In early 2022, Spain signaled a shift toward mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. The Spanish government’s Plan Normativo 2022  included a proposal for a national law requiring transnational companies to conduct due diligence across their value chains—an agenda supported by civil society and unions, including Plataforma por Empresas Responsables . ( Plataforma por Empresas Responsables ) Since then, the regulatory landscape has moved quickly. The biggest change is that mandatory due diligence is no longer only a national policy debate —it is now anchored in EU law. The EU baseline is now set: CSDDD is law The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive— Directive (EU) 2024/1760 —was adopted in June 2024 and published in the Official Journal in July 2024. It establishes a due diligence framework requiring in-scope companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and bring to an end adverse human rights and environmental impacts through appropriate measures, including stakeholder engagement and grievance mechanisms. ( EUR-Lex ) That matters for Spain for two reasons: Spain (like other Member States) must align national implementation with the Directive through transposition and enforcement. ( EUR-Lex ) For many companies operating in Spain or selling into the EU, the practical question is no longer whether  due diligence expectations are coming—but how quickly they can build systems that work in practice . What Spain’s 2022 push signaled Spain’s 2022 plan—supported by civil society and unions—outlined the building blocks of a modern mandatory due diligence law, including: due diligence across the value chain, with prevention, mitigation, and remedy participation of unions and civil society (including collective action on behalf of victims) sanctions for failure to comply strengthened access to justice for affected people and communities ( Plataforma por Empresas Responsables ) This aligns closely with the direction of EU policy, which increasingly emphasizes effectiveness, accountability, and real access to remedy , not just disclosure. What companies should do now (regardless of how Spain’s national law evolves) Whether companies are preparing for EU-level obligations, Spanish implementation, or buyer expectations, the most resilient approach is to treat HRDD as an operating capability , not a policy exercise. Here are the practical actions that matter most: Build worker-informed risk assessment—not audit-only risk assessment Periodic audits can be useful, but they have known blind spots (timing, sampling, and management-filtered information). Strong due diligence requires risk assessment that is grounded in lived experience  and updated often enough to catch emerging risks. What “good” looks like: ongoing worker input (surveys, structured feedback loops, grievance data) triangulation across data sources (audit + worker voice + supplier performance) documented prioritization and action tracking over time This approach is consistent with international expectations that companies understand impacts by engaging affected stakeholders. Ensure operational grievance mechanisms are known, trusted, and used Under the UN Guiding Principles, companies are expected to establish or participate in operational-level grievance mechanisms—and effectiveness is a core requirement, not a nice-to-have. Low grievance volume is not proof of low risk.  ( EUR-Lex ) What to test (not assume): Do workers know the channels exist? Can they access them regardless of literacy, language, or technology constraints? Do they trust the mechanism enough to use it without retaliation fears? Does the mechanism lead to timely and appropriate outcomes? Is there evidence of remedy and prevention of recurrence? Make remedy real: close the loop and prevent recurrence Modern due diligence expectations are not satisfied by “intake” alone. Companies need evidence of: investigation and case handling remediation actions taken escalation pathways for serious harms systemic fixes and prevention (training, policy change, supplier capacity building) Document effectiveness (because scrutiny is increasing) Regulators, buyers, investors, and civil society increasingly evaluate whether systems function in practice. That means companies should be able to show: participation metrics (who is reached, where gaps remain) response and resolution timelines recurring themes and systemic issues corrective action completion and follow-up how findings informed sourcing, remediation, and prevention decisions Why this matters in Spain right now Spain’s 2022 proposal reflected growing public and institutional pressure to move from voluntary commitments to enforceable standards—supported by coalitions like Plataforma por Empresas Responsables. ( Plataforma por Empresas Responsables ) Now that the EU has codified a due diligence framework via Directive (EU) 2024/1760 , the practical implication for companies is clear: prepare for due diligence as a normal operating requirement —and focus on mechanisms that work in the real world, especially for rights holders. What to do now Businesses can proactively remediate human rights risks by developing holistic ecosystem to promote mandatory supply chain due diligence. To find out more about how Labor Solutions can leverage our decade of human rights risk assessment experience to support your business, get in touch at info@laborsolutions.tech . For practical examples of how this can be operationalized through worker engagement and grievance systems, explore the adidas case studies: https://www.laborsolutions.tech/post/adidas-csddd-worker-engagement-blueprint https://www.laborsolutions.tech/post/adidas

Since 2021, Labor Solutions has partnered with Decathlon and over 100 suppliers to deploy the worker engagement and wellbeing survey ( EWB ) first developed by Nike and now deployed across multiple brands. The survey addresses six areas: 🛠️ Skills Development 💬 Communication 😰 Stress at Work 💸 Remuneration 🏥 Health and Safety 🤝 Social Connection Employee engagement is essential to continuously improve working conditions in production. Not only are engaged workers more likely to feel physically and mentally secure, but having an engaged workforce is proven to fundamentally shift overarching business and social issues such as compensation, overtime, and workplace conditions. For Decathlon, worker engagement and wellbeing is part of a program aimed at making partner suppliers autonomous in their human risk management. Worker surveys provide management with the information they need to make effective decisions. Lilian Meyer , Partner Autonomy Programme Leader at Decathlon says, “employee engagement is essential, if we are to continuously improve working conditions in production. Thanks to our suppliers’ self-assessment of their human risks and this new survey tool, we and more importantly our partner suppliers have a 360-degree view of worker well-being on site, thus making it possible to define areas for improvement.” When starting the program Decathlon wanted to ensure partners implemented scalable technology platforms which included other tools besides worker surveys to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the program. Decathlon also placed supplier long term autonomy at the center of their program, requiring functions like, the ability for suppliers to add their own questions to surveys. Labor Solutions’ ethos and fit well with Decathlon’s goals. Once WOVO is implemented at a site, management teams can add additional tools to support other goals, like communication, engagement and education. At the center of Labor Solutions’ success is our approach to collaborating with suppliers. Worker voice and engagement are all about trust and trust starts with how a project is introduced. Labor Solutions adapts to each supplier’s situation to offer individualized assistance (Internet access, smartphones, languages spoken by employees, etc.), guaranteeing confidentiality and easy access for respondents. Following the survey, Labor Solutions works with management teams to understand the results and then to design and manage a one-year improvement plan based on the survey results. Some facilities choose to take additional steps to better understand results and develop regular engagement routines, like working with Labor Solutions to conduct focus group discussions (FGD) or implementing the WOVO Connect feature to get daily feedback from workers. WOVO’s survey tool allows suppliers to own and view their survey process and data – with the freedom to add survey questions, drive deeper into results, deploy using the best method for their facility and address risks as they arise – all while giving brands a birds-eye view of what’s really going on in their supply chain. This project has been interesting to work on, “the results are different per factory and each facility chooses to work on something different, but it is always driven by worker feedback. Management is engaged because they’ve never had this type of data before and are curious to learn more,” said Bijie Li, SVP of Client Services. The program is ongoing, surveys are conducted annually and improvement plans are evaluated and updated based on results. Labor Solutions and Decathlon continue to partner and hope to reach more suppliers by 2025. Beyond Surveys Our work didn't stop with surveys, we worked with Decathlon's suppliers on a host of improvement activities from in-depth surveys, training and creating action plans. Each supplier needs different follow up support and Labor Solutions flexible tool kit and advisors have supported suppliers in their journey to have quality systems that support and engage workers.  Start Empowering Your Partner Facilities Labor Solutions’ tools and services are designed to engage, connect, and educate workers across global supply chains by empowering suppliers to own human rights data and address risks as they arise. Whether you are starting with any scale supplier employment project – we tackle all challenges big or small – get in touch with our team at info@laborsolutions.tech or fill out our contact form.

For years, Nike, Inc. has been a leader in improving factory worker conditions, going beyond compliance by providing resources and support to its manufacturing partners. Over the last few years, with the help of vendors like Labor Solutions, Nike has developed, piloted, and deployed at scale their worker Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (EWB). The EWB is designed to help suppliers better track and facilitate factory worker engagement. Featuring 21 questions, the survey covers topics like safety, stress, financial security, and general wellbeing. The goal of the survey is to help managers identify opportunities to better support employees and encourage two-way communication. Nike EWB Survey for Supply Chain Workers Now Available to Everyone Recently, Nike publicly shared the EWB survey in an effort to encourage industry-wide support of worker engagement and wellbeing activities. “Industry collaboration is critical in preventing the replacement of ‘audit fatigue’ with ‘survey fatigue,’” comments Bijie Li, Head of Client Advisory Services at Labor Solutions, “I am encouraged by the sharing of this survey so the industry can work together to use surveying strategically and successfully to create change.” According to Li, the biggest challenge facing the survey industry is that surveys will be used as a scoring mechanism for factories. “If brands and industry groups start applying value judgments to survey results, we risk that workers will be coached, results will be skewed, and change will not occur,” explains Li. “Rather than viewing feedback from workers as either good or bad, we should recognize that getting any kind of feedback from workers is valuable. Disengaged workers rarely give feedback and when they are forced to do so they often lie because they don’t believe their voice can create change.” Li is encouraged that Nike, in addition to releasing the EWB questions, is sharing a white paper that includes best practices for survey use. Among other things, the white paper highlights the importance of factory management engagement and follow-up with workers in a timely manner after the survey is completed. It also notes that a survey is not the solution, but a “starting point to catalyze factory management to further engage employees.” Nike explains that the survey was created as a way of providing better feedback to management, so “it is most effective when bundled into a technology platform that enables communication with management.” Labor Solutions- An Approved EWB Vendor More EWB Deployments than Any Other Vendro For over eight years Labor Solutions is an authorized Nike EWB partner and has deployed more EWB surveys globally than any other provider, supporting suppliers across regions ( Latin America, Europe and Asia) , facility types, and workforce profiles. “The Labor Solutions team has learned a lot through the consistent deployment of the EWB around the world, including how to respond to unexpected results, how to successfully deploy the survey  using technology platforms like SMS and WOVO, and how to navigate the relationship between a brand and its supplier when presenting data,” explains Li. Supplier First Approach Our approach is uniquely focused on supplier engagement and practical outcomes, rather than treating the survey solely as a brand compliance exercise. This focus supports stronger worker participation, clearer insights, and more actionable results for management teams. Through our EWB deployments, we support suppliers with: Deployment via a variety of methods, including onsite, QR codes, app based and more End-to-end EWB survey implementation Worker-facing communication and onboarding that drives participation Secure, confidential data collection Clear reporting outputs to support internal review, prioritization, and follow-up actions Beyond Survey Deployment- Supporting Focus Group Discussions, Improvement Plans and More Beyond delivering the survey, Labor Solutions has also conducted follow-up focus group discussions and helped craft solutions for participating facilities. One such solution is WOVO , a mobile and web-based worker engagement and communication platform developed by Labor Solutions. “Perhaps the most rewarding part of the process is seeing how the factories are using the data to effectively create change.” Beyond the EWB- Other Industry Standard Surveys Labor Solutions has extensive experience delivering worker surveys across footwear and apparel manufacturing, working with factories of varying sizes, workforce compositions, and production models. We support suppliers in meeting global brand standards while remaining responsive to local operational needs, ensuring surveys are practical, accessible, and meaningful for both workers and management teams. Learn more about Labor Solutions' Industry Standard Survey offers . For more information about the EWB survey, contact info@laborsolutions.tech .

The WELL Worker Survey was designed to be modular and for each company to decide which indicators work best for them. But there is one indicator we always encourage everyone to include. Worker engagement is one of the most important signals we track, and within WELL there is one question we always recommend asking, every time: worker Net Promoter Score (eNPS). We always recommend asking the NPS question every survey. What is a Worker Net Promoter Score? Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a comparable metric that measures worker satisfaction and engagement, offering insight into safety, retention probabilities, and assessing workers' momentum and willingness to improve their workplace. The question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or family?” Why We Love It First and foremost, it's easy to deploy at scale and easy for workers to understand. It is uniquely globally comparable. Its simplicity helps eliminate other variables impacting workers' responses. Worker survey results are shaped by a range of factors that make comparison difficult. Workers who don’t know their rights may report being treated fairly when they’re not. Highly engaged workers often hold their employers to a higher standard and can score specific topics more critically because they trust management to respond. Cultural norms and gender dynamics further complicate interpretation—for example, women often report being more satisfied with pay than men even when paid less. All of this makes topic-level benchmarking across a supply chain unreliable if it’s taken at face value. eNPS cuts through much of that noise. It is one of the few questions that is genuinely globally comparable. It helps distinguish between workers who are engaged but constructively critical, and workers who are disengaged because legitimate grievances are not being addressed. That distinction is critical when deciding where to focus time and resources. You’ll always need to ask it and it’s always changing. Engagement is not something that is ever “solved.” It changes over time and reflects whether workers feel heard and whether employers are responding. Regardless of how mature a company is, this is a signal you always want to be tracking. Buyers, Suppliers, and Direct Employers Alike Like This Question From a supplier perspective, this question generally lands well. Suppliers tend to push back on surveys when questions feel like compliance checks or policing—particularly when they already know the answer. eNPS is different. Not only is eNPS a great tool for global companies looking to better understand their supply chains, but it’s also a great tool for employers to better understand their workforce and increase the bottom line. Gallup research shows  companies with engaged workforces are 23% more profitable and have 81% lower absenteeism. Worker Engagement is Key to Safety + Due Diligence Engagement is one of the strongest predictors of long-term safety. Engaged workers hold employers accountable, and engaged employers are more likely to identify and address risks early. For that reason, we see eNPS as an important signal within human rights due diligence—not on its own, but as part of a broader worker voice system. Human rights due diligence and remediation must be a collaborative, ongoing effort. Direct employers must be engaged in the process and actively working to identify and remediate risks. NPS is a great way to determine if suppliers are doing this. When global companies are inundated with supplier information and data and looking to focus on one key data point—we always recommend focusing on worker NPS. Reporting and follow-up Reporting Tools to Understand Results Labor Solutions’ survey reporting tool provides clear comparable results for NPS. In WOVO, eNPS follows the standard methodology: workers scoring 9–10  are promoters (the people most engaged), 7–8  are passives, and 0–6  are detractors (the most likely to be disengaged and speak negatively about their employer). eNPS on WOVO Results are shown on the standard -100 to +100 scale, alongside the distribution of responses and changes over time. eNPS Reporting on WOVO Like our other question types, WOVO eNPS score instantly provides a change value from the previous time asked in the series of surveys and charts can be viewed as a proportion stacked bar, count bar, and automatic over time when applicable. Beautifully Simple, but It’s Just a Starting Point eNPS is a great starting point to dig deeper. Worker surveys alone are never a solution. They are guideposts to help global companies and their suppliers know where to dig deeper. We always recommend following up on survey questionnaires, and sometimes that involves asking more questions. Results from an eNPS help us ask better follow-up questions that may not have been captured by the first survey. Reach out to your Labor Solutions to learn more about eNPS and the WELL Worker Survey .

Capturing Supply Chain Workers’ Reality to Understand Underlying Risks Requires Asking the Right Worker Survey Questions After nearly a decade of conducting supply chain worker surveys and Labor Solutions has still never closed a survey without reaching a statistically relevant sample size. Our difference is in the details and ultimately it is how we design our tools and services for every stakeholder’s needs. The needs of each stakeholder are considered, not only in the design process but also in the support Labor Solutions provides. Critical to our survey’s success are the types of questions we ask. The WELL Worker Survey is intentionally designed around experience-based questions . This is not accidental — it is the result of nearly a decade of testing, iteration, and real-world deployment across complex supply chains. While limited customization is possible in specific cases, our worker surveys are purpose-built to prioritize experience-based questions , because this approach consistently delivers the most reliable, honest, and actionable insights. Fact-based and issue-based questions may seem efficient, but they rarely capture how workers actually experience their workplace. All WELL Survey questions are experience-based by design . Rather than asking workers to confirm the existence of policies, procedures, or equipment, WELL focuses on how those systems are felt and lived by workers day to day. This ensures feedback collected in the worker survey is authentic, reduces the risk of coaching, and surfaces issues that would otherwise remain hidden. Consider these two questions: ​ Survey Question What we Learn Ask ​Do you feel safe at work? ​This experience-based question: Allows the worker to feel at ease – there is no right or wrong answer to how you “feel” Engages suppliers who are also interested Captures all safety aspects Helps uncover, unknown issues Instead of ​Is there a fire extinguisher? This issue-based question: Puts pressure on the worker + makes them feel like there is a right answer The supplier already knows the answer to this question. By asking this question suppliers think you don’t trust them + are more likely to coach workers The question only assesses one safety issue Learn More with Experience-Based Worker Survey Questions Allows workers to feel at ease There is no right or wrong answer to an experience-based question, so workers can feel comfortable sharing their true thoughts and feelings. This can lead to more honest and open feedback. Engages direct employers (suppliers) Suppliers are more likely to be interested in providing feedback when they feel like it is not just fact-finding but also interested in listening to their workers’ opinions. Experience-based questions show that you are truly interested in hearing about experiences, not just getting a checklist of facts. Captures things that haven’t happened Fact-based questions can only assess specific safety issues. Experience-based questions allow workers to share their thoughts on all aspects of safety, from the physical environment to the work culture. Uncovers unknown issues Workers may not always be aware of the safety risks in their workplace. Experience-based questions can help them to identify and raise concerns about potential hazards. Issue-Based Worker Survey Questions Don't Work Puts pressure on workers Workers may feel like there is a right or wrong answer to a fact-based or issue-based question. This can make them feel uncomfortable and less likely to share their true thoughts. Employers already know the answer Employers are often very familiar with the safety standards and procedures at their own workplaces. Asking them fact-based or issue-based questions is not likely to yield new information. Damages trust If suppliers feel like you don't trust them to keep their workers safe, they are less likely to be open and honest with you. Asking fact-based or issue-based questions can send the message that you don't trust them. Designing Surveys That Lead to Action Effective worker surveys are not built by assembling individual questions — they are built through intentional design . Every question in WELL exists because it answers a specific question: What experience are we trying to understand? What decision or action will this insight inform? How does this question contribute to a holistic picture of worker wellbeing? ​Question Intention/Goal ​Question/Statement Holistic understanding of safety I feel safe at work. Pay is transparent. Workers understand their payslips.  I understand how my pay is calculated. Workers are treated with Respect At work, I am treated with fairness and respect. By standardizing experience-based questions across facilities and regions, Labor Solutions ensures results are comparable, trustworthy, and actionable  — without putting unnecessary pressure on workers or suppliers. For almost a decade, Labor Solutions has worked closely with complex supply chains to identify and address these complex needs to create an effective and industry-leading survey tool that covers all these bases and more. Learn more about deploying effective supply chain worker surveys with WOVO Engage and the WELL Survey .

Companies using the Nike Employee Wellbeing Survey (EWB) can now add a question section on gender to our worker voice surveys and gain a deeper understanding of gender-specific issues within their workforce and supply chain. In 2019, Nike made their Engagement and Wellbeing Survey (EWB) for workers open source. Nike spent years working with vendors like Labor Solutions to develop, test, and deploy scale their worker survey to support its manufacturing partners worldwide to understand and improve conditions for workers. [Find out more about our offerings on Industry Standard Worker Surveys ] Since then, several other large multinational companies have leveraged the survey within their global supply chains to help suppliers better understand worker needs and identify issues in order to provide focused and tailored support. The use of the EWB as the standard survey across the industry is not only practical, but important to prevent survey fatigue, to ensure the quality of survey responses by using a highly vetted and tested question bank, and to facilitate industry collaboration and shared learning using a common standard. The EWB has quickly become the go-to survey to understand worker well-being generally, but it does have limitations. In an effort to keep the survey short and globally applicable, the EWB does not provide a deep dive into specific topics or ask questions designed to explore the conditions facing more vulnerable populations, like marginalized genders or migrant workers. This is quickly changing. Labor Solutions and our partners have been working to add thematic question sets that can be included with the EWB and provide a deeper understanding of specific issues and experiences. The first of these collaborations was with The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) Advisors’ Gender Equity Worker Engagement Group (GEWEG) , which includes and is funded by; Primark, Amazon, Nike, PUMA, Ralph Lauren and others. The GEWEG has now made available T he Gender Equity Work Survey as a public good, allowing companies globally to add five questions to the EWB, or other surveys, to better understand the gender-related vulnerabilities and lived experiences of factory workers. For those seeking a deeper dive, the group also published a longer question set. More partnerships and EWB survey expansions into important human rights topics to come. Contact us about any specific issues or topics you would like to cover in your next worker survey. ABOUT THE SURVEY The Gender Equity Worker Survey from ICRW Advisors is comprised of 26 questions that measure progress on gender equity issues from the perspective of factory employees. The long version of the tool has 21 experience questions and five demographic questions. The survey is designed to be completed in 10-15 minutes. The short version of the tool has five experience questions, which were carefully selected to serve as a supplement and add a gender lens to existing worker surveys, like the Nike Employee Wellbeing Survey (EWB). The goal of the gender equity question set is to help factory managers gather deeper insights, catalyze dialogue, and improve action planning to promote gender equity. Over time, it can enable supplier managers to see progress in their own factories year-on-year. We recommend using the survey in its entirety or using the five-question short version. For factories or brands who are already regularly deploying another worker voice survey, like the EWB, the five-question short survey is sufficient. For richer insights, the gender equity worker survey questions can be deployed in combination with the ICRW Gender Equity Self-Diagnostic Tool (SDT) which is designed to help supplier managers review and understand the extent of gender integration across factory policies, practices, initiatives, and operations. Together these tools can be used to generate a snapshot of the factory’s performance related to gender equity, identify new opportunities with a high likelihood of gender equity impact, and help inform new priority areas for action. ICRW Advisors is a global gender consultancy that guides clients with evidence-based, actionable insights and solutions to enhance intersectional social impact and drive business value. ICRW Advisors offers a range of services, including customized gender diagnostics, strategy design, capacity building, measurement, and evaluation to help clients become more gender equitable across their full range of operations. Clients include companies, investors, development agencies, foundations, and leading NGOs. Labor Solutions, a women-owned and -led impact-focused business, leverages technology to build resilient supply chains by connecting , engaging and educating workers. Over 1.8 million workers in 28 countries use Labor Solutions’ worker engagement platform, WOVO Engage . 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.

A Labor Solutions Case Study Case Study Snapshot Company:  adidas Industry:  Apparel / Manufacturing Challenge:  Meeting CSDDD worker engagement and remedy requirements at scale Solution:  WOVO worker voice, grievance mechanism, and surveys Results: 400,000+ workers reached 99% grievance resolution rate <12h response time 76% worker satisfaction Using Worker Voice to Meet CSDDD Regulations The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires companies to engage individuals or groups whose rights or interests are, or could be, affected by their operations—this clearly includes workers in global supply chains. To meet this challenge, many leading brands are partnering with Labor Solutions to implement scalable, tech-enabled worker engagement tools. These tools not only connect companies directly to workers but also generate actionable data to strengthen human rights due diligence efforts. adidas is leading by example, using WOVO by Labor Solutions to engage workers directly, strengthen CSDDD compliance and drive measurable improvements across its supply chain. In adidas’ 2024 Annual Report , the company outlined their comprehensive and impactful approach to using WOVO to engage workers as part of their due diligence and improvement process. Scalable Worker Voice + Worker Engagement Across the Supply Chain Widespread Use of Worker Voice Tools Throughout adidas's Entire T1 Supply Chain adidas has deployed WOVO across 100% of its strategic Tier 1 supplier facilities, reaching over 400,000 workers in 105 manufacturing sites across 16 countries. WOVO is a key component of adidas’ worker engagement strategy. The annual report explains how adidas leverages WOVO’s grievance mechanism and worker survey features to ensure “workers can voice concerns, complaints, or grievances related to material risks and impacts – as well as the full range of human rights and labor rights risks that workers in the upstream value chain may face.” WOVO also allows workers to access critical digital training on safety and wellbeing. A Trusted Grievance Mechanism A trusted and effective worker voice tool adidas has built a robust and reliable grievance system to ensure workers across its supply chain have accessible, trusted channels to guarantee “ access for workers in the upstream value chain to seek remedy.” Central to this system is WOVO’s operational grievance management platform , which is required at all Tier 1 supplier facilities. According to adidas’ 2024 Annual Report WOVO is "highly effective" and "trusted by workers" throughout the supply chain, evidenced by the “consistent, widespread”, “sustained usage" and "the high volume of cases received through the app.”    adidas closely monitors worker engagement with performance metrics to “ evaluate the efficacy of the grievance channels, see major cases in real time, and undertake timely interventions where necessary. ” “We are attentive to worker concerns and issues and continuously review and assess the feedback received through the WOVO platform...“It helps us understand the main challenges and labor rights issues... and undertake timely interventions where necessary.”— adidas 2024 Annual Report The annual report highlights several WOVO outcomes used by adidas as key impact and engagement measures: 35,700 worker grievances submitted through WOVO 9% Utlization Rate of the grievance System 99% resolution rate by year-end 76% satisfaction rate , up from 39% in 2019 Response time under 12 hours , down from 49 hours in 2020 Proactively Listening to Workers: Worker Surveys To complement its grievance channels, adidas conducts Worker Pulse surveys via the WOVO Engage platform —a tool that enables the company to efficiently gather insights into worker sentiment and awareness without needing to launch separate systems or standalone initiatives. These short, digital surveys are conducted twice a year across all strategic supplier factories and focus on critical workplace issues such as communication, harassment and abuse, and the effectiveness of grievance mechanisms. The survey includes six key statements, with workers asked to rate their level of agreement. Topics include, comfort speaking up or raising complaints, confidence in talking to supervisors and willingness to recommend the factory to friends. The results indicate a strong and growing trust in workplace systems and culture. Since 2020, favourable responses across all questions have increased steadily— from 78% in 2020 to nearly 90% in 2024. In 2024, 46,000 workers participated in a Gender Equality Survey to help advance adidas’ understanding of workers’ experiences using a gender lens. By using WOVO to deploy surveys, adidas is able to seemlessly launch worker surveys at a moments notices, ensuring worker voice is not only continuously captured, but easily scalable and repeatable—helping the company monitor progress, track sentiment trends, and strengthen accountability throughout its supply chain. Real-time data for better due diligence adidas uses WOVO not just for engagement, but for strategic decision-making. WOVO data feeds into adidas’ human rights due diligence systems and internal social compliance performance scores. The data allows adidas to identify gaps in supplier practices, policies, and broader human rights due diligence systems. This feedback loop strengthens adidas’ ability to monitor, anticipate, and proactively respond to potential labor risks—making due diligence a living, dynamic process rather than a reactive compliance exercise. Making Worker Engagement a Supplier KPI: Turning Engagement into Accountability adidas doesn’t stop at collecting worker data—it builds accountability into its supplier relationships. All strategic suppliers are required to implement WOVO, ensuring each has a robust and standardized worker engagement system in place. To measure success, adidas incorporates “measures such as resolution and satisfaction rate of workers’ grievances and participation rate in workers satisfaction surveys” into its supplier key performance indicators. This makes worker engagement not just a value, but a measurable standard of supplier performance. Worker Voice + Engagement as a Strategic Asset + a Cornerstone of adidas' Due Diligence + CSDDD Compliance adidas’ success with WOVO offers a blueprint for brands navigating today’s complex regulatory environment. It shows how digital grievance mechanisms, when fully embedded into compliance frameworks, can: Meet international expectations under laws like CSDDD Improve real-time visibility into factory conditions Build a more responsive and rights-respecting supply chain For adidas, WOVO is more than a worker voice tool—it’s an accountability system that gives workers a voice, empowers suppliers to improve, and keeps the brand at the forefront of ethical business practices. The result is a more responsive, resilient, and rights-respecting supply chain—where worker insights directly shape better outcomes for people and business alike. As regulatory pressure grows and expectations for responsible sourcing rise, brands like adidas show that investing in worker engagement isn’t just a legal obligation—it’s a strategic advantage. Why it Matters What This Case Study Shows About Worker Voice + CSDDD This case study illustrates how worker engagement can move beyond a compliance requirement to become an operational asset within human rights due diligence systems. Worker engagement can be embedded into due diligence, not treated as a parallel activity. adidas integrates worker voice data directly into its human rights due diligence processes and social compliance performance scores, enabling real-time monitoring and informed decision-making rather than retrospective assessments. Access to remedy depends on trust, usability, and consistent availability. The sustained and widespread use of grievance channels across adidas’ supply chain demonstrates that accessibility alone is not enough—mechanisms must be trusted by workers, responsive in practice, and supported by clear follow-up and resolution processes. Grievance and survey data can function as leading indicators of risk. By analyzing grievance trends, response times, and worker sentiment, adidas is able to identify emerging labor risks, prioritize interventions, and address systemic issues before they escalate. Scalability is critical for meaningful worker engagement in global supply chains. Implementing standardized worker engagement tools across all strategic Tier 1 suppliers allows adidas to ensure consistency, comparability, and coverage—key factors for meeting regulatory expectations under frameworks like CSDDD. Making worker engagement measurable strengthens accountability. By incorporating grievance resolution, satisfaction rates, and participation metrics into supplier KPIs, adidas links worker voice directly to supplier performance, reinforcing expectations and accountability throughout the supply chain. Together, these elements show how worker voice and engagement, when fully integrated into due diligence systems, can strengthen regulatory compliance while improving transparency, responsiveness, and outcomes for workers. A Blueprint to Follow Ready to implement a similar program but need a clear starting point? Request a Demo. And read how adidas did it.

Labor Solutions 2025: Growth, Reach, and Impact 52% More Workers Reached. In 2025, Labor Solutions expanded its reach from 2.5 million to 3.8 million workers—a 52% increase. This worker centered impact was not about collecting more data, but about listening more effectively to workers across global supply chains. As the only provider focused exclusively on worker and supplier engagement in global supply chains, our results demonstrate that our methodology works—at scale and across supplier maturity levels. What's new Building Interconnected Systems for Worker-Centered Due Diligence In 2025, we focused on building worker-driven, scalable, interconnected solutions that turn worker and supplier input into action. We launched the WELL Worker Survey   —the industry’s first modular worker survey—alongside Improve , a digital self-assessment and action-planning tool for suppliers, and aligned our full toolset, including eLearning , to WELL indicators. The WELL Survey provides a shared foundation for high-quality, actionable data—enabling global comparability, industry learning, and real improvement. Its modular design has driven early, broad adoption and is already delivering measurable impact. Together, WELL, Improve and eLearning create a closed-loop, worker-driven system: insights surface gaps, and Improve enables fast, targeted improvement through action planning, training, and follow-up. The early results demonstrate clear, measurable impact. Results Listening to Workers Drives Change Across agriculture, electronics, apparel, and seafood, companies are using Labor Solutions tools in three consistent ways —and seeing measurable results. Seeing What Audits Miss: Worker Voice Reveals Risks Compliance Tools Overlook Worker feedback gathered through the WELL Survey consistently surfaced risks audits miss. In electronics supply chains, survey results revealed illegal recruitment fees at 35% of audited suppliers and low trust in grievance mechanisms at 27%. In agriculture, worker surveys identified zero-tolerance risks such as debt bondage, enabling companies to identify and remediate high-risk sites in days—not audit cycles. Building Supplier Ownership + Maturity: How Brands are Using Labor Solutions Tools in Practice Long-term impact depends on supplier-owned systems that workers trust and use. Learn how brands are embedding the WOVO app  and worker engagement across their entire Tier 1 suppliers and reaching hundreds of thousands of workers at once. Focusing Measurement Where It Matters Most:  How One Electronics Company Gained Real Visibility into Supplier Grievance Mechanisms Brands are supporting suppliers through focused interventions—such as additional training on priority topics like chemical safety—and by strengthening critical systems, including operational grievance mechanisms aligned with due diligence requirements. Tools like WELL  and IMPROVE  enable companies to assess the effectiveness of existing systems, identify gaps, and support supplier improvement in a targeted, practical way. By focusing measurement where risk is greatest, companies can move beyond compliance and drive measurable progress across their supply chains. Listening at Scale Launching the WELL Survey  The WELL Survey: Listening to Workers to Create Better, Safer Workplaces + Value Chains In 2025 Labor Solutions launched the WELL Survey  — a modular, risk-based, worker-centered survey framework designed to capture lived experience, surface hidden risks (including as part of an HRDD Process), and generate actionable insights. WELL was developed through a multi-stakeholder design process led by organizations that have deployed thousands of worker surveys reaching millions of workers worldwide for over a decade.  Since launching, the WELL Survey is used by nearly 20 brands across agriculture, seafood, electronics, footwear and apparel, and telecommunications . Companies are using it not as a standalone diagnostic, but as a core input into HRDD, supplier engagement, and improvement planning. From Insight to Action Aligning Tools for Faster Improvement + Worker Centered Impact  We aligned our broader toolset — including Improve and eLearning   — to the WELL Survey Indicators . This alignment allows gaps identified through surveys and assessments to be addressed quickly and systematically through action planning, training, and follow-up.  WOVO Improve: Turning Worker Feedback into Real-Time Supplier Action Listening alone is not enough. To ensure worker insights lead to measurable change, Labor Solutions also launched WOVO Improve in 2025— a self-assessment and action-planning platform  designed to translate worker feedback into sustained follow-up managed by supplier teams in real time. Improve enables suppliers to assess system maturity, prioritize corrective actions, and track progress over time — closing the loop between what workers report and what changes on the ground. Together, the WELL Survey and Improve form a continuous improvement cycle: listen → assess → act → track .  WOVO Educate: Digital Learning to Support Workers + Suppliers at Scale As part of this effort, Labor Solutions released 24 new eLearning modules ,  including courses on:  Climate Change and the Workplace   Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue   Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) , developed with GIZ , available in 8 languages  with 7 country-specific modules Workers and managers can easily access these courses and more via the WOVO app or online learning management system. Looking Ahead Our Changing Landscape In an AI World Direct Worker Input and Primary Data Sets are More Important than Ever As AI makes information and data cheaper and more abundant, quality matters more than ever. Direct worker voice that is experience-based, hard to fabricate, and grounded in daily reality remains the anchor of truth for effective human rights due diligence. Real Impact When Worker Voice is Embedded into Human Resources and Operations, Results Improve. Visibility and communication increase. Turnover reduces and productivity increases. Risks are identified and mitigated. Suppliers are supported — and accountability becomes the engine for continuous improvement. WOVO tools give workers a voice and an accountability system, supplier management teams the knowledge and resources to identify and address their own risks, and brands the ability to see where support is needed. Thank you to our partners, clients, and team for making 2025 a foundational year for change. Ready to have a conversation about the impact worker voice can have for you?

A Collection of Labor Solutions Case Studies Companies are increasingly moving beyond standalone audits and one-off assessments toward worker-informed, system-level due diligence . Across industries and regions, leading brands use Labor Solutions tools to see what audits miss, focus on priority risks, and build supplier-owned systems that reduce risk over time. Beyond Audit-Based Compliance Seeing What Audits Miss  Audits provide a baseline, but they are not designed to capture how labor risks show up in daily practice. Companies use worker surveys as additional due diligence —particularly for high-risk or strategic suppliers—to validate audit results, surface blind spots, and prioritize action. Blind Spots, Zero-Tolerance Risks + Deep Supply Chain Insights from Worker Surveys in Agriculture   Agriculture : Surveying 38K workers and farmers across five countries revealed where risk was highest—and where assumptions were wrong—enabling targeted remediation and more credible due diligence. When Audits Said “All Clear,” Workers Told a Different Story Electronics:  Worker surveys across 50+ suppliers uncovered risks audits failed to detect, helping the brand identify high-risk sites within days and move faster on targeted remediation. Focused Measurement and Support Targeting Priority Risks and Impact As due diligence expectations rise, companies are shifting from broad assessments to targeted measurement and support —focusing on specific systems, risks, and worker populations to drive meaningful improvement. Assessing + Strengthening Grievance Mechanism Effectiveness for Due Diligence Grievance Mechanisms (Electronics):  A global electronics supply chain used a triangulated approach—combining WELL worker surveys , focus group discussions, and supplier self-assessments—to assess whether grievance mechanisms were effective in practice. Worker input revealed gaps in predictability, escalation, and follow-through, enabling targeted action plans now being implemented and tracked. Preventing Chemical Safety Risk in Electronics Manufacturing Using Targeted Training   Chemical Safety (Electronics):  In partnership with CEPN, Labor Solutions supported targeted chemical safety training for workers and managers in Tier 2+ facilities in Vietnam and Malaysia. The program strengthened awareness, prevention, and access to remedy—demonstrating how focused, role-specific training can function as a preventive and mitigative human rights due diligence measure. Surfacing Hidden Labor Risks in the Seafood Industry with the WELL Survey Sector Validation (Seafood):  A pilot in the seafood industry tested whether the WELL Survey could capture sector-specific risks and worker experience. The results confirmed that disaggregated, worker-centered surveys can surface fatigue, harassment, and gender-based risks often missed by audits—supporting confident scale-up in complex supply chains. Supplier Ownership and Maturity Building Stronger, Safer Workplaces through Worker Voice   Long-term risk reduction depends on supplier-owned systems that workers trust and use . Leading brands embed worker engagement into supplier expectations, performance metrics, and improvement processes to strengthen maturity over time. How adidas Uses WOVO's Worker Voice Tools to Power Social Compliance and Meet CSDDD Obligations in 100% of its T1 Suppliers adidas (what they achieved):  adidas has embedded worker engagement across 100% of its strategic Tier 1 suppliers, reaching 400,000+ workers across 105 factories in 16 countries. Using WOVO, adidas operates a trusted grievance system. According to adidas’ 2024 Annual Report, WOVO is "highly effective" and "trusted by workers" throughout the supply chain, evidenced by the “consistent, widespread”, “sustained usage" and "the high volume of cases received through the app.” The adidas Model: A Scalable Blueprint for Worker Voice and Engagement to Meet CSDDD Requirements adidas (how they did it):  A companion blueprint translates adidas’ approach into a scalable model for embedding worker engagement into governance, supplier KPIs, grievance systems, and due diligence processes. Decathlon's Supplier Autonomy Program Starts with a Worker Survey Decathlon : Decathlon also uses worker engagement tools to strengthen supplier accountability and continuous improvement, reinforcing safer workplaces and more resilient supply chains. Conclusion From Compliance to Continuous Improvement   Across these examples, a common pattern emerges:  worker input strengthens visibility, focus, and accountability . When worker voice is embedded into due diligence systems—not treated as a standalone activity—companies are better positioned to reduce risk, support suppliers, and deliver measurable improvement over time. Because workers know what audits can’t. Explore how worker voice supports effective due diligence.

In the Age of AI, Primary Data Sets are Critical Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how companies identify and manage human rights risks across global supply chains. Machine learning models can now analyze vast volumes of audit results, supplier documentation, satellite imagery, and external risk indicators—dramatically increasing speed, scale, and predictive capability. Amazon, for example, is experimenting with AI to analyze historical audit data and other signals to help predict and prioritize human rights risks  across its supply chain, enabling more targeted interventions and resource allocation. AI pilot projects like these show real promise in improving risk detection and foresight. But this evolution also introduces a critical challenge: as AI makes it easier to generate compliant-looking documentation, the reliability of traditional compliance data declines. Changing Landscape When Compliance Becomes Cheap, Signal Quality Matters More  Audits, policies, and self-reported assessments were designed to measure anticipated risks against known standards. Over time, suppliers have learned how these systems work—and how to prepare for them. In an AI-enabled environment, the cost of producing polished policies, reports, and audit-ready documentation drops even further. The result is a paradox: More data, less certainty. AI can efficiently analyze what exists—but it cannot determine whether that data reflects lived reality or optimized compliance. Models trained primarily on secondary or document-based sources risk amplifying blind spots, reinforcing historical bias, and missing emerging or informal forms of harm.  The Role of Primary Worker Data in an AI System  This is where worker voice primary data  becomes indispensable.  Direct, experience-based data from workers—surveys, grievance mechanisms, and confidential feedback—captures how systems actually function day to day. Unlike documentation, worker experience is difficult to fabricate at scale and far harder to “optimize” for compliance. It reflects real conditions: fear of retaliation, workload pressure, wage practices, supervisor behavior, and access to remedy. In an AI-enabled environment, worker voice is not a “soft” input—it is the highest-integrity signal  available.  AI can enhance pattern detection, prioritize risks, and surface correlations across worker datasets. But without primary worker data, AI systems are left inferring human impact from proxies. With it, they can distinguish between theoretical compliance and lived experience.  Detection Alone Is Not Enough  Surfacing risk does not reduce harm. Even the most sophisticated AI model cannot change working conditions on its own. Risk reduction requires supplier engagement —clear expectations, structured self-assessment, prioritized action, and sustained capability building. Worker voice identifies  where  problems exist; supplier engagement determines  whether  those problems are addressed. This is where many systems break down: worker feedback is collected, risks are flagged, but follow-through remains fragmented or passive. Toward a Closed-Loop, AI-Enabled Labor Risk System  The future of responsible AI in supply chains is not automation alone—it is closed-loop systems  that connect:  Primary worker data  (high-integrity detection)  AI-enabled analysis  (prioritization and insight)  Structured supplier engagement  (change and accountability)  When worker voice data triggers targeted self-assessment, maturity-based expectations, and focused action plans, AI becomes an amplifier of improvement—not just a tool for monitoring.  At scale, this approach:  Improves signal integrity in an AI-saturated data environment  Enables earlier, more credible intervention  Produces evidence of impact grounded in worker experience, not paperwork  The Bottom Line  AI is reshaping how companies see risk. But what we choose to measure still determines what we manage. In an era where compliance data is abundant and increasingly easy to replicate, worker voice primary data is the anchor of truth . Combined with AI and meaningful supplier engagement, it enables not just faster decisions—but better ones, grounded in the realities of the people most affected. If AI is the engine of modern human rights due diligence, worker voice is the data that keeps it honest.   Are you looking to strengthen the data behind your risk models? Let's talk about how worker voice strengthens human rights due diligence