Concerning labour standards:

Violence against women
The case
The complainant is an operator who has been working three years at the factory, she is currently four months pregnant and this is her third issue. According to the complainant, management asked her to resign from the job as they do not want to pay her maternity benefit. She refused to resign but was forced to sign her resignation. As per the resignation letter she signed, her last work day in the factory is 31 July 2019.
Findings and conclusions
The outcome of the investigation was:
- The complainant, who has been working at the factory for less than two years, is expecting a third child. As per Bangladeshi labour Law, in case of a third child, the worker is entitled to have the maternity leave but not the financial benefit.
- The floor administrative person & welfare officer told the worker to resign if she feels not comfortable in working during pregnancy.
- HR & Compliance team assured the worker she can keep her job and have the maternity leave.
- The worker confirmed to have received all the information and to be aware that she can go to the Compliance team or the Compliance Manager for any future issues.
Because it seemed that the worker did not know her rights and the administrative staff advised her to resignation, the complaint is not fully grounded and seems to be more a case where clarity was needed for the worker.
For remediation, the brand asked the factory for evidence on the non-validity of the resignation document.
The brand also suggested to organise a meeting with all the supervisors to inform that forced resignation is not acceptable and also recommending to involve Workers’ Representatives and members of the Anti-Harassment Committee (AHC).
The brand checked the HR Recruitment Policy, Women Worker Working Policy & Maternity Worker Working Policy.
On 5 August, the member informed FWF that the Compliance Manager of the Bangladeshi supplier stated that no resignation letter was signed. For proving that the worker had not lost her job on the 31 July, she provided the Attendance Card of the complainant for the first week of August.
Moreover, the factory started working on prevention of this type of problem.
- It includes AHC function and activities in its induction training for new employees
- AHC meetings are conducted at regular intervals
- Periodical awareness training for mid-level management, AHC & Participation Committee representatives is organised.
On 6 August, FWF local team called the worker who confirmed that she was still working at the factory and was satisfied with the remediation of her case. This case is resolved.
Overview of the complaint investigation
07/29/2019 Investigation
The brand informed the factory on 25th July as soon as the complaint was received.
Salewa Compliance Manager of the Bangladeshi supplier provided on the complaint’s investigation.
She talked both to HR & Compliance team and the worker in order to clarify the facts and have a complete picture.
The outcome of the investigation is:
1.The complainant, who is working in the factory for less than two years, has two children and she is expecting now the third child. As per Bangladeshi labor Law, in case of a third child, the worker is entitled to have the maternity leave but not the financial benefit.
2.The floor administrative person & welfare officer asked the worker to resign if she feels not comfortable in working during pregnancy.
3.The worker talked about law requirements and the forced resignation with the HR & Compliance team, and she lodged the complaint.
4.The Compliance team and the top management took the complaint very seriously and talked to the floor administrative that told the worker to resign.
5.The administrative confessed that “he only suggested her to resign if she felt problem to work but not forced her”.
6.HR & Compliance team assured the worker she can keep her job and have the maternity leave.
7.The worker confirmed to have receive all the information and know she can address to the Compliance team or our Compliance Manager for any future issues.
07/30/2019 Remediation
In order to fulfil the remediation process, the brand asked to have evidence on the non-validity of the resignation document.
The brand also suggested to organize a meeting with all the supervisors to inform that this behavior is not ok and to give them some hints on how to deal with this kind of issues, recommending to involve Workers’ Representatives, members of Anti-Harassment Committee.
The brand checked that in the HR Recruitment Policy, Women Worker Working Policy & Maternity Worker Working Policy, there’s no system to force any worker / female worker / pregnant worker to resign from the job.
08/05/2019 Remediation
The member informed FWF that the Compliance Manager of the Bangladeshi supplier stated that no resignation letter was signed. For proving that the worker didn’t lose her job the 31st of July, she provided us the Attendance Card of the complainant for the first week of August.
Moreover, the factory has already started working to avoid a repeat of this type of problem in the future.
- It includes AHC function & activities in its induction training for new employees
- AHC meetings are conducted in regular interval
- Periodical awareness trainings for mid-level management, AHC & Participation Committee representatives are organized.
08/06/2019 Verification
FWF local team called the worker who confirmed that she is continuing to work at the factory.
08/06/2019 Evaluation of the complaint
She is satisfied with the outcome.
08/07/2019 Resolved
This case was resolved thanks to the high responsiveness of the brand and the factory in looking for and providing solutions.