turned to WOVO to express concerns about their job security and reduced orders. This increased utilization by 100% from the previous month. The management recognized that WOVO was key to keeping communication channels open and workers engaged. The factory formed a WOVO Committee to better manage incoming messages and develop communication strategies to keep workers engaged and up to date while they were offsite. This resulted in the management reducing their response and resolution time. Hwaseung is thankful they had WOVO during the crisis, “WOVO has helped us better communicate with our workers during COVID-19. Employees have been able to use the WOVO App to ask about COVID-19 policies in Indonesia or in our company.  When our factory was closed and other times when we really cannot meet workers in person, WOVO helps us communicate with employees and respond to their questions and complaints.” Answering Workers Questions and Addressing Their Concerns Quickly The COVID-19 pandemic has been a scary and confusing time for everyone. Reassuring workers that you are listening and answering their questions and addressing their concerns quickly helps reduce stress, and shows that employers and companies care, which is critical when building trust in this time of uncertainties. Workers have and will continue to struggle adapting to the new normal. Whether the transition is smooth depends on worker engagement and buy in. One human resource manager in a Chinese factory, recalls it being hard at first when new rules kicked in, “When we first required everyone to wear masks, workers were not very happy because the work floor, particularly the gluing area was hot. They sent in so many questions into WOVO.” The management of that factory quickly decided that rather than being defensive by replying every single question with the same explanation, they acted proactively by sending out a newsletters with clear information to help contain and prevent the spread of the virus. Responding to worker feedback, management also saw that ventilation on the work floor prevented workers from wearing proper personal protective gear, and worked to cool the floor. Once workers felt that their concerns were being addressed, they were able to see that “our [management’s] decisions were focused on protecting the overall well-being of all workers.” Samho, a footwear factory in Vietnam, stayed open through the pandemic. They continued to use WOVO and reported that it was critical, since “management and workers were not willing to conduct face-to-face reporting, so WOVO was the most effective way to communicate and connect the factory with our workforce.” Samho used the WOVO data dashboard to identify that workers were concerned about their personal health and safety, and responded by using WOVO to continuously and proactively send newsletters to workers with information on updated company health and safety policies and procedures. This prompt response helped workers to feel safer and more cared about by management. Read more about how employers are using surveys to keep workers engaged in the continue process of change

Never have companies had to make such drastic changes to every day operations, nor have workers faced such a unique set of challenges. With no recent historical precedent to COVID-19, factories and workers will have to cooperate to adjust how they work together successfully. Implementing change will be especially challenging and undoubtedly will be a process of trial and error. Success depends on listening and engaging workers in the decision-making process in the creation of the ‘new normal.’ Increasingly, Labor Solutions’ clients are turning to surveys to better understand workers’ experiences and to engage them in policy creation and evaluation. Collecting worker feedback helps not only to inform decisions and change but helps “workers to feel respected and heard when they receive our outreach seeking their opinions”, said a human resources director at Dongguan Pouchen, a footwear factory in China. Labor Solutions has designed a survey to specifically address COVID-19. Use our off-the-shelf survey or work with our team of statisticians to customize one for your workforce. The COVID survey sets out to determine: The physical safety of workers and their families The emotional wellbeing and leading causes of stress for workers Workers’ understanding of their access to care Workers’  trust in management Workers’ understanding and feelings about their physical safety at work Workers’ overall sense of engagement in the workplace Surveys provide timely feedback from workers, allowing companies to quickly implement changes before issues snowball and become impossible to manage. A human resource manager at an apparel factory argued that there is no such thing as a “bad survey result”; every result is an opportunity to learn. When critical feedback is received in a survey, “then it means something is not working with this new policy and we will need to take a deeper look and adjust what we are currently doing.” One facility that was deemed essential was the addition of living facilities on-site for workers. After a few weeks of cohabitation, management conducted a survey and found that workers missed their families, were frustrated with their roommates, and ultimately needed more time alone. Management worked on allowing for additional time off, this helped with social distancing and helped address the needs of workers. In several workplaces, WOVO surveys helped to determine that workers had lost trust in their management because of the COVID-19 response. We also found that because they lost trust, they did not feel safe and were concerned about their job security. The Labor Solutions team was able to work with each management team to craft a response and outreach plan to workers. For some workplaces this meant being honest and open about declining orders and pledging to continue to be transparent with workers about the state of the company. For others, this meant implementing new COVID-19 safety measures, and in some cases, this included adding free transport to work and housing options for workers. These are difficult times. Outreach from management to factory groups will have to be ongoing. Conducting surveys in a structured scheduled manner helps you track changes overtime and to continue to collaborate with workers to determine what the new normal looks like for your company.

Background Like many good employers, those managing Factory Five believe that communication between their employees and the management team is critical for success. They know that employee engagement is correlated with employee productivity and overall company performance. That is why they set up “input boxes” located in their facility’s restrooms, as well as a hotline to call, and encouraged employees to communicate directly with their department’s manager if they had questions or grievances. But although Factory Five had taken these measures, managers only collected around 60 questions and grievances through their input boxes and 21 from their hotline in the span of a year. This seemed like a small number for a factory with a workforce of over 16,000. Labor Solutions was called upon to help improve communication. Outcome When we came in to help Factory Five, we understood the challenges the company faced collecting, understanding, and responding to employee grievances and questions. After learning of its benefits, Factory Five decided to implement communication technology used in the WOVO platform. This platform ensures anonymity and provides a more convenient method of communication between employees and management through text messages. Upon implementation, Factory Five saw an extreme boost in employees’ willingness to communicate. They received a total of 1417 messages, 344 of which were labeled as grievances, in only the first quarter. This is equivalent to almost a 7,000% annual increase in communication compared with the previous results. Managers said that their employees were more engaged, and less hesitant to provide feedback because their messages were anonymous. Employers also took advantage of the broadcasting feature that enabled them to reach their workforce with announcements through text messages. Previously, they had broadcasted messages using flyers or audio announcements. Not only was communication streamlined, but grievance and question management as well. We calculated that Factory Five took an average of 5 days to close a single case, a huge improvement from their monthly basis resolution. On average, we see a 90% reduction in response time to workers’ questions and complaints. Through the platform’s case management feature, Factory Five was also able to measure the frequency of certain question and grievance case types, allowing managers to broadcast information to reduce the need for employees to ask additional questions. This increase in efficiency of communication enabled them to create a stronger work culture and improve engagement.

The economic impacts of COVID have been especially hard for the world's poorest. Factory workers globally have faced lay-offs, cuts in wages and hours and confusion about safety protocols and laws. A recent paper by Cornell and the International Labor Organization (ILO), provides some of the first data on impact of the pandemic on garment workers thus far; "The typical worker lost out on at least two to four weeks of work with only three in five workers being called back to the factory. Among those still employed in the second quarter of 2020, declines in earnings and delays in wage payments were also common." The paper also found that, women have been disproportionality affected by the crisis. In Asia and the Pacific, the garment industry is the largest employer of women. The challenges faced by factory in workers in general, combined with child care closures and increased gender-based violence has put women at greater risk than ever, and threatens to reverse "previous gains achieved towards closing some gender gaps." Governments' constantly shifting COVID policies and economic relief packages have caused additional confusion and anxiety amongst employers and workers. In most countries, it is still unclear if the government economic support will be sufficient. The paper calls for stakeholders throughout the supply chain to step up their efforts and to work to develop a more resilient and sustainable post-COVID-19 future for the garment industry. Labor Solutions partnered with Better Work and several other organizations to develop and release atun, a free mobile app designed to support factory workers impacted by COVID. Consider supporting atun today.

Around the world, companies can face steep fines for breaking laws that govern their industries. Non-compliance is not only expensive, it can jeopardize a company’s long-term future. However, compliance trainings can educate employees on the relevant laws and policies that apply to their job responsibilities and what to do when those rules are broken.  By implementing a comprehensive compliance training program, organizations can help protect themselves from potential risks and establish cultures of transparency and excellence. eLearning enables companies to effectively and efficiently deliver these compliance trainings to workers on a mass scale. Not only can employers distribute e-learning trainings quickly, they can also track training progress and completion. In addition, studies show knowledge retention rates are high with e-learning. For employees, e-learning offers convenience. Employees can fit e-learning compliance trainings into their schedules, rather than adjusting according to set training times and locations. Furthermore, employees have the freedom to complete e-learning trainings on their smart phones, laptops or desktop computers, instead of traveling to a designated location. Compliance Training Solutions from Labor Solutions Labor Solutions offers a suite of compliance trainings in an e-learning format, with additional trainings in professional development and personal wellbeing. Labor Solutions can also create customized trainings for organizations to address specific compliance program needs. Below is a list of e-learning compliance trainings currently available from Labor Solutions: Working and Living Conditions Trainings: Harassment & Abuse Working Hours Wages & Benefits Discrimination Dormitories Workplace Safety Trainings: Fire Safety Equipment & Machine Safety Chemical Safety Worker Support Systems Trainings: Grievance Handling Freedom of Association Illegal Labor Practices Trainings: Underage Labor Forced Labor Unauthorized Sub-contracting For more information about corporate compliance e-learning trainings, including customized training options, contact info@laborsolutions.tech.