BetterWork: 19ème Rapport de Synthèse Biannuel : Examen de l'Industrie et de la Conformité en vertu de la Législation HOPE II Haïti

19th Biannual Synthesis Report An Industry and Compliance Review Under the HOPE II Legislation Haiti REPORTING PERIOD October 2018 – October 2019 1 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Copyright © I nterna t io nal L a bour Organi zati on ( I LO) a nd t h e In tern ati o nal Fin a n c e Corporation (IFC) (2019) First publishe d (2019) Publications of the ILO enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to the ILO, acting on behalf of both organizations: ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: pubdroit@ilo.org. The IFC and ILO welcome such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licenses issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. ILO Cataloging in Publication Data Better Work Haiti: apparel industry 18th biannual synthesis report under the HOPE II legislation / International Labour Office; International Finance Corporation. - Geneva: ILO, 2019 1 v. ISSN 2227-958X (web pdf) International Labour Office; International Finance Corporation Clothing industry / textile industry / working conditions / workers’ rights / labor legislation / ILO Convention / international labor standards / comment / application / Haiti 08.09.3 The designations employed in this, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IFC or ILO concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the IFC or ILO of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the IFC or ILO, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, and Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: pubvente@ilo.org Visit our website: www.betterwork.org 2 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Acknowledgements Better Work Haiti is supported by the US Department of Labor. Core donors to Better Work are: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the US Department of Labor. Funding is also provided by Canada Department Foreign Affairs, The European Commission, DFID, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ; Royal Government of Cambodia, Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and private sector donors, including The Walt Disney Corporation, Inc., Levi Strauss Foundation, Gap Inc. This publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the organizations or agencies listed above, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by them. 3 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Table of Contents Section I: Introduction and Context .............................................................................. 6 1.1. Background ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.2. Country Context and Industry Updates .......................................................... 8 Section II: Highlights from the Reporting Period ..................................................... 12 2.1. Compliance Situation in Haiti’s Exporting Garment Sector ................................. 16 2.2. Compliance Performance with regards to International Core Labor Standards19 Child Labor............................................................................................................................. 20 Discrimination ....................................................................................................................... 20 Forced Labor ...........................................................................................................................21 Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining .................................................21 2.3. Compliance Performance with regards to National Labor Standards ..............22 Compensation .......................................................................................................................22 Paid leave................................................................................................................................22 Contracts and Human Resources ..................................................................................23 Termination ............................................................................................................................23 Occupational Safety and Health................................................................................... 24 Chemicals and hazardous substances ....................................................................... 24 Emergency Preparedness .................................................................................................25 Working Time ........................................................................................................................ 26 Regular Hours ....................................................................................................................... 26 2.4. Advisory and Training Services in The Reporting Period ..................................... 27 Better Work Advisory Services ......................................................................................... 27 Better Work Trainings ........................................................................................................ 30 Section III: Conclusion and Next Steps ....................................................................... 32 Annex 1. The TAICNAR Project and Reporting Requirements under the HOPE II Legislation ...................................................................................................................... 34 Annex 2. Better Work’s Service Delivery Model ........................................................38 Annex 3. The Better Work Compliance Assessment Methodology ...................... 42 Better Work Compliance Assessment Framework .......................................................... 42 Calculating Non-Compliance & Public Reporting ............................................................ 49 Limitations in the Assessment Process .............................................................................. 50 Annex 4: Factories in Detail ......................................................................................... 53 List of Factories ..........................................................................................................................53 Findings from the Factories ................................................................................................... 54 4 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T List of Tables and Charts Chart 1: Non-compliance rates for 28 factories assessed between October 2018 and October 2019 over two Better Work cycles ........................................................................................ 14 Table 1: Factory’s Bi-partite committee Status ...................................................................... 25 Table 2: Better Work compliance assessment framework ..................................................... 37 Table 3: List of factories in the Haitian apparel sector which have been assessed between October 201 8 and October 2019 ............................................................................................... 45 5 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T List of Acronyms ADIH Association des Industries d’Haïti (Haitian Industry Association) BPC Bipartite Committee BMST Bureau de la Médiatrice Spéciale du Travail CAOSS Conseil d’Administration des Organes de Sécurité Sociale (Board of Social Security Bodies) CP Compliance point CSS Conseil Supérieur des Salaires (Wages High Council) CTMO-HOPE Commission Tripartite de Mise en œuvre de la loi HOPE EA Enterprise Advisor HELP Haiti Economic Lift Program HOPE Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act ITUC International Trade Union Confederation MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet MAST Ministère des Affaires Sociales et du Travail (Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs) OFATMA Office for Work, Health and Maternity Insurance ONA Office Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse (National Office for Old-Age Insurance) OSH Occupational safety and health PAC Project Advisory Committee PIC Parc Industriel de Caracol PIM Parc Industriel Métropolitain (also referred to as SONAPI) PPE Personal Protective Equipment SC/AFL-CIO Solidarity Center/American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations TDS Social Dialogue Table (Table de Dialogue Social) TAICNAR Technical Assistance Improvement and Compliance Needs Assessment and Remediation USDOL United States Department of Labor 6 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Section I: Introduction and Context 1.1. BACKGROUND Better Work – a collaboration between the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group – is a comprehensive program bringing together all levels of the garment industry to improve working conditions and respect of labor rights for workers and boost the competitiveness of apparel businesses. The program was launched in Haiti in June 2009 as part of the global Better Work program with country operations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. To date, Better Work is focusing its efforts on the apparel and footwear industry in the countries it operates in. However, companies from other industries may benefit from Better Work services in some particular country contexts. 1 In Haiti, the program is mandatory for all apparel producers exporting their products to the US market under the HOPE II legislation. The HOPE II law requires that Haiti in cooperation with the ILO establishes a Technical Assistance Improvement and Compliance Needs Assessment and Remediation Program (TAICNAR) which (i) assesses Haitian apparel factories exporting under the HOPE II law on compliance with international core labor standards and national Haitian labor law, (ii) assists these factories on their remediation efforts and (iii) provides capacity building to the Government of Haiti on these aspects. According to the HOPE legislation, biannual reports have to be published to state enterprise level compliance performance. Further details on the components of the HOPE II law as well specific requirements with regards to biannual reports being published by the entity operating the TAICNAR program are quoted in annex 1 (HOPE II Legislation Reporting Requirements). This is the second of these two annual reports under the HOPE legislation to be published in 2019. Detailed enterprise level data of compliance performance as required by the HOPE II legislation is included in the factory tables in annex 4. 1 In Haiti for example, a plastics factory is participating voluntarily in the program by paying a market price for the Better Work services. 7 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T The two components of HOPE II’s TAICNAR program aim at strengthening labor compliance of the industry in Haiti. The first of these elements focuses on assessing compliance with core labor standards and national labor law, supporting remediation efforts, and publicly reporting on the progress of each factory on the Labor Ombudsman’s register. The second element of the TAICNAR program consists of technical assistance to strengthen the legal and administrative structures for improving compliance in the industry. The scope of these services is extensive, encompassing technical assistance from the ILO in reviewing national laws and regulations to bring them into conformity with international standards, raising awareness of workers’ rights, and training labor inspectors, judicial officers and other government personnel. To encourage compliance with core labor standards and national labor law, the legislation indicates that preferential treatment may be withdrawn, suspended, or limited by the President of the United States from producers who – even after assistance has been provided - fail to come into compliance with the core labor standards and national labor law that is related and consistent with those standards. Removal of benefits is based on determinations made by the government of the United States, based primarily on non-compliance identifications made by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). While Better Work Haiti reports are consulted as USDOL carries out its mandate to implement HOPE II, Better Work Haiti non-compliance findings cannot, on their own, serve to impact preferential treatment under the HOPE Act. Better Work Haiti has been implementing the first component of the TAICNAR program from 2009 until 2017 while other ILO projects, in particular the ILO-MAST capacity building project worked on the second component. As of 2018 with the start of the third phase of the Better Work Haiti project (2018 - 2022), Better Work also takes on several elements of the second component of the TAICNAR program while continuing carrying out activities covering TAICNAR component one. The Better Work program is coordinating its work with the Labor Ombudsman and a tripartite Project Advisory Committee (PAC). This committee meets with Better Work on a regular basis to discuss the activities of the Better Work program. The members of the PAC represent the private sector, government and worker representatives and the Committee is chaired by the Labor Ombudsperson in line with the requirements of the HOPE law. 8 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 1.2. COUNTRY CONTEXT AND INDUSTRY UPDATES Since April, the socio-political situation of the country has continued to worsen. The devaluation of the Haitian Gourdes continued to accelerate as the inflation rate was estimated at 17.7% in April, following an increase of 1.7% for the month of March alone. To further complicate the socio-political environment, in the beginning of April, the Chamber of Deputies unilaterally decided to increase the minimum wages, without consulting the other branches of the Government, including the CSS (Conseil Supérieur des Salaires), a tripartite entity that includes representatives of the government, the private sector as well as worker representatives. Unrest started again in May, when efforts to bring the upper house (Senate) to a session to vote on the designated candidate to become the Prime Minister of Haiti were prevented by violence linked to the opposition. An offer by the President to allow the opposition to choose a candidate for Prime Minister were rejected, and the opposition keeps demanding the unconditional resignation of the President. Opposition leaders announced that protests will continue until the President resigns. Lists with names of business owners allegedly supporting President Moise have been circulated over social media and protesters have been directed to attack businesses owned by those people.Messages have circulated on social media stating that the Core Group and International Community is supporting President Moise’s Government, and at least two opposition leaders have called for demonstrations in front of UN Office(s) during the past two months. UN Vehicles also were attacked by angry demonstrators throwing stones and several UN vehicles were damaged. However, so far, no UN staff have been injured. It should be noted that the UN Integrated Security Workforce (ISW) has very limited capabilities to respond and assist UN Staff members in need. The UN Integrated Security Workforce (ISW) lacks the capacity to conduct any security analysis, which is required to forecast the expected security situation for MINUJUSTH/BINUH and the UNCT. Activities in schools, factories and businesses in Port Au Prince are affected since end of august. 9 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Impact on UN at the current time  Inability to effectively deliver programmes due to movement restrictions. In the case of Better work activities were repeatedly cancelled or postponed in factories located in the southern area of Port-au-Prince.  Damage of UN assets.  UN staff traumatized (after being attacked by stone throwing demonstrators The country has been dealing with a fuel crisis that has hampered activities considerably. The government announced that it was no longer able to subsidize the cost of fuel, which prompted rumors that the price will increase in the near future. Since then, there has been a shortage of fuel at gas stations. This as well as regular street demonstrations against the government has negatively affected the availability of public and private transport, which in turn has impacted workers and businesses. There were many days when people were not able to go to work, either because streets were blocked off or because they could not find transportation. Although the difficult times has affected textile factories and businesses in Port- au-Prince and in many parts of the country, the industrial complex CODEVI, on the border of the Dominican Republic and Ouanaminthe (Northeast), has been able to function normally for the most part. The political situation has not resulted in lost work days for them. 10 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T HAITI INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN NUMBERS Better Work Haiti strives to create a garment industry that provides decent work to a projected 65,000 workers, lifting their families and communities out of poverty, empowering women, boosting national income and improving social stability. Building on the strong partnerships Better Work has developed with the government, global brands, employers and unions, over the next five years, the programme will play a central role in realizing the full potential of the HOPE II Act – a preferential trade program with the US. Convening diverse stakeholders to tackle shared challenges and supporting institutions’ efforts to monitor and safeguard factory compliance with international labour standards will be top priorities. Key partners  Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST)  Office of the Labour Ombudsman (BMST)  National Insurance and Pensions Office (ONA)  Office for Employment Injury, Illness and Maternity (OFTMA)  Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI)  Office of the State Secretary for the Integration of People with Disabilities (BSEIPH)  Association of Haitian Industries (ADIH)  Economic Forum  All Trade unions active in the garment sector  18 brand and retail partners 57,000 WORKERS (65% WOMEN) FACTORIES IN THE PROGRAMME 35 FREE ZONES HOSTING 90% OF TEXTILE 7 ~1 billion APPAREL EXPORTS IN USD BILLIONS (90% OF NATIONAL EXPORTS) BRANDS AND RETAILERS 18 BETTER WORK HAITI STAFF 17 YEARS OPERATING IN HAITI SINCE 2009 10 INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE REPORTS 19 11 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T FIGURE 1. EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN 5 YEARS 46,000 45,000 47,386 51,500 53,500 26,172 19,263 25,828 24,188 24,638 6,506 8,045 8,483 8,483 12,732 7,500 7,800 7,039 7,800 10,030 Jobs PIM PIC CODEVI Better Work Haiti has contribute to jobs increasing on a yearly basic. ~20% increase in 5 years 12 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T Section II: Highlights from the Reporting Period  During this reporting period, BWH has continued to provide services to affiliated factories as well as national partners and constituents. In July, BWH organized the second instalment of a tripartite training program in collaboration with representing the private sector, workers and the government, which focused on the theme of Industrial Relations (IR). Two sessions were organized, one in Port au Prince and another in the Northeast, where participants were introduced to the concept of IR and took part in discussions to try to identify the benefits of sound industrial relations as well as the risks associated with the poor collaboration between workers and employers. By the end of the workshop, participants were able to identify the causes of poor industrial relations, and the potential risks and consequences. They were also able to make some recommendations in terms of concrete actions that should be taken to promote better industrial relations between workers and employers.  During this reporting period, BWH organized two training workshops for workers, union representatives and factory managers. The first training focused on labor laws had a total of 29 participants, 9 of whom were women. There were representations from six different factories, 8 confederations of unions as well as 2 government entities. The bureau of the Ombudsperson was also represented in this training workshop.  The second training session took place in June 2019, and concentrated on Human Resources Management. 16 textile factories were represented as well as 5 different union federations. A total of 37 people participated in this training session, including 17 women. 13 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T STAKEHOLDER CAPACITY BUILDING  As part of Better Work Haiti’s effort to increase the capacity of MAST inspectors so they can perform more inspections and report their findings as required by the national laws and ILO conventions, BWH organized a two-day training for MAST inspectors in the regional offices in the North and Northeast. There were 25 participants from the two regional offices, including 12 women. The training focused on the types of information that should be gathered in order to produce relevant reports, as well as the use of new technology to collect the necessary data. As part of our support to MAST, the program distributed 8 tablets to the regional office in the North and 6 Tablets to MAST in Fort-Liberte, which they will use during inspections. The training session also focused on the use of the applications installed on the tablets, which allow inspectors to collect the data needed during inspections so they can subsequently write the reports.  Given the logistical and technical support that the program has provided to MAST, it was necessary to develop an Equipment Management Guide to help MAST better manage the use of equipment such as laptops, computers and tablets. The program has submitted a draft of the Equipment Management Guide to MAST for their review and approval. 67% Male 33% Female TRIPARTITE DIALOGUE EVENTS ATTENDANCE BY GENDER 38.3% 8.3% 40.0% 13.3% TRIPARTITE DIALOGUE EVENTS ATTENDANCE Unions Governement of Haiti Factory Management ILO/ BWH staff 14 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T  BWH contracted an independent consultant to support the design of materials for a media campaign. Better Work Haiti launched the campaign with infographics, posters, newsletter articles and audio messages in Haitian Creole in the form of frequent scenes in the garment sector in Haiti. The audio messages inform and educate the national partners on labor law, sexual harassment, labor inspection, freedom of association, roles and responsibilities of employers, employees and good practices to promote good working conditions. The media campaign has reached so far 54,000 workers.  BWH offered a two-day training on OSH to the workers organisations affiliated to CSI/CSA. During these two days, the 46 participants from the unions CTH, CNOHA, CTSP, Batay Ouvriye and CSH received a general overview of occupational safety and health hazards in the workplace. They were also familiarized with the way Better Work works as well as the way in which MAST conducts OSH evaluations in factories. They received an overview of the most common safety violations and how the unions can help prevent accidents in the factories. 6% 43% 9% 34% 6% 3% FIGURE 1. INDUSTRY INVESTMENT OWNERSHIP USA (2) KOREAN (15) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (3) HAITIAN (12) TAIWAN (2) SRILANKA (1) 15 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 15 8 3 5 2 4 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 T-shirts Knits Shirts Pants Sports apparel Others FIGURE 1. MANUFACTURING PRODUCTS BY FACTORIES 16 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 2.1. Compliance Situation in Haiti’s Exporting Garment Sector The factories registered with the Better Work program in Haiti are provided with a service package that includes three core services, assessment, advisory and training. They are assessed once per year. This assessment is conducted after an initial advisory period of about 100 days. The follow up advisory visits and trainings are offered after the assessment to facilitate continuous learning and improvement. For more information on the Better Work service delivery model as well as the Better Work assessment methodology, please consult annex 2 and annex 3 respectively. This section presents the results of assessments, advisory and training services provided to the 27 participating factories assessed at least twice in the period between October 2018 and September 2019. The charts present non-compliance findings for the 27 assessed factories in Haiti showing non-compliance rates in brackets. A factory is found non-compliant in a compliance point if it is found out of compliance on any one aspect of it. Please note that these reports are issued biannually, yet assessments are being done on an annual basis, so issues are reported in two consecutive reports. In the individual factory tables in Annex 4 of this report, progress on the remediation of non- compliance issues can be followed in further detail. Persistent non-compliance issues in areas related to compensation (social security) and OSH (Chemicals management, emergency preparedness, worker protection and working environment) continue to be a concern for the sector. The core services operations were affected by civil unrest during the reporting period. However, the program was able to conduct the number of assessment visits scheduled. This number includes three newly registered factories that were assessed for the first time by Better Work Haiti, Centri Group and Elansia based in SONAPI industrial Park and Digneron Manufacturing, based in Croix des Bouquets. The compliance data for these new factories will be published in the next synthesis report as required. . The highest non-compliance rates in the industry were in the area of occupational safety and health. The number of factories cited in noncompliance for emergency preparedness and chemical management increased to 100 percent. However, 17 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T there were improvements in other areas, such as OSH management systems, health services and first aid and welfare facilities. There was a rise in the number of core labour standards issues identified in the reporting period. In fact 2 cases of sexual harassment and 1 case of unfair termination of union leaders were reported as noncompliance issues. There was also 1 factory found in non-compliance for child labour, this finding is related to the lack of adequate systems to verify workers 'age prior to hiring. In order to address the non-compliance issues in a more sustainable way, Better Work continues to support the Ministry of labour in the implementation of their inspection plan. However, most MAST inspections were postponed due to other interventions in the sector and to the difficult security situation in Port-au-Prince during the reporting period. In fact MAST mainly intervene in factories to address industrial relations issues and other problems as they emerge. 18 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 0% 0% 7% 0% 4% 4% 0% 4% 7% 19% 44% 4% 81% 30% 19% 11% 19% 11% 100% 100% 85% 48% 81% 0% 96% 96% 37% 4% 37% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Child Labourers Documentation and Protection of Young Workers Hazardous Work and other Worst Forms Gender Race and Origin Religion and Political Opinion Bonded Labour Coercion Forced Labour and Overtime Prison Labour Collective Bargaining Freedom to Associate Interference and Discrimination Strikes Union Operations Method of Payment Minimum Wages/Piece Rate Wages Overtime Wages Paid Leave Premium Pay Social Security and Other Benefits Wage Information, Use and Deduction Contracting Procedures Dialogue, Discipline and Disputes Employment Contracts Termination Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Emergency Preparedness Health Services and First Aid OSH Management Systems Welfare Facilities Worker Accommodation Worker Protection Working Environment Leave Overtime Regular Hours Child Labour Discrimination Forced Labour Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Compensation Contracts and Human Resources Occupational Safety and Health Working Time Non-compliance rates by Compliance Point -October 2018 - September 2019 Non-compliance rate (n= 27) 19 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 20 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 2.2. Non-Compliance with International Core Labor Standards Better Work’s compliance assessment framework is based on eight clusters, four related to international core labor standards (see previous section) and four relating to national labor legislation. Each cluster consists of several compliance points and each compliance point is made up of several questions (see Table 3 in the annex for further detail on the structure of the Better Work compliance assessment tool). During the last round of assessments between October 2018 and September 2019 in 27 factories assessed at least twice by Better Work Haiti, the following results with regards to core labor standards have been observed. CHILD LABOR There are no findings under the Child Labor Cluster in this reporting period. DISCRIMINATION Two cases of sexual harassment were found during the reporting period. Both factories found in non-compliance have a policy on sexual harassment, have organized sexual harassment prevention training at all levels of management and workers, and have followed through with termination when such incidents occurred. Also, all supervisors and managers are trained on sexual harassment and required to commit to respect the factory's policy on this matter. However, it was observed that in the first factory management did not take adequate timely action as they were not aware of the problem. Union leaders were informed of the issue but did not share it with management. After investigation, the factory decided to terminate the harasser and provided training to staff at all levels in order to reinforce the implementation of their policy. The factory also appointed gender focal points for workers to report these issues confidentiality. In the other factory, a female worker complained of two managers’ inappropriate touching and comments. Although management has taken some steps to address the issue, it did not appear to be fully resolved at the time of the assessment visit. Management confirmed that the victim continued to receive comments that she 21 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T considers unwelcome. Although the worker was offered the chance to change sections, management did not indicate that they considered relocating the managers. Following the assessment, the 2 managers received warning letters in which they were informed that in case of repetition of such case, more drastic sanctions would be taken against them. To prevent the future cases of sexual harassment, the company provided additional training on the subject. The annual training plan was also updated to include quarterly trainings on Sexual harassment prevention and other zero tolerance protocol topics. The factory also revised the Zero Tolerance Policy on harassment and started an anti-sexual harassment communication campaign. FORCED LABOR There are no findings under the Forced Labor Cluster in this reporting period. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING There are two cases of non-compliance under the cluster Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, one under the compliance point Freedom to Associate, and the other under Interference and Discrimination. One factory was cited in non-compliance for termination or non-renewal of worker's employment contract due to union membership or activities. The other one was found in noncompliance for not allowing workers to freely form and join the union of their choice. In the first factory Better Work found noncompliance based on the fact that the factory terminated union leaders as part of a mass layoff but failed to give them priority in reinstatement when they rehired new workers with similar skills. In the second factory, Better work found non-compliance regarding workers' freedom to form and join the union of their choosing, based on actions of management that have created an environment that impedes workers from exercising their rights to freedom of association. 22 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 2.3. Non-Compliance on National Labor Standards In this section, selected compliance points will be analysed in detail. Chart No. 1, which gives an overview of noncompliance for the full set of factories in the sample, shows that the same compliance points tend to remain at high non-compliance rates of over 50% from one cycle to the next. Most of these areas of persistent non- compliance (PNC) have been analysed in detail in past reports. Therefore, compliance points with lower non-compliance rates will be looked at in detail in this the report. COMPENSATION In the Compensation cluster, the highest non-compliance rates persist in the compliance point of Social Security and Other Benefits (81%), as well as the compliance point on Paid Leave (44%). Better Work Haiti continues to support joint inspections between MAST, ONA and OFATMA in order to ensure that these issues are addressed holistically by all these institutions. PAID LEAVE COMPLIANCE QUESTION # OF FACTO RIES FOU ND NC N C RA TE BY QUESTI ON Does the employer pay workers correctly for annual leave? 3 11% Does the employer pay workers correctly for legally mandated holidays? 0 0% Does the employer pay workers correctly during the daily break? 1 4% Are eligible workers paid correctly for maternity leave? 9 33% Are eligible workers paid correctly for sick leave? 3 14% Does the employer pay any workers incorrectly for any types of paid time off (breaks and leave)? 2 9% Does the employer pay workers correctly during 2 breaks of 30mn or 3 break of 15 mns for breastfeeding? 1 4% The highest rate of noncompliance in this section is related to the payment of maternity leave, with nine factories in non-compliance for inaccurate payments. In 23 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T fact, all eligible workers receive a payment for maternity leave. However, the noncompliance is due to the fact that the factories that are not registered to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance only pay 6 weeks maternity leave instead of 12 weeks. CONTRACTS AND HUMAN RESOURCES In the cluster on Contracts and Human Resources, significant improvement was observed under the compliance point Termination. In fact the noncompliance rate for this point is at 11% for the reporting period. This can be explained by an improvement in the human resources management systems in general. Better work continues to support the factories with learning opportunities, such as the human resources management training that was provided in June 2019. TERMINATION COMPLIANCE QUESTION # OF F A CTORI E S FOU ND NC N C RA TE BY QUESTI ON Does the employer compensate workers for unused paid annual leave when they resign or are terminated? 0 0% Does the employer comply with legal requirements before suspending workers or reducing the size of the workforce due to changes in operations, lack of materials, force majeure, or accident resulting in an immediate work stoppage? 0 0% Does the employer pay workers their annual salary supplement or bonus upon termination? 0 0% Does the employer provide workers proper notice of termination when required, or pay workers during the notice period? 1 4% Does the employer terminate workers for reasons that are invalid under national law? 2 7% Has the employer complied with any orders to reinstate or compensate workers who were found to be unjustly terminated? 0 0% 24 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH The non-compliance rates for Occupational Safety and Health remain high (average 72%). The highest levels of non-compliance relate to the emergency preparedness, health services & first aid, chemicals and hazardous substances and the worker protection and working environment compliance points. CHEMICALS AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES COMPLIANCE QUESTION # OF F A CTORI E S FOU ND NC N C RA TE BY QUESTI ON Are chemicals and hazardous substances properly labelled? 20 74% Are chemicals and hazardous substances properly stored? 4 15% Does the employer have chemical safety data sheets for all the hazardous chemicals used in the workplace? 23 85% Does the employer keep an inventory of chemicals and hazardous substances used in the workplace? 19 70% Does the employer provide adequate washing facilities and cleansing materials in the event of exposure to hazardous chemicals? 15 56% Has the employer effectively trained workers who work with chemicals and hazardous substances? 2 7% Has the employer taken action to assess, monitor, prevent and limit workers' exposure to chemicals and hazardous substances? 5 19% During the reporting period, 100% of the factories assessed were found in non- compliance in the chemicals and hazardous substances compliance point. The lack of sustainable systems to ensure that all chemicals and hazardous substances are properly managed continues to be the root cause of this high noncompliance rate. Better Work offered additional sessions of the seminar on chemicals management during the reporting period to address this issue. In general, factories are not properly monitoring these issues and the person in charge is often assigned to other duties that take a significant amount of their time. Better Work advisors are working with factories to ensure that they empower more people, including workers representatives to monitor these issues. 25 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CO MPL I A N CE Q U ESTION # OF F A CTORI E S FOU ND NC N C RA TE BY QUESTI ON Are emergency exits and escape routes clearly marked and posted in the workplace? 21 78% Are flammable materials safely stored? 2 7% Are possible sources of ignition appropriately safeguarded? 3 11% Are the emergency exits accessible, unobstructed and unlocked during working hours, including overtime? 18 67% Are there enough emergency exits? 1 4% Does the employer conduct periodic emergency drills? 10 37% Does the workplace have a fire detection and alarm system? 11 41% Does the workplace have adequate fire-fighting equipment? 16 59% Has the employer trained an appropriate number of workers to use the fire-fighting equipment? 4 19% Has the employer informed and prepared workers for possible emergencies in the workplace? 1 5% All the factories assessed have at least one non-compliance issue related to emergency preparedness. Considering that this is a very serious issue Better Work mandated an occupational safety and health consultant to work with the team on the persistent noncompliance in this area. In addition to emergency preparedness, boiler and fire safety were also targeted by this work. This should help Better Work Haiti team address in a more structured way the issues related to emergency preparedness. The collaboration of the buyers is also being requested to encourage the factories in taking adequate steps to address these issues in a more sustainable way. Although the number of noncompliance issues related to OSH continue to be high, improvement was noticed in OSH management systems in participating factories. In fact, all OSH policies were endorsed by senior management and adequate efforts were made to communicate the regulations to staff and workers. However, about 25 percent of the factories still need to implement regular assessment of general occupational safety and health issues in the factory and develop mechanisms to ensure cooperation between workers and management on OSH matters. 26 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T WORKING TIME The working time cluster consists of three compliance points, regular hours, leave and overtime. The overall noncompliance rate for these two points was 37% for the reporting period. REGULAR HOURS `COMPLIA NC E QUEST I O N # OF F A CTORI E S FOU ND NC N C RA TE BY QUESTI ON Do regular daily or weekly working hours exceed the legal limit? 2 7% Does the employer comply with the daily break period? 0 0% Does the employer obtain authorization from the Department of Labour before working at night? 0 0% Does the employer give workers at least one day off after 48 hours of work? 0 0% Does the employer post the factory's working hours (for all shifts, and including break times)? 3 11% Does the employer provide the required breaks for pregnant women? 3 19% The highest rate of non-compliance in the area of regular working hours was due to 6 factories not posting the factory's working hours (for all shifts, and including break times) or providing the required breaks for pregnant women. For the leave compliance point, the high noncompliance rate is due to the fact that 8 factories did not give the number of days of annual leave required by law. Both management and workers at these factories stated that this problem was due to the civil unrest, which caused the factories to work additional days in order to complete their production targets and deliver on time. 27 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 2.4. ADVISORY AND TRAINING SERVICES IN THE REPORTING PERIOD BETTER WORK ADVISORY SERVICES Despite the difficult situation, Better Work Haiti completed 102 advisory visits, including bipartite committee meetings in the factories. However, the visits for the factories located in the Southern area of Port-au-Prince were postponed due to ongoing security concerns. In order to address this problem, Better Work Haiti team is exploring ways to be more efficient in tasks that can be completed remotely. New bipartite committees were formed or are in progress at the 3 new factories that joined the program (Elansia, Digneron and Centri Group). It is also important to highlight that CODEVI agreed to register a second factory separately during the reporting period (AM2 Brand M). During the reporting period, Better Work Haiti worked with factories on the remediation of the noncompliance issues identified but also to reinforce social dialogue mechanisms at the factory level through bipartite committees. The main challenge during the reporting period was the lack of regular meetings due to the political context and the tension in the country, which caused production delays in the factories, resulting in less time available for these meetings. Below is an overview of each factory in the Better Work Haiti program and the status of its bipartite committee. Table 1: Factory’s BI-PARTITE COMMITTEE Status Name of factory Bipartite Committee Status 1 Brand M – AM2 Set up and functioning 2 Caribbean Island Apparel S.A. Set up and functioning 3 Centri Group SA In progress 4 Cleveland Manufacturing S.A. (former GMC) No active bipartite committee 5 CODEVI Set up and functioning 6 Digneron Manufacturing SA In progress 28 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 7 Elansia SA In progress 8 Everest Apparel Haiti SA Set up and functioning 9 Fairway Apparel S.A. In progress 10 Go Haiti S.A. Setup in progress 11 H4H Set up and functioning 12 H&H Textiles S.A. Set up and functioning 13 Haiti Premier Apparel S.A. Set up and functioning 14 Hansae Haiti SA Set up and functioning 15 Horizon Manufacturing S.A. Set up and functioning 16 Interamerican Wovens S.A. Setup in progress 17 Life S.A. Set up and functioning 18 MAS Akansyel Set up and functioning 19 MGA Haiti S.A Set up and functioning 20 Modas BU IL Haiti S.A. Set up and functioning 21 Pacific Sports Haiti S.A. Set up and functioning 22 Palm Apparel S.A. Set up and functioning 23 Premium Apparel S.A. Set up and functioning 24 Quality Sewing MFG. S.A. Set up and functioning 25 S&H Global S.A. 1 a 6 Set up and functioning 26 S&H Global S.A. 7 & Washing In progress 27 Sewing International S.A. Set up and functioning 28 Sharon S.A. No active bipartite committee (Newly registered) 29 Silver Linings S.A. Set up and functioning 30 SOGEPLAST SA (Plastic company) 2 Set up and functioning 2 Plastic Company not exporting under HOPE II 29 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T 31 The Willbes Haitian II S.A. Set up and functioning 32 The Willbes Haitian III S.A. No active bipartite committee 33 The Willbes Haitian II B S.A. No active bipartite committee 34 The Willbes Haitian Print Shop S.A. No active bipartite committee 35 Val D’Or Apparel MFG Haiti S.A. Set up and functioning 30 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T BETTER WORK TRAININGS During the reporting period 33 trainings sessions were offered to factories in Port- au-Prince, Caracol and Ouanaminthe. In an overview, the following factory trainings were offered by Better Work Haiti during the reporting period include:  Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)  HIV and Aids  Workers’ Rights & Responsibilities  Bipartite Committee (PICC/LKSB/PC)  ToT Occupational Safety & Health  Industrial Relation (IR)  Supervisory Skills (SST) During the reporting period, the Better Work Training Team trained a total of 827 participants – management and workers – on the above mentioned training topics, including 423 women. In addition to the regular training activities, Better Work Haiti organized industry seminars for the tripartite stakeholders. Although there were several difficulties in the operating context, Better Work Haiti was able to successfully deliver these learning activities. During the reporting period 13 industry seminars were offered to stakeholders in Port-au-Prince, Caracol and Ouanaminthe. The following subjects were covered in these activities:  Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)  Chemical Management System  Negotiation Skills  Risk Management & Control  Labor Law 31 B E T T E R W O R K H A I T I – 1 9 T H C O M P L I A N C E S Y N T H E S I S R E P O R T  Human Resources Management (HRM)  Boiler Safety 507 participants including 208 women participated in theses industry seminars. During the reporting per