(2015) Better Work Haiti: 11th Biannual Synthesis Report

- 1 - q Better Work Haiti: Garment Industry 11 th Biannual Synthesis Report Under the HOPE II Legislation Produced on 16 October 2015 Better Work Haiti is supported by the US Department of Labor. - 2 - Copyright © International Labour Organization (ILO) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) (2015) First published (2015) 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 Cataloguing in Publication Data Better Work Haiti: garment industry 11 th biannual synthesis report under the HOPE II legislation / International Labour Office; International Finance Corporation. - Geneva: ILO, 2015 1 v. ISSN 2227-958X (web pdf) International Labour Office; International Finance Corporation clothing industry / textile industry / working conditions / workers rights / labour legislation / ILO Convention / international labour 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.ilo.org/publns - 3 - 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, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, The US Department of Labor. Funding is also provided by DFID, Government of France, Government of Canada, Irish Aid, GMAC, Royal Government of Cambodia and private sector donors, including The Walt Disney Company, Levi Strauss Foundation, Gap Inc. and FUNG (1937) Management Ltd. 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. - 4 - Table of Contents List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................ 6 Section I: Introduction and Methodology .......................................................................................... 7 1.1 Structure of the report .............................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Context .................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3. The Better Work compliance assessment methodology ......................................................... 13 Section II: Findings ............................................................................................................................18 2.1. Compliance Assessment Findings (10 th and 11 th round of assessments) .................................. 18 2.2. Detailed Findings ................................................................................................................... 20 1. Core labour standards ....................................................................................................... 20 2. Working conditions ........................................................................................................... 21 2.3. Compliance effort .................................................................................................................. 30 Section III: Better Work Haiti Advisory Services and Training ...........................................................32 3.1 Better Work Haiti Advisory Services .................................................................................. 32 3.2 Better Work Haiti Training Services ................................................................................... 33 Section IV: Conclusions and Next Steps ............................................................................................34 4.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34 4.2 Next Steps ......................................................................................................................... 35 Section V: Factories in Detail ............................................................................................................35 5.1 List of factories ........................................................................................................................35 5.2. Findings from the factories .................................................................................................... 36 Factory Tables ...................................................................................................................................38 Annex 1. HOPE II Legislation Reporting Requirements ...................................................................142 - 5 - List of Tables and Charts In Focus 1 : Overtime Wages ............................................................................................................ 21 In Focus 2 : Social Security and Other Benefits .................................................................................. 22 In Focus 3: Wage Information, Use and Deduction............................................................................ 23 In Focus 4: Dialogue, Discipline and Disputes .................................................................................... 24 In Focus 5: Chemicals and Hazardous Substances ............................................................................. 25 In Focus 6: Emergency Preparedness ................................................................................................ 25 In Focus 7: Health Services and First Aid ........................................................................................... 26 In Focus 8: Welfare Facilities............................................................................................................. 27 In Focus 9: Worker Protection .......................................................................................................... 27 In Focus 10: Working Environment ................................................................................................... 28 In Focus 11: Overtime ....................................................................................................................... 29 In Focus 12: Regular Hours ............................................................................................................... 29 Chart 1: Non-compliance rate * ......................................................................................................... 19 Chart 2: Compliance Effort ............................................................................................................... 31 Table 1: Better Work compliance assessment framework ................................................................. 13 Table 2 : Weighted percentage of piece rate workers earning 300 (320 as of May 2015) Gourdes per eight hours of work across all factories assessed by Better Work ..................................................... 24 Table 3: List of factories in the Haitian garment sector registered with Better Work as of September 2015 ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 - 6 - List of Acronyms ADIH Association des Industries d’Haïti (Haitian Industry Association) CAOSS Conseil d’Administration des Organismes de Sécurité Sociale (Board of Social Security Bodies) CATH Centrale Autonome des Travailleurs Haïtiens (Haitian Workers Central) CFOH Confédération des Forces Ouvrières Haïtiennes (Haitian Workforce Confederation) CNOHA Centrale Nationale des Ouvriers Haïtiens (Haitian Workers National Central) CODEVI Compagnie de Développement Industriel (Industrial Development Company) CP Compliance point CSH Coordination Syndicale Haïtienne CSS Conseil Supérieur des Salaires (Wages High Council) CTH Confédération des Travailleurs Haïtiens (Haitian Workers Confederation) CTMO-HOPE Commission Tripartite de Mise en œuvre de la loi HOPE (Tripartite HOPE Commission) EA Enterprise Advisor HELP Haiti Economic Lift Program HOPE Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement ITUC International Trade Union Confederation MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet MOISE Mouvement des Organisations Indépendantes Intégrées aux Syndicats Engagés (Mouvement of Independent Organisations integrated to Committed Unions) MAST Ministère des Affaires Sociales et du Travail (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) OFATMA Office d’Assurance de Travail, de Maladie et de Maternité (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 PICC Performance Improvement Consultative Committee PIM Parc Industriel Métropolitain (also referred to as SONAPI) PPE Personal Protective Equipment SC/AFL-CIO Solidarity Center/American Federation of Labour - Congress of Industrials Organisations TAICNAR Technical Assistance Improvement and Compliance Needs Assessment and Remediation USDOL United States Department of Labor - 7 - Section I: Introduction and Methodology Better Work Haiti, a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), was launched in June 2009. The program aims to improve the working conditions and competitiveness of the apparel industry by increasing respect of the Haitian labour code and of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and strengthening economic performance at the enterprise level. Better Work Haiti targets the apparel industry in Haiti, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince and in the north-east region of the country. In 2014, total export revenues from the textile and garment industry accounted for approximately 90% of national export earnings and 10% of national GDP. The apparel industry is also among the largest employers within Haiti, creating jobs for approximately 40,000 people. Most workers (about 65-70%) are women who support a number of family members. The program assists participating factories by conducting independent compliance assessments and providing advisory services and trainings. This report presents the results of assessments, advisory and training services provided to 26 factories in the period between September 2014 and August 2015. 1 As part of its mandate to share information with all stakeholders in the program and encourage continuous improvement, Better Work Haiti produces twice yearly synthesis reports containing information on the performance of all participating factories in the period. 1.1 Structure of the report This is the eleventh report to be produced by Better Work Haiti in the framework of the HOPE II legislation. This synthesis report provides an overview of the working conditions of 26 factories. As outlined in the tenth public biannual synthesis report, Better Work transitioned to a revised service delivery model in spring 2015 with stronger focus on advisory services. Therefore, compliance information presented in this public report is based on assessment and advisory services at the factory level. In the period between March and August 2015, fourteen out of the currently operating 26 exporting factories in Haiti, were assessed by Better Work and their updated compliance information is included in this report. For the remaining twelve factories, information from their last assessment is included to present aggregated industry level compliance data. Six factories have been out of operations over the past months: Genesis S.A., Gladiator Textiles LLC, Industrial Revolution II S.A., Johan Company, Seed Apparel S.A., The Little Haitian Factory S.A. Three factories have newly registered to the Better Work program in the reporting period: Life S.A., Goal Export S.A., Textiles Youm Kwang S.A. The first section of this report gives an overview of the HOPE II legislation and the origin of the Better Work program in Haiti. This section also includes an explanation of the Better Work methodology, including the reports produced in the framework of the Better Work program and the HOPE II legislation. 1 Assessments are now being conducted on an annual basis for each participating factory. Therefore, assessment information is updated in every second compliance synthesis report for each individual factory. - 8 - The second section of the report outlines the compliance assessment findings from the most recent factory assessments in all factories. As explained above, the Better Work service delivery model underwent some changes in early 2015. Factories are now being assessed on an annual basis. Therefore, compliance information in these biannual public reports is drawn from the last assessment that has been conducted in each factory. For about half of the factories, this last assessment will have taken place in the past 6 months, for the other half, the past assessment will be 6-12 months ago. This section also includes an analysis of compliance effort since the previous synthesis report. The third section of the report describes Better Work Haiti advisory and training services in the period from March - August 2015 in all participating factories. The fourth section of the report outlines the priorities of the Better Work Haiti program in the upcoming months. Finally, the last section describes the efforts made by the factories to correct the compliance needs identified in the Better Work Haiti compliance assessments. Information provided for each of the participating factories includes: compliance needs for each compliance cluster and each compliance point; details of non-compliance; improvement priorities; efforts made by the factory to remedy the compliance needs as verified in the latest Better Work Haiti assessment visit; and with respect to non- compliance areas that have not been remediated, the amount of time that has elapsed since the non- compliance was first reported publicly. For factories that have not been assessed in the last 6 months but in the previous assessment cycle, additional information on their progress on previously identified non-compliance points is stated. Also, the date of the last assessment is mentioned for each individual factory. 1.2. Context The HOPE II legislation and the TAICNAR project In 2006, the United States Congress enacted the Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity for Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 (HOPE), expanding preferences for Haitian apparel established under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, thus enabling the Haitian garment industry to benefit from new duty-free preferences. In 2008, these preferences were further expanded through legislation known as HOPE II, which also established new standards and programs strengthening and monitoring working conditions in the garment sector. On 24 May 2010, the Haiti Economic Lift Program of 2010 (HELP Act) was signed into law to expand existing preferences even more to contribute to Haiti’s economic growth and development in both the textile and apparel sectors. Among its provisions, the HELP Act extended almost all of the trade preferences established under HOPE and HOPE II until 2020, and significantly expanded the tariff preference level limits for knit and woven apparel. In order to benefit from HOPE/HOPE II/HELP, Haiti was required to establish an independent Labour Ombudsman appointed by the President of the Republic in consultation with the private sector and the trade unions. Haiti was also required to work with the ILO, to develop a program to assess and promote compliance with core labour standards and national labour law in the factories that are eligible for tariff advantages under HOPE II. This was referred to in the legislation as the Technical Assistance Improvement and Compliance Needs Assessment and Remediation (TAICNAR) program. Finally, Haiti needed to develop a mechanism for ensuring that all producers benefiting from the HOPE II trade preferences participated in the TAICNAR program. - 9 - There are two components to the TAICNAR program. The first of these 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 labour inspectors, judicial officers and other government personnel. The second element of the TAICNAR program focuses on assessing compliance with core labour standards and national labour law, supporting remediation efforts, and publicly reporting on the progress of each factory on the Labour Ombudsman’s register. To encourage compliance with core labour standards and national labour 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 labour standards and national labour law that is related and consistent with those standards. Better Work Haiti, which is a partnership of the ILO and the IFC, is implementing the TAICNAR program. The program is coordinating its work with the Labour Ombudsman and the HOPE Commission, a presidential tripartite commission comprising three members of the Haitian government, three members of the Haitian private sector and three members of national workers’ organizations. It is supervised by a President and guided by an Executive Director. Recent Developments This section of the report presents the changes and developments that have occurred during the last six months which have an impact on the Better Work Haiti program and broadly on the apparel sector in Haiti.  In 2014, the total export volume of the garment industry to the United States was US$ 854 million. Haitian apparel exports increased by approximately 6% over 2013. The figures for 2015 show a 12% increase over the comparable period in 2014. These figures are through July 2015 until when Haitian apparel exports to the United States have already passed US$ 500 million.  To the original quota levels of 70 million square meter equivalents (SMEs) established through HOPE and HOPE II, an additional trigger mechanism was added through HELP. If imports meet or exceed 52 million SMEs in one annual period (1st Oct - 30 Sept), quota levels for either or both the knit apparel and/ or woven apparel TPLs would automatically increase to 200 SMEs. In 2014, this trigger mechanism was activated for the first time in September and in July 2015, OTEXA announced again that imports from Haiti had exceeded the 52 million SME threshold (so the threshold was even reached much earlier in 2015 compared to 2014). The knit apparel TPL's quote level will therefore again increase to 200 million SMEs for the remainder of the 2014/ 2015 period.  On 11 th June 2015 the extension of the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (HOPE/HELP) has been adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives (397 votes for, 32 votes against) after being passed in the US Senate in May (97 votes to 1 vote against). The House approved the trade preferences bill which includes a 10-year renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), retroactive renewal and an update to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and an extension of the Haiti HELP/HOPE benefits until 2025.  In May 2015, President Martelly announced an increase of the minimum wage in the garment industry with immediate effect. In line with the recommendations of the CSS (Conseil Supérieur des - 10 - Salaires), the minimum wage of reference was increased from 225 to 240 Gourdes, and the production wage was increased from 300 to 320 Gourdes per 8 hours of work. At the same time, the national Haitian currency (Haitian Gourde) saw devaluation over the past months and hit a record low to the US Dollar in July 2015.  In September 2015, Ariel Henry was appointed new Minister for Social Affairs and Labour and he took this office over from Victor Benoit. In the installation ceremony, Prime Minister Evans Paul invited the new Minister of MAST to work towards the consolidation of employment and contribute to poverty reduction.  Elections were held in Haiti on 9 August 2015, with a second round planned on 25 October. Two- thirds of the Senate and all members of the Chamber of Deputies (119 members) were up for election. Runoff elections are set for October 25, the same day as the first round for presidential voting. The Haitian Parliament was dissolved in January after scheduled legislative elections in 2011 and 2014 had been postponed. The Chamber of Deputies has been sitting empty and the Senate, with only 10 of its 30 members, has failed to field a quorum. President Michel Martelly has been ruling by executive order since January. He took office in May 2011 and is in the final year of a five-year term.  In September 2015, the annual Better Work Haiti buyers’ and multistakeholder forum was held in Port-au-Prince. For the first time, the multistakeholders’ day was held in the form of an industry fair which brought together different stakeholders’ of the industry to present the work they do, exchange information and contact details and allow for networking opportunities. 30 representatives from 14 international brands participated in the forum. On the second day of the forum, buyer representatives met with the Better Work Haiti team to discuss compliance findings of Haitian suppliers, challenges faced by the industry and work ahead in the light of the extension of the HOPE/HELP preferences for Haiti until 2025.  In September 2015, Share Hope, the implementing partner of the HERHealth program in Haiti, launched a high school completion program. This program provides an opportunity for 40 garment factory workers in and around SONAPI who failed the final year of high school to prepare for and take the exam (Baccalaureat II). Share Hope wants to give these workers an opportunity to finish what they started and complete their studies. In a needs assessment conducted by Share Hope among factory workers, many expressed a desire to obtain their high school diploma. Share Hope's program is following the Haitian national curriculum, but the teaching approach also aims at creating a classroom environment where the students can express themselves, participate, raise questions and develop critical thinking. At present, this program is fully funded by Share Hope. ILO-MAST Capacity Building Program In 2014, the ILO launched a USDOL-funded project supporting the labour inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MAST). A task force within the Ministry has been set up, and a series of different trainings for the Ministries’ mediators, conciliators and labour inspectors have been provided since June 2014 in collaboration with the Labour Ombudsperson and Better Work Haiti, such as training of 18 Labour Inspectors task force members on practice of labour inspection and labour administration tools, Occupational Safety and Health, the Labour Law etc. Since the inception of the MAST capacity building project, it has been planned that these trained labour inspectors will shadow Better Work Enterprises Advisers in conducting labour inspection visits in the apparel sector in 2015 as well as other activities by Better Work EAs, such as advisory or training ser- vices. This collaboration is aiming at giving an opportunity to MAST inspectors to capitalize on Better - 11 - Work’s enterprise level knowledge and methodology in their core service delivery. The first round of joint visits has taken place in August 2015. Throughout the rest of the year, Better Work Enterprise Advi- sors and MAST Labour Inspectors will continue their joint factory visits. The MAST inspectorate task force members will further contribute to disseminate and transfer the acquired knowledge and compe- tencies to their other colleagues. Beyond the strengthening of the technical capacities of the labour administration, the project also fo- cuses on aspects of human resources in the Ministry’s inspectorate and to assist on issues such as labour inspectors’ recruitment criteria, career planning, initial and continuing training programs etc. A thor- ough human resources review including the elaboration of a comprehensive job profile for labour in- spectors has already been completed in 2014. Beside these activities related to the labour inspection services, the project is also aiming at supporting MAST’s conciliation services and the Office of the Labour Ombudsperson for the garment sector. Several trainings on conciliation and mediation methodology and ways to implement different technical and practical tools were conducted since the inception of the program in spring 2014. The project also works on promoting mechanisms of collaboration between the ministry’s conciliation services and the Office of the Labour Ombudsperson in the garment industry. Industrial Relations in the Haitian garment industry At the time of writing, 44 officially recognized factory level unions are present in the apparel factories. These union cells are affiliated to 8 centrals/confederations and are present in 18 out of the 26 currently operating factories which are part of the Better Work Haiti program. Thus, approximately 70% of those exporting apparel factories in the country now have a union presence. 2 The Haitian labour movement continues to benefit from the support of Solidarity Center/AFL-CIO and the International Trade Union Confederation/ Trade Union Confederation of Americas (ITUC-TUCA). The office of Solidarity Center/ AFL-CIO in Port-au-Prince is open 7 days a week in order to facilitate access for Haitian unions. In the Center, visitors have access to computers, printers and internet for their work. In summer 2015, AFL-CIO organized two key trainings sessions with representatives of the union movement from Haiti’s garment industry. On 07 August, a one day long training on communication skills has been provided to 30 union committee leaders and on 19 September, 40 union committee leaders participated in a training on conflict resolution. Besides that, Solidarity Center actively supports unions organizing campaigns in the Haitian garment industry and offers legal assistance to unions in factory dispute cases. Solidarity Center is also an advocate of the social dialogue roundtable for the garment industry and regularly participates in all of its meetings. ITUC-TUCA supports Haitian trade union organizations through a variety of capacity building measures. Their work has a broader focus than the garment industry only. Areas in which ITUC-TUCA has provided support to Haitian labour unions in the past included social security/ social protection in support to the workers’ representatives of CAOSS (Board of Social Security Bodies), gender equality, the labour law reform and national organizing campaigns in different sectors and regions in the country. 2 Note that union presence in additional factories exists and has been previously reported but these additional factory-level unions have not yet attained official recognition and therefore are not included in the calculation. - 12 - Following the release of the first report of the CSS in November 2013, workers walked off the job in Port-au-Prince in early December 2013, calling for a higher increase in the minimum wage. The protests disrupted production and resulted in some violence. A number of workers from different factories were dismissed in connection with these events. Complaints from three factories for property damage by employers’ side and by workers for wrongful dismissals were filed with the MAST and remain unresolved as of the writing of this report. In the case of one factory, MAST stated that it was not the competent authority to adjudicate the case and the matter was transferred to the High Labour Court for resolution. That case is still pending. The Social Dialogue Roundtable was formally created by representatives of the employers and the unions, and the government as an observer and with support of Better Work Haiti in July 2012 as a space for exchange, consultation and negotiation to harmonize relations between employers and workers' organizations. Since early 2015, it is registered as an association and therefore a legal entity. Its executive secretariat consists of four members, two employer representatives and two union representatives. The social dialogue roundtable is serving as a forum for exchange and negotiation between employers and workers in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the Haitian garment sector in creating employment and contributing to the Haitian economy through the promotion of decent work. Since its establishment in mid-2014, the executive secretariat of the roundtable has called for regular meetings once a month. The Labour Ombudsperson is actively involved in these exchanges of the social dialogue roundtable. However, the table is in need of funding in order to more effectively fulfil its mandate. As of January 2015, Better Work Haiti has designated a full-time Industrial Relations Officer. This person is liaising with national partners to assist the sector in these efforts and to further strengthen social dialogue. The Better Work Haiti Industrial Relations Officer is working closely with the social dialogue table, the Labour Ombudsman and all the unions of the garment industry in Haiti. Overall, the sector has seen an increase in communication between unions and employers, more meetings are being held, in some factories protocols are being signed on production quotas between management and union cells. In general, more information exchange between all stakeholder is being noticed which speaks for evolving industrial relations with a clear intent by all parties involved to improve cooperation. Better Work Haiti is supporting these efforts through participation in sectoral activities, technical support where possible and direct assistance at the factory level through its advisory and training services delivered by the team of Enterprise Advisors and the IR Officer. Between March and August, the IR Officer held a number of meetings with union representatives on topics such as a policy on Freedom of Association, a joint training with MAST representatives on the Labour law, a general training with unions on compliance requirements for garment factories and Better Work’s in factory work, including the revised service delivery model. The Office of the Labour Ombudsman continues to play a key role in the prevention and remediation of factory level conflicts in the garment industry. In 2015, the Labour Ombudsman intervened and mediated in eight individual factory level dispute cases throughout Port-au-Prince. A number of cases have already been successfully remediated and all partners appreciate the Labour Ombudsperson as a significant support to more mature industrial relations in Haiti’s garment sector. In general, the Labour Ombudsperson cooperates with all stakeholders in the sector and is particularly involved in all efforts of coordination and mediation as well as training activities that are being held jointly with officials from the MAST. Equally, the Ombudsman’s Office is trying to establish a more - 13 - formal relationship with the Ministry’s (MAST) Conciliation Service. The Labour Ombudsperson is also providing support to the social dialogue roundtable. 1.3. The Better Work compliance assessment methodology Better Work compliance assessment framework The Better Work program assesses factory compliance with core international labour standards and national labour law. Following assessments, a detailed report is shared with the factory presenting findings on eight clusters, or categories, of labour standards, half of which are based on international standards and half on national legislation. Core labour standards: The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, adopted in 1998, calls upon Member States to respect and promote these principles and rights in four areas, whether or not they have ratified the relevant conventions. These categories, or clusters, are: freedom of association and collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation. The conventions on which the 1998 Declaration is based are Nos. 29, 87, 98, 105, 100, 111, 138, 182, and they form the reference base in assessing factory compliance with fundamental rights for all the Better Work programs in various countries. For some issues, such as minimum legal working age, provisions in national law specify requirements for the application of international conventions. If national law is not consistent with international standards pertaining to core labour standards, the international standards are applied. Haiti has ratified all eight core Conventions listed above. According to the Haitian Constitution, ratified conventions become self-executing and therefore part of Haitian law. Working Conditions: The four other clusters assess conditions at work, including compensation, contracts and human resources, occupational safety and health, and working time. The compliance points covered in these clusters are largely consistent across countries; however each compliance point contains specific questions that may vary from country to country due to differences in national legislation. National legislation is used as a reference point even if it is not in accordance with the international conventions that have been ratified by the country. In countries where national law either fails to address or lacks clarity around a relevant issue regarding conditions at work, Better Work establishes a benchmark based on international standards and good practices. Table 1: Better Work compliance assessment framework Compliance clusters Compliance Points Core Labour Standards 1 Child labour 1. Child Labourers 2. Unconditional Worst Forms 3. Hazardous Work 4. Documentation and Protection of Young Workers - 14 - 2 Discrimination 3 5. Race and Origin 6. Religion and Political Opinion 7. Gender 3 Forced Labour 8. Coercion 9. Bonded Labour 10. Forced Labour and Overtime 11. Prison Labour 4 Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 12. Freedom to Associate 13. Union Operations 14. Interference and Discrimination 15. Collective Bargaining 16. Strikes Working Conditions 5 Compensation 17. Minimum Wages 4 18. Overtime Wages 19. Premium Pay 20. Method of Payment 21. Wage Information, Use and Deduction 22. Paid Leave 23. Social Security and Other Benefits 6 Contracts and Human Resources 24. Employment Contracts 25. Termination 26. Dialogue, Discipline and Disputes 27. Contracting Procedures 7 Occupational Safety and Health 28. OSH Management Systems 29. Chemicals and Hazardous Substances 30. Worker Protection 31. Working Environment 32. Health Services and First Aid 33. Welfare Facilities 34. Worker Accommodation 35. Emergency Preparedness 8 Working Time 36. Regular Hours 37. Overtime 38. Leave Calculating non-compliance In public synthesis reports, Better Work reports on aggregated non-compliance in the participating industry as shown in Chart 1. Non-compliance is reported for each subcategory (compliance point, or “CP”) of the eight labour standards clusters. A factory is reported as non-compliant in a subcategory if it is found to be out of compliance on any issue addressed within the subcategory. With respect to the figures presented in synthesis reports, for example, a non-compliance rate of 100% means that all participating factories were found to have at least one violation in that area. 3 In Better Work country-specific questionnaires, a compliance point “Other Grounds” may be included under the Discrimination cluster. This category is intended to assess specific discrimination issues that are covered in national labour law, and are considered to be aligned with the objectives of the relevant ILO conventions (100 and 111), but which are not explicitly named in the conventions, e.g., age, HIV/AIDS status, disability, etc. The questionnaire for Haiti does not include the “Other Grounds” compliance point because the Haitian labour law does not identify grounds for discrimination beyond those cited in Conventions 100 and 111. 4 Since the 8 th Better Work Haiti synthesis report, Better Work Haiti only reports non-compliance with the minimum wage of reference of 225 Gourdes (as of 1 st May 2014). The reporting on the production wage of 300 Gourdes will be done with specific details on each factory’s percentages of workers’ average earnings in the factory tables in section V of the report. - 15 - The non-compliance rate does not sufficiently describe the specific issues that Enterprise Advisors (EAs) observe during assessments. In order to address this, tables presenting non-compliance findings in more detail are also presented in Section II (see “In Focus” tables). These tables allow the reader to fully appreciate specific challenges in compliance identified in factory assessments. In Focus tables report the number of factories found to be non-compliant with respect to each highlighted question. Better Work and public reporting The Better Work program supports fair and transparent public reporting. In all Better Work country programs, synthesis reports on the industry are prepared on the basis of the individual factory assessment reports and published twice a year. Evidence shows that public reporting of this kind helps encourage continuous improvement and reduces the probability of reversing compliance gains. Gathering and reporting these data over time enables factories to demonstrate their efforts to improve working conditions. In July 2010, Better Work Haiti published an initial compliance synthesis report, which featured aggregated compliance information based on factory assessments conducted by the program between October and December 2009. In October 2010, Better Work published its first Biannual Report under the HOPE II legislation, the first report produced under the requirements of the legislation (see Annex 1). Subsequently, Better Work Haiti produced the second (April 2011), third (October 2011), fourth (April 2012), fifth (October 2012), sixth (April 2013), seventh (October 2013), eighth (April 2014), ninth (October 2014) and tenth (April 2015) Biannual Reports, as required by the HOPE II legislation. The current report includes aggregated industry compliance data, as well as detailed factory-level analysis of compliance needs, priorities for remediation identified by the factory and efforts made to address compliance needs. Limitations in the assessment process The factory-level assessments carried out by Better Work Haiti follow a thorough checklist of about 230 questions covering the abovementioned labour standards, and gathering general information about the factory. 5 Information is gathered through a variety of sources and techniques, including document review, observations on the shop floor, and interviews with managers, workers and union representatives. The information collected is compiled and analysed to produce a detailed assessment report. Before the reports become official, factories are given seven calendar days to provide feedback. Worker interviews conducted during the assessment process are held onsite, either in a private room within the factory building or outside the building (yard, eating area), and take place either in small groups or individually. Interviews are conducted in Creole, the primary language of the workers. Workers may be suspicious and feel uneasy about sharing information on their workplaces with people who are not well known to them and coaching of workers by factory management is considered a common problem in the industry in general. Nevertheless, after eleven assessments conducted over 5 Better Work has recently published the list of questions from its Compliance Assessment Tool (CAT) including their legal refer- ences. It can be accessed here: http://betterwork.org/haiti/?page_id=1731 - 16 - several years, Better Work Haiti EAs have become more experienced at collecting information and interviewing workers, which together with other activities led by Better Work Haiti have contributed in creating an environment where workers are more comfortable discussing working conditions. Interviews with workers cover many aspects of life at work and last approximately 20 minutes. On average, 40 workers representing different sections of the factories, as well as union representatives, are interviewed. Among the issues covered in Better Work Haiti’s compliance assessment tool, sexual harassment, similarly to other countries, is one of the most sensitive and most difficult to detect during factory assessments. The assessment of sexual harassment in the workplace by Better Work Haiti is likely to underreport the extent of its occurrence. However, sexual harassment remains an issue of concern in the industry in general. Better Work is basing its assessment findings on triangulation of facts which requires sufficient evidence in order to find a factory in non-compliance on a particular compliance point and some issues are not always easy to detect. Although concerns regarding sexual harassment persist, Better Work Haiti has seen positive developments on the topic with factories acknowledging the issue as a potential problem and demonstrating an increased openness to address it. Several factories are therefore working on prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. In particular, Better Work’s supervisory skills training has contributed to raise awareness of this issue among supervisors in more than half of the factories in Haiti. Assessing compliance with freedom of association at the enterprise level also presents challenges, in part because some labour unions are organized at the sectoral level rather than at the factory level where small union cells predominate. Simple auditing of factory compliance has been widely acknowledged to be limited in rectifying compli- ance issues. Factories wishing to cheat the auditing system are able to do so without focusing on the long-term business benefits of improving their working conditions. In Haiti, factories have been assessed twice yearly, double the number of assessments that factories in other Better Work country programs receive. As a result, the Better Work Haiti program did not have sufficient time and resources to provide sufficiently effective advisory services between assessments. This led to areas of non-compliance being remediated in an unsustainable manner. Factories with well-established management systems can en- sure that compliance improvements are sustainable in the long run. Therefore, Better Work recognizes the necessity to shift its focus and to provide more in depth advisory services to assist factories to ad- dress root causes of non-compliance issues and find long-term solutions. As of spring 2015, Better Work started the rollout of its revised service delivery model with a stronger focus on advisory services in all Better Work country programs including Haiti. Moreover, in Haiti, the establishment of Performance Improvement Consultative Committees (PICCs), which has only recently started to pick up, will gradually move advisory services to the next level as these bipartite committees will further promote the good practice of social dialogue at the factory level. Better Work’s Service Delivery Model Since Better Work’s establishment, compliance with labour laws and international standards has im- proved across all country programs. In its initial phases (phase I: 2007 - 2009 / phase 2: 2009 - 2012), the Better Work program has collected lessons learned from its various country operations. In order to carry the program into its third phase, Better Work underwent an independent evaluation, which made a series of key recommendations. One of the main suggestions was that Better Work should advance and - 17 - restructure its services to increase the onus of responsibility for change onto the factory personnel that Better Work staff engages with. Subsequently and in line with this recommendation, the Better Work’s service package of assessment, advisory and training services has been revised in close consultation with all of the program’s constitu- ents. Each Better Work country program has developed its own roll-out plan to incorporate the various components of this new approach which focuses on management systems and aims at increasing facto- ry ownership through improved relations between management and workers. The revised service delivery model is putting stronger emphasis on a systems-based approach that builds factory ownership over time, without losing the essential element of assessments, which is the program’s objective measure of outcomes in improving working conditions. The revised service delivery model is meant to improve and allow Better Work services to work together more effectively. In Haiti, this can only be achieved through a shift of focus from a heavy assessment-centered approach to more in depth advisory and training services. Therefore, starting with the completion of the 10 th round of as- sessments by Better Work Haiti and the publication of this tenth compliance synthesis report in April 2015, the program has transitioned to one assessment per factory per year and stronger focus on advi- sory services and management systems. The adjusted service delivery model consists of the same core services that Better Work offered previously: assessments, advisory and training services. The sequence and format of all of these services are adjusted to deliver a more comprehensive package to all participating factories. As of the 11 th Better Work Haiti cycle, a factory cycle will no longer start with an assessment on which advisory services afterwards were built in the initial approach. Under the adjusted model, the cycle will now start with a period of approximately 100 days of advisory services in which the factory with its bipartite committee can conduct a self-diagnosis with support of its Better Work Enterprise Advisor and can work on immediate improvements where possible. The unannounced Better Work assessment is then conducted after the initial period of advisory and training services. Following the assessment, the advisory process continues, focused on enabling the bipartite committee to address issues that are listed in the improvement plan. The improvement plan includes issues that the factory has self-diagnosed and those that were identified during the Better Work assessment. Factories will be supported through tailored factory visits; issue specific seminars (on topics relevant to the country/industry) with peers from other factories; and training appropriate to the factory’s specific needs. Under the revised service delivery model, Better Work reporting has two elements – reports completed and verified by the program and those that are completed and released directly by factories. The Better Work factory reports consist of the assessment report that is released roughly 30 days after the unannounced assessment visit. In the 11th month of the cycle, Better Work will then publish a pro- gress report, detailing improvements on compliance issues, as well as in-factory dialogue and the use of effective management systems. Better Work will also provide additional recommendations to further strengthen the improvement pro- cess. Factory reporting is published approximately 5 months after the start of the cycle. This report will in- clude progress to date on all self-diagnosed issues as well as those identified by Better Work during the assessment. This report will be available to authorized buyers and will indicate initial progress and - 18 - planned steps for the remainder of the year. The Better Work role for this first progress report will be limited to coaching factories on how to engage in effective self-reporting and how to ensure continued progress on closing areas of non-compliance. Implications of the Revised Approach for Public Reporting under HOPE II The HOPE II law requires that Haiti in cooperation with the ILO establishes a Technical Assistance Im- provement and Compliance Needs Assessment and Remediation Program (TAICNAR) which (i) assesses Haitian garment factories exporting under the HOPE II law on compliance with international core labour standards and national Haitian labour law, (ii) assists these factories on their remediation efforts and (iii) provides capacity building to the Government of Haiti on these aspects. The requirements of the HOPE II law with regards to biannual reports being published by the entity operating the TAICNAR program are quoted in annex 1 (HOPE II Legislation Reporting Requirements). The change in Better Work’s service delivery model described above will not derogate these require- ments of the HOPE II legislation. Public biannual synthesis reports will continue to be published on the 16 th of April and the 16 th of October of each year. The findings from each factory’s annual assessment will be reported in one of these two synthesis reports including the date of each factory’s assessment. The report following 6 months later will contain information from advisory services, especially with re- gards to remediation efforts by the factory concerning the non-compliance issues identified in the past assessment. Therefore, information provided will actually exceed the HOPE II requirements of reporting on the preceding 6 months period as progress will be stated over an entire 12 months period. This long- er cycle will give factories more opportunities to work with their assigned Better Work Enterprise Advi- sor to find long-term solutions for weak management systems, which are at the root cause of recurrent non-compliance issues. Section II: Findings 2.1. Compliance Assessment Findings (10 th and 11 th round of assessments) Non-compliance rates Chart 1 presents non-compliance findings for the 26 assessed factories in Haiti, showing non-compliance rates as well as the number of factories in non-compliance in brackets. Key findings are provided in Section 2.2 below. In Focus Tables provide additional information for Compliance Points, at the question level, where a significant number of factories was out of compliance. - 19 - Chart 1: Non-compliance rate * * A factory is found non-compliant in a compliance point if it is found out of compliance on any one aspect of it. 8% (2) 4% (1) 4% (1) 4% (1) 8% (2) 19% (5) 50% (13) 46% (12) 8% (2) 81% (21) 42% (11) 19% (5) 19% (5) 31% (8) 54% (14) 81% (21) 85% (22) 35% (9) 85% (22) 69% (18) 81% (21) 23% (6) 50% (13) 42% (11) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Child Labourers Documentation and Protection of Young Workers Hazardous Work Unconditional 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 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 Discrimi nation Forced Labour Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Compensation Contracts and Human Resources Occupational Safety and Health Working Time rate of non-compliance 20 2.2. Detailed Findings 1. Core labour standards During the last round of assessments, which took place between September 2014 and August 2015 in 26 factories, the following results have been observed. A. CHILD LABOUR Child Labour is virtually non-existent in the apparel sector in Haiti. There were no non-compliance findings under the Child Labour cluster in the period under review. B. DISCRIMINATION Two factories were identified as non-compliant under Discrimination Cluster and both cases relate to gender. In one factory, a female worker was fired shortly after she had submitted a medical certificate stating her pregnancy (20 th week). The worker had just been newly hired by the factory a month prior to that and the factory fired her without receiving prior authorization by the Ministry of Labour. Manage- ment stated that the termination was due to the fact that she was not able to perform the work she was assigned. Also, they stated that the woman had misled the factory regarding her ability to work, as she did not declare her pregnancy during the recruitment process. However, no proof of the woman's inabil- ity to perform her work was found in her file. A second case of discrimination was identified in another factory where a case of sexual harassment was identified during an assessment. A new female worker with only one month of service reported to the HR department that one of the foreign supervisors had been harassing her sexually during her training period in the sewing line she was assigned to and in a sampling room she was moved to later on. The worker explained that she finally reported the case to HR after the supervisor entered the room and locked the door during break time, when all workers were going outside, and asked her to perform a sexual act on him. The worker also explained that she had not reported the case earlier because she was not aware of the policies in place to tackle such abuses. After reporting the case to the HR Department, the managers in that plant conducted their own investi- gation. Interviewed HR and General Manager stated that they had not found any grounds to take further action against the accused supervisor, due to a lack of evidence. When questioned, the supervisor com- pletely denied any misconduct during his work with that worker. Compliance managers reported during the interview with EAs that it was difficult to find the truth. Better Work found non-compliance based on lack of effective action to address the situation and weak enforcement of procedures in place in the Plant 4. The factory has an anti-sexual harassment policy in place and posters are displayed on commu- nication boards throughout the Plant. However, interviews with workers revealed that workers were not fully aware of the factory's policy on sexual harassment. Management acknowledged that despite sexual harassment being part of the induction training for all workers, more communication is necessary to reinforce this policy on both supervisors’ and workers’ side. [... middle sections omitted for long document ...] The Willbes Haitian III S.A. Location: Port-au-Prince Number of workers: 653 Date of registration: 27-Aug-10 Date of last BW assessment: 4-Aug-15 Advisory and Training Services Date Activity 27-Feb-15 Information session about the STAR portal. Factory tour to assess progress on OSH issues. 5-Mar-15 Meeting with compliance manager to discuss the establish ment of a PICC. 22-Apr-15 Follow up visit on the improvement process. Inductio n on STAR portal use and account activation. 23-Apr-15 Supervisory Skills Training. 29-Apr-15 Participation in an industry seminar on Better Work's r evised service delivery model 20-May-15 Introduction of BWH revised service model and initializati on of self diagnosis process. 30-Jul-15 Information session with HR and accounting staff on compe nsation issues. 10-Aug-15 Meeting with compliance team to clarify payment terms for holiday pay. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Child Labourers Documentation and Protection of Young Workers Hazardous Work Unconditional Worst Forms Gender Race and Origin Religion and Political Opinion Bonded Labour Coercion Forced Labour and Overtime Prison Labour Collective Bargaining Interference and Discrimination Strikes Union Operations Method of Payment Minimum Wage Overtime Wages Factory was found non-compliant. Factory was progressing Factory was compliant. Remediation Efforts MonthsCompliance cluster Compliance point Assessment Details of non-complianceImprovement Priorities Child Labour Discrimination Forced Labour Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Remediation Efforts MonthsCompliance cluster Compliance point Assessment Details of non-complianceImprovement Priorities Paid Leave Payment for annual leave. Payment for sick leave. Payment for maternity leave. All wages earned must be included in the calculation for the annual leave payment. Payment for sick leave must be paid based on average salary earned. Payment for maternity leave must be paid based on average salary earned. Premium Pay Social Security and Other Benefits Employer contribution to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Forwarding of workers' contributions to OFATMA. Payment of annual salary supplement or bonus. Register all workers to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance and make necessary contribution. Collect and forward workers contribution for maternity and health insurance to OFATMA Ensure that payment of annual salary supplement or bonus is accurate. Wage Information, Use and Deduction Contracting Procedures Dialogue, Discipline and Disputes Disciplinary measures. Disciplinary measures must comply with internal work rules and legal requirements. Employment Contracts Internal work rules. The factory must revise the Internal work rules to ensure compliance with legal requirements. Termination Notice of termination. Provide adequate notice of termination or related compensatory payment. 18 Compensation Contracts and Human Resources 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Remediation Efforts MonthsCompliance cluster Compliance point Assessment Details of non-complianceImprovement Priorities Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Labelling of chemicals and hazardous substances. Storage of chemicals and hazardous substances. Washing facilities or cleansing materials in the event of chemical exposure. Chemical safety data sheets for all chemicals and hazardous substances in the workplace. Properly label containers of chemicals and hazardous substances in use. Install a proper storage for chemicals and hazardous substances. Install eye wash stations in all areas where chemicals are stored or in use. Collect and post MSDSs for all chemicals in use in the workplace Emergency Preparedness Accessible, unobstructed, and/or unlocked emergency exits during working hours, including overtime. Ensure all exits and aisles remain unlocked at all time during working hours. Adequate fire detection and alarm system were installed in the workplace. Corrective measures were taken to ensure flammable materials are kept away from possible sources of ignition. 24 Health Services and First Aid Annual medical checks for workers. Ensure all workers are subjected to at least one medical check yearly. Newly hired workers are subjected to medical checks within first three months of assignment. 54 OSH Management Systems Occupational Safety and Health 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Remediation Efforts MonthsCompliance cluster Compliance point Assessment Details of non-complianceImprovement Priorities Welfare Facilities Toilets. Eating area. Provide the number of toilets required by the Haitian Labor code. Provide an adequate eating area to accommodate the workers. The factory took corrective measures to ensure soap is available in washing facilities. 54 Worker Accommodation Working Environment Workplace temperature. Take measures to reduce the temperature in the workplace. Worker Protection The factory properly accommodated all standing workers. The factory has installed guards on all dangerous moving parts of machines and equipment. Leave Time off for breastfeeding breaks. Provide paid breastfeeding breaks to workers who are entitled to the benefit. Overtime Regular Hours Daily break periods. Ensure all workers are allowed to fully benefit of at least one hour break. Percentage of piece rate workers earning 300 Gourdes (320 as of May 2015) or more for eight hours of work (workers’ average earnings): Oct-13 Apr-14 Oct-15 27% 30% 25% Oct-14 28% Apr-15 43% Working Time 142 Annex 1. HOPE II Legislation Reporting Requirements SEC. 15403. LABOUR OMBUDSMAN AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMPROVEMENT AND COMPLIANCE NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION PROGRAM. [...] (D) BIANNUAL REPORT. —The biannual reports referred to in subparagraph (C)(i) are a report, by the entity operating the TAICNAR Program, that is published (and available to the public in a readily accessible manner) on a biannual basis, beginning 6 months after Haiti implements the TAICNAR Program under this paragraph, covering the preceding 6-month period, and that includes the following: (i) The name of each producer listed in the registry described in paragraph (2)(B)(i) that has been identified as having met the conditions under subparagraph (B). (ii) The name of each producer listed in the registry described in paragraph (2)(B)(i) that has been identified as having deficiencies with respect to the conditions under subparagraph (B), and has failed to remedy such deficiencies. (iii) For each producer listed under clause (ii) — (I) a description of the deficiencies found to exist and the specific suggestions for remediating such deficiencies made by the entity operating the TAICNAR Program; (II) a description of the efforts by the producer to remediate the deficiencies, including a description of assistance provided by any entity to assist in such remediation; and (III) with respect to deficiencies that have not been remediated, the amount of time that has elapsed since the deficiencies were first identified in a report under this subparagraph. (iv) For each producer identified as having deficiencies with respect to the conditions described under subparagraph (B) in a prior report under this subparagraph, a description of the progress made in remediating such deficiencies since the submission of the prior report, and an assessment of whether any aspect of such deficiencies persists. [...]