INTERMEDIARY REPORT OF A COMPLAINT IN TURKEY AT A FACTORY SUPPLYING HESSNATUR, MINI RODINI, AND NUDIE JEANS
The local helpline received a call on 5 April 2016 after a verification audit took place. The complainant, a worker currently employed at the factory, claimed that if a worker refuses to work on Sunday three times, he or she will be dismissed. Overtime is frequent, with ironing and packing departments especially often working until the morning during peak months. Also, in peak season, they worked seven days straight.
The worker stated that all of the workers are registered; however, they are generally registered one month after recruitment. This results in late registration for social security.
FWF informed Hessnatur, Mini Rodini and Nudie Jeans about the complaint. The members contacted the supplier to discuss the outcomes of the audit, the CAP and the complaints. The factory owner and management agreed that overtime is a problem, especially in peak season. The brands are in touch with the factory and they are discussing potential solutions. According to management, employees are usually registered for social security the day they start; however, there may be a few exceptions when documents are missing.
The factory owner and management agreed that the factory would provide an overview about the current situation and a plan with measures to improve the situation by the end of November. A verification audit is planned for Spring 2017.
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Interim report of a complaint in Turkey at a factory supplying Hessnatur, Mini Rodini, and Nudie Jeans
The local hotline in Turkey received a call on 1 April 2016 from someone currently employed at the factory. The complainant claimed that workers were coached before the recent audit. He or she stated that overtime work (especially for Sunday work) is mandatory and they cannot refuse overtime work without the risk of losing their jobs. Three workers were dismissed due to their refusal. The worker also claimed that wage discrimination exists: workers who are close to the line supervisors receive a greater wage increase.
FWF informed Hessnatur, Mini Rodini and Nudie Jeans about the complaint. The members contacted the supplier to discuss the outcomes of the audit, the CAP and the complaints. The brand representative from Hessnatur visited the factory on 2 November 2016 to discuss the issues that were raised. The factory owner and management agreed that overtime is a problem, especially in peak season. The brands are in touch with the factory and they are discussing potential solutions.
The factory would like to have more concrete information from the workers to further analyse the situation. The case is under remediation.
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Final report of a complaint at a factory in China supplying Haglofs and Kjus
On 20 September 2016, FWF received a complaint from a worker currently employed at the factory. The complainant claimed that the factory delays workers´payments quite often, with the longest delay being three months. Furthermore, workers have to work excessive overtime hours. The complainant said that altogether workers have had approximately 10 days off since the beginning of this year until now.
FWF notified Haglofs and Kjus. Haglofs and Kjus contacted the supplier and the factory sent payslips as evidence as to when wages were paid. The case was investigated through off-site worker interviews at the end of February and management interviews at the end of March. Management is committed to improving productivity to reduce workers’ excessive overtime hours and they were open to workers’ opinions on the overtime hours. If workers are not willing to do overtime, they will be free to decline. Mangement additionally confirmed that wages were delayed last year because of an internal management problem.
Member companies should offer reasonable lead times and change production planning to low season where possible. The factory will work on improving productivity and efficiency by better production planning. The case will be verified during an audit planned for spring 2017.
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Final report of a complaint at a factory in Turkey supplying Salewa & Dynafit
The local hotline received three calls on 10,12 and 14 March 2016 after the monitoring audit took place. The complaints came from three separate workers, who are still working in the factory. The first complainant claimed that during the audit the FWF CoLP was on the wall; however, it is no longer hanging on the wall. The second complainant claimed that in the knitting department there was a wage increase; however, for sewing workers there was no wage increase. Also the person has complaints about verbal abuse of line supervisors during overtime hours. The third complainant claimed that overtime work is compulsory. They work until 20.30 on weekdays and they also work on Saturdays.
Through their intermediary, Salewa & Dynafit asked for clarification of the facts and the follow up of this complaint. They asked the supplier to solve the forced overtime and unequal pay rises. Around that time the intermediary of Salewa & Dynafit decided that the relationship with the factory would not last any longer. This was unforeseen for Salewa & Dynafit. The main reason was that the factory was not cooperative in offering follow up to the complaints and the CAP findings. As a result of the factory’s lack of effort to communicate, no remediation took place.
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Final report of a complaint at a factory in Tunisia supplying Van Puijenbroek
On 11 March 2017, Fair Wear Foundation received a complaint from a worker that is currently employed by the factory. The complainant claimed that the salary of workers was being paid late, which resulted in difficulties for workers to make ends meet. Workers refused to work on the Saturday morning after payment was overdue. The manager had explained to the workers that he was faced with cash flow problems. Furthermore, the worker complained about excessive overtime taking place in the finishing and packaging department. Although the complainant was not affected by the overtime, the worker did wish to report it.
FWF informed Van Puijenbroek about the case. Van Puijenbroek contacted factory management who confirmed the late payment, claiming that it was partially due to the fact that a large order of Van Puijenbroek was of insufficient quality. Van Puijenbroek did not pay the invoice until repairs were made. After the complaint and discussion with factory manager, Van Puijenbroek decided to immediately pay for the order. After payment of Van Puijenbroek, salaries were paid to the workers. Since the findings were already part of the audit findings, Van Puijenbroek will continue to work on improvements with the factory, especially concerning (payment of) overtime hours. The worker withdrew the complaint during the investigation for personal reasons.
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FINAL REPORT OF COMPLAINT AT A FACTORY IN India SUPPLYING Nudie jeans
On 27 and 28 October 2016, Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) received separate complaints from three workers currently employed by the factory. The complainants claimed that all employees had to work overtime. However, overtime payments were delayed for a month and sometimes up to three or four months. Other complaints were that bonus payments were also often delayed and that the bathrooms were normally dirty, and that having migrant workers in the factory meant that a language barrier prevented many workers from expressing grievances.
Nudie Jeans asked their supplier about a response to the complaint, which was forwarded to FWF. As a FWF audit had already been planned an audit for 24th and 25th November, the audit was used as an opportunity to investigate further. After this, FWF called the complaints to confirm whether they had received all pending payments.
FWF confirmed that all payments had been settled at the time of the audit. The audit could not confirm excessive overtime hours or forced overtime. While toilet facilities were clean during the audit, interviewed workers confirmed that they are generally not well kept. FWF was unable to verify whether the complainants resigned (as documents by the factory suggest) or whether they were dismissed and forced to sign a resignation letter (as claimed by the complainants).
In terms of remediation, the factory needs to ensure that policies for all relevant procedures like bonus calculation, leave resignation etc. are clearly documented, communicated to workers in a language they can understand and applied by staff according to Indian legislation. All payments must be paid on time at all times. The brand should clarify continuously whether the factory is able to do this. The factory should also set up functioning communication and grievance channels that are also accessible to migrant workers.
FWF verified that the individual complainants had received their pending payments and that all pending payments for other workers had been settled. Nudie Jeans asked FWF to facilitate mediation meetings between the workers and management. As a result of this process, management agreed to pay additional compensation to the workers in June 2017. FWF verified the receipt of this payment as well.
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Final report of a complaint at a factory in India supplying DW-Shop
On 10 July 2016, Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) received a complaint from a worker formerly employed at the factory. The complainant stated that he took leave for one month on 11 February 2016, but did not return to the factory until 9 June 2016. The management had replaced him due to his long unreported absence. The worker accepted his dismissal and asked management for his full and final payment and the form necessary to collect social security (PF). The HR manager told him to come back in two days as they needed time to prepare the files. The worker returned several times to the factory, but was repeatedly told that it was not yet ready.
On 11 July, FWF decided that the complaint was admissible on the grounds of the following labour code standards: employment is freely chosen, no excessive working hours, and legally binding employment relationship. The worker then called the FWF complaint handler again with a different story, but the complaint handler had a feeling that the worker was being pressured to say this in the presence of factory management. In a subsequent call, the worker said he received payment and all he still wanted was the signed form from management needed to collect social security payments (PF). The complaints handler tried to call him several times without success.
FWF is unable to draw a final conclusion, whether the worker received the full payment and relevant forms to claim social security or not, and has decided to close the case since the worker is not available for follow-up. FWF’s impression is that it is likely that the worker was asked to sign a blank paper in exchange for a lesser amount.
In terms of remediation, DW Shop must explain to the supplier that transparency and the willingness to improve are crucial parts of their business relationship and clarify regulations surrounding dismissal and wage slips.
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FINAL REPORT OF a COMPLAINT AT A FACTORY IN VIETNAM SUPPLYING VAUDE
On 29 July 2016, Fair Wear Foundation received a complaint from a worker who is currently employed by the factory. The complainant claimed working hours in July were until 8 or 9 pm two or three times a week. According to the complainant workers were requested to leave the factory after 5 pm, check out with their fingerprint and return to work without registration. During those hours, overtime premium would not be paid. In addition, the complainant stated the high production targets lead to high pressure. As a result, workers shorten their lunch time and continue their work.
VAUDE contacted the supplier, who insisted that workers normally are not requested to work overtime without payment, but a couple line leaders did not follow the regulation. Between 13 and 16 November, the FWF complaints handler visited the factory to conduct on-site and off-site interviews, and to check the records. The investigation concluded that overtime hours worked in case of repairing a defect was not paid correctly. The factory did announce to all workers they can approach HR department to request the overtime reimbursement. The complainant confirmed the overtime hours are now paid correctly, while other workers interviewed stated recent improvements have been noticeable regarding hours of work. The factory stopped extending working hours and power is shut off after 20 minutes after regular working time ends. During lunch power and light is now shut off as well and workers take a rest during lunch.
In terms of remediation, factory management must continue to ensure line leaders do not request the workers to stay longer to repair the defected garment without payment. All hours should be registered. In cooperation with VAUDE, the factory is requested to set up an action plan to reduce excessive overtime in upcoming peak seasons. A solution must be found for the high production targets that pressure workers. It is suggested to conduct a Workplace Education Programme session to raise awareness of labour rights and as a first step for dialogue between workers and management on the issue of working hours.
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Final report of a complaint at a factory in Vietnam supplying Jack Wolfskin and SCHöffel
On 12 December 2016, a worker filed a complaint that working hours at the factory were excessive, claiming he had an average of 90-100 overtime hours per month during the last half year. The complainant stated employees do not have time for sufficient rest or time to take care of their children.
FWF informed the involved members, Jack Wolfskin and Schöffel, who immediately contacted the supplier of the complaint. Factory management confirmed they experienced some overtime in several departments in November 2016 and stated they will pay more attention to the working hours. Jack Wolfskin and Schöffel requested additional information for setting up a remediation plan. FWF members learned that the factory has assigned a new manager to monitor both the quality as productivity and working hours. FWF’s complaints handler reviewed the documents received. In addition, the complaint handler spoke to two other employees on 22 January by phone. The interview focused on grievance system and working hours.
The investigation showed that the complaint was grounded. The working hours as described by the complainant matched the time records that were sent by factory management. It was noted that excessive overtime work was exceeding the legal limit. Interviewed workers were not aware of the factory’s policy and procedures on grievances.
FWF advises that working hours should not exceed legal limits. Factory must set up a corrective action plan to reduce overtime hours to the legal limit. FWF recommends the members to work with factory management on production planning and to train workers and management on grievance mechanisms. A training as part of FWF’s Workplace Education Programme could be a first step in raising awareness and support better communication between employees and management.
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Intermediate report of complaint at a supplier in Romania for hessnatur and Living Crafts – November 2016
On 7 November 2016, a worker at a factory supplying hessnatur and Living Crafts stated that overtime and high production targets led to pressure and exhaustion among workers. Moreover, the overtime was not always reflected in their pay slips which made it unclear how their pay was structured. Finally, since the HR department was outsourced, there was no clear way to complain about working conditions.
An audit had already been planned by hessnatur on 23 and 24 November. Without letting the factory management know in advance of the complaint, it was decided to discuss the complaint at the time of the audit.
The audit conducted by a FWF team concluded that workers perform overtime hours on Saturdays and wage records do not present all overtime hours, annual leaves and bonuses. FWF’s complaints handler spoke to the complainant on 24 November. The wage record of the complainant showed normal working hours in spite of the fact that the employee was in medical leave; further, the employee performed overtime hours on Saturdays despite the medical recommendations. According to the worker interviews during the audit, more workers face work stress and exhaustion due to production pressure.
FWF recommends Living Crafts and Hess Natur, in cooperation with the mother company in Germany and the factory, to set up an action plan to reduce excessive overtime hours, work pressure and create openness about overtime hours on the wage records.In consultation with workers, a solution must be found for the high production targets that create pressure on workers and cause stress and exhaustion. It is highly recommended to have an integrated HR staff person within the factory.
Verification of the situation within the factory will be carried out by a verification audit in 2017.
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