(2019) Better Work Haiti: 19th Biannual Synthesis Report

19th Biannual Synthesis Report An Industry and Compliance Review Under the HOPE II Legislation Haiti REPORTING PERIOD October 2018 – October 2019 1 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Copyright © International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (2019) First published (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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 2018 and October 2019............................................................................................... 45 5 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 35 FACTORIES IN THE PROGRAMME 57,000 WORKERS (65% WOMEN) program with the US. Convening diverse stakeholders 7 ~1 billion 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 FREE ZONES HOSTING 90% OF TEXTILE 18 BRANDS AND RETAILERS 10 YEARS OPERATING IN HAITI SINCE 2009 APPAREL EXPORTS IN USD BILLIONS (90% OF NATIONAL EXPORTS) 17 BETTER WORK HAITI STAFF 19 INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE REPORTS 11 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T FIGURE 1. EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN 5 YEARS Jobs PIM PIC CODEVI 46,000 45,000 47,386 51,500 53,500 26,172 24,638 6,506 25,828 24,188 19,263 12,732 10,030 8,483 8,483 8,045 7,800 7,800 7,500 7,039 Better Work Haiti has contribute to jobs increasing on a yearly basic. ~20% increase in 5 years 12 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T TRIPARTITE DIALOGUE EVENTS ATTENDANCE Unions 13.3% Governement TRIPARTITE DIALOGUE EVENTS ATTENDANCE BY GENDER 33% Female of Haiti Factory Management ILO/ BWH staff 40.0% 38.3% 8.3% 67% Male 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. 14 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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. FIGURE 1. INDUSTRY INVESTMENT OWNERSHIP 34% 6% 3% 9% 6% 43% USA (2) KOREAN (15) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (3) HAITIAN (12) TAIWAN (2) SRILANKA (1) 15 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T FIGURE 1. MANUFACTURING PRODUCTS BY FACTORIES 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 15 8 3 5 2 4 T-shirts Knits Shirts Pants Sports apparel Others 16 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Non-compliance rates by Compliance Point -October 2018 - September 2019 Freedom of Association Contracts and Human Child Labour Discrimination Forced Labour and Collective Bargaining Compensation Resources Occupational Safety and Health Working Time 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 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% Non-compliance rate (n= 27) 19 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T 20 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 FACTORIES FOUND NC NC RATE BY QUESTION 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 FACTORIES FOUND NC Does the employer compensate workers for unused paid NC RATE BY QUESTION 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 FACTORIES FOUND NC Are chemicals and hazardous substances properly NC RATE BY QUESTION 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMPLIANCE QUESTION # OF FACTORIES FOUND NC Are emergency exits and escape routes clearly marked and NC RATE BY QUESTION 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 `COMPLIANCE QUESTION # OF FACTORIES FOUND NC Do regular daily or weekly working hours exceed the legal NC RATE BY QUESTION 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR 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 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T ⧫ Human Resources Management (HRM) ⧫ Boiler Safety 507 participants including 208 women participated in theses industry seminars. During the reporting period, the Better Work Training Team offered learning activities to a total of 1437 participants – management and workers – on the above mentioned training topics, including 682 women. The program continues to implement the paperless evaluation and the recent innovation done on the training management system allows the production of reports that facilitate the performance analysis in this area. Better Work Haiti training focuses on building the capacity of the factories’ management representatives and workers to have the appropriate knowledge to address compliance and workplace issues primarily in relation to assessment findings and recommendations by EAs. The following provides an overview of training activities held during 2019. TRAINING TYPE # SESSIONS TOTAL PARTICIPANTS FEMALE MALE Industry Seminar 16 507 208 299 Factory Training 26 695 289 406 Training 37 971 627 344 BWH TRAINING ACTIVITIES SUMMARY 1200 1000 Industry Seminar Factory Training Training 971 ATTENDANCE BY GENDER 800 600 400 200 0 16 695 507 406 37 26 627 344 208299 289 52% 48% # Sessions Total Participants Female Male Female Male 32 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Section III: Conclusion and Next Steps Better Work Haiti’s 19th synthesis report provides a range of insights into the state of working conditions and labour standards in the garment industry today. The report draws upon data from 27 factories that were assessed from October 2018 to September 2019, bringing together quantitative compliance findings with qualitative evidence from day-to-day advisory and training work in factories. The findings have far reaching implications both for policymaking and wider industry development. During the reporting period, there was a slight increase in the number of non compliance issues related to core labour standards. Factories were very responsive to the effort to address gender discrimination issues in the workplace. However, again this year there is resistance to address the issues identified in the area of freedom of association. Better Work intends to work more closely with the factory and the buyers to identify ways to address these points. As in previous years, non compliance remains concentrated in the working conditions clusters, particularly in the area of Occupational Safety and Health. To address this problem, Better Work offered additional training sessions on chemicals and risk management. However, ensuring that the factories empower more people, including worker representatives to monitor these issues, is a key element in the remediation approach proposed by Better Work. Emergency preparedness remains a concern in the sector despite the progress observed. After the mission of the occupational safety and health consultant, Better Work is now revising the tools available to help the factories address persistent noncompliance issues in a more effective way. During the reporting period, Better work also observed the emergence of a new noncompliance issue in the working time cluster. In fact, 8 factories did not give the number of days required by law although the workers were properly paid. Both management and workers at these factories stated that this problem was due to the civil unrest events in 2018 which caused the factories to work additional days in order to complete their production targets 33 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T and deliver on time. Better Work will work with the factories in a proactive way in order to prevent this issue repeating itself this year as the recent political issues caused the loss of several working days again this year. BWH will continue to expand its collaboration with the social partners (Government of Haiti, Ministry of Labour and social security institutions) Support to develop national policies and programmes to reinforce national OSH systems and infrastructures to mitigate persisting and emerging OSH risks, including those stemming from violence and harassment; this includes: strengthening research on emerging risks; improving reporting and notification systems and OSH data; skilling OSH professionals and integrating OSH into technical and vocational education and training; sharing good practices on innovative OSH legislation; developing targeted strategic compliance programmes and enhancing the capacities of labour inspectorates. Increased institutional capacity of Employer’s and workers’ organization in the garment sector At the sectoral level, Better Work will seek to collaborate with other ILO departments to resolve issues preventing formal tripartite discussions, especially on the issue of trade union representation. In collaboration with other ILO departments, Better Work continues to support the stakeholders in the sector to negotiate renewed collective bargaining agreements. 34 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Annex 1. The TAICNAR Project and Reporting Requirements under the HOPE II Legislation In 2006, the United States Congress enacted the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 (HOPE), expanding preferences for Haitian apparel established under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, thus enabling the Haitian apparel 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 apparel sector. On 24 May 2010, the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 (HELP Act) was signed into law to extend 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 and in 2015, the US Government extended the Haiti HELP/HOPE provisions until 2025. In order to benefit from HOPE/HOPE II/HELP, Haiti was required to establish an independent Labor 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 technical assistance program to (i) assess and promote compliance with core labor standards and national labor law in the factories that are eligible for tariff advantages under HOPE II and (ii) provide assistance to the Government of Haiti in order to strengthen its capacity in the process of inspection of facilities. 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. The TAICNAR program consists of two components: 35 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T TAICNAR Program Component 1: Compliance Assessments and Remediation Support The HOPE law states that the first component of the TAICNAR program is “to assess compliance by producers listed in the registry described in paragraph (2) (B) (i) with the conditions set forth in subparagraph (B) and to assist such producers in meeting such conditions.” Better Work Haiti is implementing this component of the TAICNAR program. Aggregated findings for the entire industry regarding compliance with national and international labor law are outlined in section II of the report. The details of Better Work’s assessment methodology are explained in annex 3 of this reports. Annex 4 provides the details of compliance for every factory that has been assessed. It has to be noted that Better Work offers several services that go beyond the requirements of the HOPE legislation, in particular the collaboration with international brands through sharing of factory assessment reports, joint support for factories regarding the improvement plan used during advisory services (corrective action plan), specific trainings and specific projects and or events such as the annual buyers and multi-stakeholders forum. With the introduction of fees to be paid by factories for participation in the Better Work Haiti program since 2016, it has been decided that non-paying factories will receive all Better Work core services (advisory, training, and one annual assessment) in line with requirements of the HOPE legislation. Factories that do pay their subscription fee will have access to the full offer of Better Work services beyond core services only. TAICNAR Program Component 2: Technical assistance to strengthen the legal and administrative structures for improving compliance in the industry The HOPE law states that the second component of the TAICNAR program is “to provide assistance to improve the capacity of the Government of Haiti – (I) to inspect facilities of producers listed in the registry described in paragraph (2)(B)(i); and (II) to enforce labor laws and resolve labor disputes, including through measures described in subparagraph E.” 36 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T The ILO has been conducting different activities under this component, mainly in the context of the USDOL-funded ILO/MAST Capacity Building project which aimed at strengthening the capacities of the Ministry in order to improve apparel factories’ compliance with international and national labor laws. The project ran from 2014 to 2017 and was closely linked to the Better Work program. As of 2018 and with Better Work`s new 5 year strategy in Haiti, the program will continue to build on the efforts of this MAST capacity building program. The revised project strategy puts stronger emphasis on the capacity building of all tripartite constituents – government, employer and worker 0rganizations – as part of the sustainability efforts of the Better Work program. With regards to the reporting requirements, the HOPE II law specifies which information needs to be included in the biannual reports to be published by the TAICNAR program. See text box below for the original text of the law. 37 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T SEC. 15403. LABOR 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. [...] 38 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T 39 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Annex 2. Better Work’s Service Delivery Model The key principles of Better Work’s revised service model are ownership, accountability, dialogue and partnership. The core services offered to factories are advisory services, an annual assessment, and training services. Better Work’s service delivery model stresses the importance of advisory services with a stronger focus on assistance on management systems, root cause analysis and continuous learning. Better Work acknowledges the fact that auditing alone cannot contribute to sustainable remediation of non-compliances. Assessments provide a snap shot of the compliance issues, yet they do not add significant value to improvements of factories’ compliance performance. Therefore, the focus in the services that Better Work delivers to factories are on continuous learning and improvements working with factories on root causes that are underlying repeated non-compliance issues. Since 2015, a factory cycle no longer starts with an assessment on which advisory services afterwards were built in the initial approach. Under the revised Better work service delivery model, the cycle now starts 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. 40 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Better Work reporting has two elements – reports completed and verified by the Better Work 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. Then later on in the cycle, in the 11th month of the cycle, Better Work then publishes a progress report, detailing improvements on compliance issues, as well as in-factory dialogue, continuous learning and the use of effective management systems. Better Work also provides additional recommendations in this report to further strengthen the improvement process. Factories report through the Better Work portal. This portal is the platform that is also used by Better Work to share factory data with authorized international brands that subscribed to a specific factory in either of the Better Work country programs. The enhanced portal with the revised self-reporting function also offers the opportunity for factories to update their improvement plan themselves. The improvement plan lists a factory’s non compliance points from the last Better Work independent assessment together with any other issues that the factory itself identified as areas for improvements. Once the factory updates its improvement plan online, the information is immediately available to buyers and Better Work. However, this feature has some limitations with regards to the factories’ editing rights as only Better Work can update the status of a non-compliance issue from “delayed”, “pending”, or “in progress”, to “completed” after verification of evidence of remediation. Factory reporting then continues with the first progress report which is published approximately 5 months after the start of the cycle. This report includes progress to date on all self-diagnosed issues as well as those identified by Better Work during the assessment. This report has a pre-set structure from Better Work and it is made available to authorized buyers and indicates initial progress and planned steps for the remainder of the cycle. 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. The Better Work Enterprise Advisors then write their own progress report towards the end of an annual cycle of each factory. An overview of the sequence of the different components of the Better Work service model under this revised approach can be found in the illustration below: 41 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Sequence and components of annual Cycle under Better Work’s revised service delivery model. In 2017, Better Work started to differentiate factories depending on their performance. Factories that are scoring high enough in terms of compliance performance but also in the areas of dialogue and learning encompass the criteria that need to be satisfied before a factory can be qualified for “stage two”. In fact, Better Work will classify factories as being in “stage two” if they consistently demonstrate high levels of compliance, a mature level of social dialogue, effective management systems and a commitment to learning. Those criteria will be evaluated based on information collected during two consecutive assessments. Factories that have not yet met this benchmark will be classified as “stage one.” For factories that have been with Better Work for several years, service differentiation will respond to requests for greater autonomy in the day to-day advisory service, fewer assessments, and a tailored service that responds to their more advanced needs, for example relating to systems development, purchasing practices, productivity and quality, and mature industrial relations. 42 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Annex 3. The Better Work Compliance Assessment Methodology BETTER WORK COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK The Better Work program assesses factory compliance with core international labor standards and national labor law. Following assessments, a detailed report is prepared and findings are shared with the factory presenting findings on eight clusters, or categories, of labor standards, half of which are based on international standards and half on national legislation. Core labor 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 labor, the abolition of child labor 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 labor 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 43 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T 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 2: Better Work compliance assessment framework Compliance Cluster Compliance Point Compliance Issue Child Labor Child Labourers Workers under age 15 Documentation and Protection of Young Workers Age verification system Medical certificate, and/or an employment certificate or permit delivered by the Director of Labor provided by workers under age 18. Register of workers under age 18. Hazardous Work and other Worst Forms Workers under age 18 working at night. Workers under age 18 working overtime. Workers under age 18 doing work that is hazardous by nature. Discrimination 3 Gender Changing the employment status, position, wages, benefits or seniority of workers during maternity leave. Conditions of work (gender and/or marital status). Excluding maternity leave from workers’ period of continuous service Hiring (gender and/or marital status). Job announcements (gender and/or marital status). Pay (gender and/or marital status). Pregnancy tests or use of contraceptives as a condition of employment Promotion or access to training (gender and/or marital status). Sexual harassment 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 labor 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 labor law does not identify grounds for discrimination beyond those cited in Conventions 100 and 111. 44 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Terminating workers or forcing them to resign if they are pregnant, on maternity leave or nursing. Termination or retirement (gender and/or marital status). Race and Origin Conditions of work (race, colour, origin) Harassment (race, colour, origin) Hiring (race, colour, origin) Pay (race, colour, origin) Promotion or access to training (race, colour, origin) Recruitment materials (race, colour, origin) Termination or retirement (race, colour, origin) Religion and Political Opinion Conditions of work (religion or political opinion) Harassment (religion or political opinion) Hiring (religion or political opinion) Pay (religion or political opinion) Promotion or access to training (religion or political opinion) Recruitment materials (religion or political opinion) Termination or retirement (religion or political opinion) Forced Labor Bonded Labor Debts for recruitment fees owed to the employer and/or a third party Coercion Coercive tactics. Delaying or withholding wage payments. Forced labor to discipline workers or punish them for participation in a strike Free exit from the workplace at all times, including during overtime. Freedom of movement (dormitories or industrial park). Freedom to terminate employment with reasonable notice and/or to leave their jobs when their contracts expire Threats such as deportation, cancellation of visas or reporting to the authorities Violence or the threat of violence. Workers’ access to their personal documents (such as birth certificates, passports, work permits and ID cards) Forced Labor and Overtime Forced overtime under threat of penalty 45 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Prison Labor Prison labourers Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Collective Bargaining Access to collective bargaining agreement. Collective agreement less favourable for workers than what is required by national law. Collective bargaining/bargaining in good faith. Implementation of collective agreement. Freedom to Associate Freedom to form and/or join a union Requiring workers to join a union. Interference and Discrimination Attempt(s) to interfere with, manipulate or control the union(s). Freedom to meet without management present. Incentives to refrain from joining a union or engaging in union activities. Punishment of unionists Termination or non-renewal of worker’s employment contract due to union membership or activities Threats, intimidation or harassment of unionists. Unequal treatment of multiple unions. Union membership or union activities factoring into hiring decisions Strikes Hiring of replacement workers during a strike. Preventing workers from participating in a strike. Punishing workers for participating in a strike. Security guards, the police or armed forces called on to break up a peaceful strike or arrest striking workers. Union Operations Deduction of union dues upon workers’ request. Union representatives’ access to workers in the workplace. Compensation Method of Payment In-kind wage payments. Regular and timely payment of wages. Wage payment directly to workers at the workplace on working days Wage payment in legal currency. Minimum Wage Correct payment of piece rate workers when their piece rate earnings exceed minimum wage. Payment of minimum wage for apprentices. Payment of minimum wage for temporary workers. Overtime Wages Payment for ordinary overtime. 46 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Payment for overtime hours worked on holidays. Payment for overtime worked at night. Payment for overtime worked on weekly rest days. Paid Leave Payment for annual leave. Payment for breastfeeding breaks. Payment for legally mandated holidays. Payment for maternity leave. Payment for sick leave. Payment for weekly rest days. Premium Pay Payment for regular hours worked at night. Payment for regular hours worked on holidays Payment for regular working hours worked on weekly rest days Social Security and Other Benefits Collecting and forwarding workers’ contributions for social insurance funds to ONA. Employer contribution to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Employer contribution to OFATMA for work-related accident insurance. Employer contribution to ONA. Forwarding of workers’ contributions to OFATMA. Payment of annual salary supplement or bonus. Wage Information, Use and Deduction Deductions from workers’ wages. Informing workers about wage payments and deductions. Payroll records. Contracts and Human Resources Contracting Procedures Limits on the trial period for apprentices. Dialogue, Discipline and Disputes Bullying, harassment or humiliating treatment of workers. Disciplinary measures Resolution of grievances or disputes. Employment Contracts Contracts for all persons performing work for the factory. Employment contracts’ compliance with the labor code, collective agreement and/or internal work rules. Internal work rules. 47 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Specifying terms and conditions of employment in written employment contracts. Workers’ understanding of the terms and conditions of employment. Termination Annual salary supplement or bonus upon termination. Notice of termination. Orders to reinstate or compensate unjustly terminated workers. Payment for unused paid annual leave upon resignation or termination. Reasons for termination. Reductions in workforce size or suspensions due to changes in operations Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Assessing, monitoring, preventing and/or limiting workers’ exposure to hazardous substances. Chemical safety data sheets for all chemicals and hazardous substances in the workplace. Inventory of chemicals and hazardous substances used in the workplace. Labelling of chemicals and hazardous substances. Storage of chemicals and hazardous substances. Training workers who work with chemicals and hazardous substances. Washing facilities or cleansing materials in the event of chemical exposure. Emergency Preparedness Accessible, unobstructed, and/or unlocked emergency exits during working hours, including overtime. Fire detection and alarm system. Firefighting equipment. Marking or posting of emergency exits and/or escape routes in the workplace. Number of emergency exits. Periodic emergency drills. Safeguarding possible sources of ignition Storage of flammable materials Training workers to use the firefighting equipment Health Services and First Aid Annual medical checks for workers. First-aid training for workers. 48 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Health checks for workers who are exposed to work related hazards. Medical checks for workers upon hiring. Onsite medical facilities and staff. The employer did not ensure that there were a sufficient number of readily accessible first aid boxes/supplies in the workplace. Safety and health risks to pregnant or nursing workers OSH Management Systems Assessment of general occupational safety and health issues in the factory. Legally required construction/building permits Mechanisms to ensure cooperation between workers and management on OSH matters. Recording work-related accidents and diseases and/or submitting the record to OFATMA. Written OSH policy. Welfare Facilities Certain required facilities. Eating area. Providing drinking water. Toilets. Washing facilities and/or soap. Worker Accommodation Accommodation separate from the workplace Cooking or storage facilities in the accommodation. Lighting in the accommodation. Minimum space requirements in the accommodation. Preparation for emergencies in the accommodation. Privacy in the accommodation. Protection against disease carrying animals and/or insects in the accommodation. Protection against fire in the accommodation. Protection against heat, cold and/or dampness in the accommodation. Protection against noise in the accommodation. Toilets, showers, sewage and/or garbage disposal systems in the accommodation. Ventilation in the accommodation. Water in the accommodation. Ergonomic requirements 49 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Worker Protection Installing guards on all dangerous moving parts of machines and equipment. Installing, grounding, and/or maintaining electrical wires, switches, and/or plugs. Posting safety warnings in the workplace Providing workers with personal protective clothing and equipment. Punishment of workers who removed themselves from work situations they believed presented an imminent and serious danger to life or health. Training and encouragement of workers to use PPE, machines and/or equipment safely Working Environment Workplace cleanliness Workplace lighting. Workplace noise levels. Workplace temperature and/or ventilation. Working Time Leave payment in place of annual leave Time off for annual leave. Time off for breastfeeding breaks. Time off for maternity leave. Time off for sick leave. Overtime Authorization from the Department of Labor for overtime. Authorization from the Department of Labor for work on Sundays. Limits on overtime hours worked. Voluntary overtime. Regular Hours Daily break periods. Regular daily and/or weekly working hours. Weekly rest period. Working time records. Authorization from the Department of Labor before working at night. CALCULATING NON-COMPLIANCE & PUBLIC REPORTING 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 50 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T subcategory (compliance point, or “CP”) of the eight labor 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. The Better Work program supports fair and transparent public reporting. In all Better Work country programs, synthesis reports containing aggregated information on the industry are prepared on the basis of the individual factory assessment reports and published twice a year. Better Work is currently expanding its reporting in the other Better Work countries to include individual factory-level compliance information as is already the case for Haiti. 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. 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 above mentioned labor standards, and gathering general information about the factory.4 Information is gathered through a variety of sources and techniques, including document review, observations on the factory floor, and interviews with managers, workers union representatives, bipartite committee members or any other relevant witness. 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 4 Better Work Haiti Compliance Assessment Tool (CAT) including their legal references can be accessed here: http://betterwork.org/haiti/?page_id=1731 51 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T uneasy about sharing information on their workplaces with people who are not well known to them and coaching of workers by factory management is a possible issue in the industry in general. Nevertheless, after fourteen assessment cycles conducted over more than seven years, Better Work Haiti Enterprise Advisors 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. Violations in core labor standards such as sexual harassment or freedom of association are very sensitive and are more difficult to detect during factory assessments. The assessment of violation of freedom of association issues in the workplace is sometimes difficult to assess in a two days assessment. There are several reasons for that. One challenge is that some labor unions are organized at the sectoral level rather than at the factory level where small union cells predominate. Another challenge is that for example, the termination of unionist usually happens after a series of events. Key witnesses might have been terminated before the assessment days. Also supporting documents might not have the level of details required to determine non-compliance. 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 therefore not always easy to be confirmed. As more unions are present in the factories today, workers are more aware of their rights regarding freedom of association. Workers therefore are also demonstrating an increased level of openness to discuss this subject during interviews. In addition, Better Work collects information about specific cases as they are being shared by unions or other stakeholders at any given time of the year. During the assessment at a particular factory, specific questions can be asked about any case that has previously been raised and information may therefore enter the assessment report. The assessment visits usually last two days and because it is a picture of the moment, some situations that might lead to non-compliance points in the future are not reported. It is also important to keep in mind that non-compliance issues might be identified during the advisory cycle through the self-diagnosis process. 52 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Better Work supports factories in order to reinforce their capacity to conduct a self diagnosis and to develop an improvement plan that includes points that go beyond the Better Work assessment. For all the issues included in the improvement plan, additional information is stated, such as the action to be taken and the person responsible for it within the company. All of this information in return as well as the remediation efforts are then documented in the progress reports. As Better Work is moving into a differentiated approach where services for advanced factories will be different from those for factories who still require more assistance, the evaluation of the performance of a factory will not only be limited to the assessment data but will also include information gathered in those progress reports. Another issue that may be challenging to detect during an assessment is sexual harassment which is included in Better Work Haiti’s compliance assessment tool. Similarly to other countries, it is one of the most sensitive and most difficult issues 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. As mentioned, 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. Simple auditing of factory compliance has been widely acknowledged to be limited in rectifying compliance issues. Factories wishing to not disclose certain information are able to do so without focusing on the long-term business benefits of improving their working conditions. This is why Better Work’s approach at the factory level is much broader in its scope focusing on continuous improvements through advisory and training services, emphasizing the importance of effective systems and the involvement of workers. 53 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T Annex 4: Factories in Detail LIST OF FACTORIES Below is the list of factories that have been assessed by Better Work Haiti over the past two cycles. All factories that have been assessed by Better Work more than twice are included in the data analysis and also included in the factory tables in annex 4 of this report. Please note that if an already assessed factory closed, their individual level compliance data is no longer included in this section. Table 3: List of factories in the Haitian apparel sector which have been assessed between April 2018 and March 2019 Name of factory 1 BrandM Apparel Haiti - AM2 2 Caribbean Island Apparel S.A. 3 Centri Group SA 4 Cleveland Manufacturing S.A. (former GMC) 5 CODEVI 6 Digneron Manufacturing SA 7 Elansia SA 8 Everest Apparel Haiti SA 9 Fairway Apparel S.A. 10 Go Haiti S.A. 11 H4H 12 H&H Textiles S.A. 13 Haiti Premier Apparel S.A. 14 Hansae Haiti SA 15 Horizon Manufacturing S.A. 54 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T 16 Interamerican Wovens S.A. 17 Life S.A. 18 MAS Akansyel S.A 19 MGA Haiti S.A 20 Modas BU IL Haiti S.A. 21 Pacific Sports Haiti S.A. 22 Palm Apparel S.A. 23 Premium Apparel S.A. 24 Quality Sewing MFG. S.A. 25 S&H Global 1-6 26 S&H Global Washing 7 27 Sewing International S.A. 28 Sharon S.A 29 Silver Linings SA 30 Sogeplast (Plastic Company) 31 The Willbes Haitian II S.A. 32 The Willbes Haitian III S.A. 33 The Willbes Haitian II B S.A. 34 The Willbes Haitian Print Shop S.A. 35 Val D’Or Apparel MFG Haiti S.A. FINDINGS FROM THE FACTORIES This section reports on the detailed factories’ compliance performance as required by the HOPE II legislation. The HOPE II legislation requires the entity implementing the TAICNAR program (the ILO) to publish a biannual report with specific information on factories’ compliance performance. The report is supposed to cover the preceding 6-months period and should include detailed compliance 55 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T information for each individual producer (see annex 1 for the exact requirements of the HOPE II legislation.), including the details of non-compliance points identified, efforts of the producer to remediate the non-compliance points as well as the time elapsed since the deficiencies have first been identified. This information is captured in the factory tables in the following section. Better Work measures compliance with international core labor standards and national labor laws in a set of 8 clusters during its unannounced annual assessment visits. Under each cluster, several compliance points are assessed and each compliance point consists of individual issues that are verified during each Better Work compliance assessment. The list of compliance clusters, compliance points and issues can be found in the reference table in annex 3. The issues under each compliance point again usually break down into several questions. The full list of all questions of the compliance assessment tool (CAT) used by Better Work Haiti can be accessed online.5 When a compliance point is not listed, it means that the factory has been in compliance on this point in both of its last two assessments by Better Work. The reference point is always the full list of compliance points and issues listed in annex 3. A factory needs to have been assessed at least two times before its information will be published in a factory table in this report. The columns in the tables correspond to specific reporting requirements of the HOPE legislation and provide additional information as follows: ♦ Details on the non-compliance identified by EAs: the information included in this column constitutes the issues where evidence of non-compliance was found in one of the last two assessments conducted by Better Work at each particular factory (the date of the last two assessments is equally indicated for each factory on top of its table). ♦ Improvement priorities identified by the factory; ♦ Efforts made by the factory to remedy the compliance needs as verified in the most recent assessment or advisory visit; 5http://betterwork.org/haiti/?page_id=1731 56 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T ♦ With respect to non-compliance areas that have not been remediated, the amount of time that has elapsed since the non-compliance has been first identified at this factory. Additional information also corresponding to HOPE II reporting requirements is provided in the section above each table, e.g. advisory and training services provided by Better Work. 57 BETTER W O RK HAI T I – 1 9 TH CO M P LIAN C E SYNTHESIS R E P OR T BETTER WORK HAITI – 19TH SYNTHESIS REPORT Factory: Caribbean Island Apparel S.A. Location: Port-au-Prince Number of workers: 2838 Date of registration: Aug-13 Date of last two Better Work assessments: Advisory and Training Services Jan-18 Jan-19 29 August 2019 Traininig Chemical Management System Training 23 August 2019 Traininig Boiler Safety Training 26 July 2019 Advisory meeting Advisory visit to perform documentation review of OFATMA accidents reporting, bipartite committee minutes and update Improvement Plan 06 June 2019 Traininig Human Resources Management Training 27 April 2019 Traininig Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health Training 03 April 2019 Advisory meeting Advisory visit to perform documentation review of OFATMA accidents reporting ASSESSMENT COMPLIANCE CLUSTER COMPLIANCE POINT DETAILS OF NON COMPLIANCE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES REMEDIATION EFFORTS MONTHS Assessment January 2019 Jan-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits OFATMA contributions based on the total earnings for all workers. Ensure that OFATMA contributions are calculated with all earnings except over time. Calculations now include all earnings except overtime. 40 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Workers in the welding workshop not wearing personal protective equipment while doing welding work. Ensure all workers in the welding workshop wear personal protective equipment while working. Management ensure that workers use personal protective equipment's 10 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Inventory does not include all chemical used in operations. Assign responsible persons for updating inventories of hazardous substances in the various locations where they are stored or used. Compliance officer updates chemical inventory for amounts and storage location 22 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Unidentified container of Gas in the welding workshop and another unidentified container of Oil found in building 13. Assign a person responsible for identification of all chemical containers based on recommendations from their MSDS. Compliance officer identifies all chemical containers based on MSDS recommendations 21 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances No MSDS were available for Gas, spray paint and motor finish. Translate MSDS for Gas in the welding workshop in local language , as well as for spray paint and Moto finishing in the mechanic workshop of building 13 and post accordingly. All MSDS are posted 21 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances The use of chemicals are not isolated in building 14. Consider relocation, engineering modification of the space for proper isolation of chemical usage 21 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Management has not provided earplugs for workers in cutting section of building H4 Provide adequate PPE to all workers as appropriate including but not limited to earplugs for workers in cutting section where noise exceed 90 DB. Management purchased and distributed adequate PPE to all workers as appropriate 10 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Some chairs provided to workers in the sewing lines of all buildings were missing back rest. Remove and replace the chairs with adequate back rests 16 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection More than 50 percent of all sewing machines were missing pulley guards. Ensure that all sewing machines have appropriate guards. Assign a dedicated person to conduct weekly checks and to report to management. 52 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Electrical panels are not sealed and several are mounted on wooden boxes. Ensure all electrical panels are sealed.And not mounted on flammable materials. Electrical panels are now sealed and not mounted on flammable materials 10 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace temperatures exceed 31C in all sections. Use electrical exhaust fans or cooling system/.Ensure that the air-flow to and from the fans is not blocked. Make sure that all fans are well-maintained and regularly cleaned. Monitor workplace temperature on a regular basis 22 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Noise levels exceeded 90 DB in the cutting section. Provide earmuffs to workers of the cutting section where noise exceed 90DB. Earmuffs were provided 22 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment The level of lighting in the cutting section was below the 750 LUX recommendation. Provide adequate lighting to maintain cutting section at 750 LUX or more. 22 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities With its current workforce, the factory should have 54 functioning toilets for men and 84 functioning toilets for women. Increase the number of toilets as required by the labour code. 22 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness 1 fire extinguisher obstructed by boxes in building 10 and 2 fire extinguishers were over charged. Assign responsible person from OSH committee to monitor accessibility and pressurization of fire extinguishers. Compliance officer and OSH committee members were assigned accordingly 10 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Escape route in the sewing line of building 14 was blocked by a trolley of fabrics. Improve induction training. Identify a space to ensure timely removal items after delivery of materials. 10 Jan-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Flammable materials such as paper were stored against electrical panel in building H3. Train workers about potential hazards Ensure that flammable materials are not stored near potential ignition sources. 10 Jan-19 Working Time Leave Workers were paid for 15 days of annual leave after 1 year of service but were actually only granted 12 days off. Ensure that eligible workers effectively enjoy 15 days of annual leave as legally required. 10 Assessment January 2018 Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems OSH policy has not been developed in consultation with worker representatives and is not signed by top management. Discuss OSH policy in bipartite committee meetings. Obtain top management signature after possible suggestions and or modifications. OSH policy was discussed in bipartite committee meetings. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances No updated inventory was available for all chemicals and hazardous substances used in the workplace Assign persons responsible for updating inventories of hazardous substances in the various locations where they are stored or used. Include all chemicals used in the workplace in the central inventory. Specify who is in charge of maintaining one central inventory for the company. Chemical Inventory was updated Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Unidentified bottles containing chemicals Define who control the chemical container upon receipt from supplier and control the label. Define who is entitled to pour chemicals in other recipients and label them. Review the MSDS to know which pictograms are needed Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances No MSDSs were posted for some chemicals. Post all MSDS in the local language for all chemicals used MSDS's were posted for chemicals in use during that cycle Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances No eye wash station in the spare parts department of building H4. Install and maintain a functioning eye wash in the spare parts of building H4. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection 30 percent of all machines in H3 buildings were missing finger guards and pulley guards. Install and maintain finger guards and pulley guards on all sewing machines. The machine guards were installed and a monitoring and maintenance program is in place Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Assessors observed uncovered electrical boxes with exposed wires, uncovered electrical outlets and damaged Insulation of the electrical wires. Properly cover electrical box. Insulate the exposed electrical wires. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace temperatures exceed 31 C in all sections Use electrical exhaust fans or cooling system.Ensure that the air-flow to and from the fans is not blocked. Make sure that all fans are well-maintained and regularly cleaned Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Insufficient lighting in 1 sewing section and packing sections. Improve Lighting in 1 sewing and the packing sections. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities Insufficient functioning toilets for men and women. Increase the number of toilet for both sexes to meet the legal requirements. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory does not provide workers health checks within the first three months of hiring. Ensure that workers receive medical checks as indicated in the labour code with first 90 days. Factory provides medical checks systematically Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory does not provide workers with annual health checks. Ensure that workers receive annual medical checks as indicated in the labour code . Factory provides medical checks systematically Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid There is no systematic break for pregnant women. Ensure pregnant women receive breaks as provided in the law Follow up interviews confirmed that the factory gave the additional breaks as required Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid Factory of this size must have a permanent onsite medical service, with at least 13 nurses and 3 doctor's visits per week. Increase the number of nurses and doctor visits to comply with labour code. Factory now counts 11 nurses as required Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid Training records provided revealed that workers trained in first aid is less than the 10 percent of the workforce. Plan and conduct first aid training for 10% of the worker population 10% percent of workers were trained during that cycle Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Evacuation plans in building has not been updated to indicate the actual escape routes according to the recently reorganized floor layout. Update the evacuate plan to reflect actual layout of factory. The evacuation plan was updated Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Flammable materials such as t-shirts were stored close to the lighting lamps. Ensure flammable materials are not stored near possible ignition sources. BETTER WORK HAITI – 19TH SYNTHESIS REPORT Factory: Cleveland Manufacturing S.A. Location: Port-au-Prince Number of workers: 1607 Date of registration: Jul-16 Date of last two Better Work assessments: Jan-18 Feb-19 Advisory and Training Services 2-Jul-19 Advisory meeting 3-May-19 Advisory meeting Advisory meeting to review if the recommendations have been applied in the OSH policy, Risk assessment action plan, BW training plan. Session with the compliance team on the Progress report 1 and review the improvement plan. Factory tour to verify: Structural safety, emergency preparedness and Worker’s protection. Advisory meeting. Review the OSH Policy and made recommendations. Review the improvement plan and discuss about the implementation of the Bipartite committee. Factory tour to validate pending OSH issues. 27-Apr-19 Training Training - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health ASSESSMENT COMPLIANCE CLUSTER COMPLIANCE POINT DETAILS OF NON COMPLIANCE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES REMEDIATION EFFORTS MONTHS Assessment February 2019 Feb-19 Compensation Paid Leave The factory only paid 6 weeks for maternity leave instead of 12 weeks. Pay 12 weeks for maternity leave. 8 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits The most recent ONA payment receipts reveal that the payments are not made on a monthly basis. Ensure that workers' contribution are collected and forwarded to ONA on time 32 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Late payment of employer contributions for ONA. Submit ONA payments on time and calculate this amount based on basic salary instead of the minimum wage. 32 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits The factory has not registered with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Register with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. 32 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Collecting and forwarding of workers' contributions to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Register with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Then Collect and forward workers' contributions to OFATMA. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances The employer only had a list of chemicals used in the factory. Assign a person responsible for updating inventories of hazardous substances in the various locations where they are stored or used. The inventory report has been modified including location and approximate amounts. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Unlabelled containers in the generators room and mechanic shop. Ensure that all hazardous and chemicals substances used in the workplace are properly labelled. The containers have been removed. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems No MSDSs were posted where chemicals are stored and used. Prepare and post MSDS where chemicals are used. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Management did not take proper action to limit and isolate the use of chemicals in all the factory. Improve maintenance of machines to reduce spots and improve isolation from chemicals. 20 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Eyewash stations in the mezzanine floor where workers are using chemical were missing. Provide cleansing materials where chemicals are used and stored. Eye wash stations have been installed where chemicals are used and stored. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Workers had not been provided with masks in the stamping or Pad print section. Provide employees with all necessary personal protective clothing and equipment according to PPE regulation. Personal protective equipment has been purchased and distributed to workers. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection The employer did not provide foot rests or shock absorbing mats near the cutting room and in the pressing section. Identify areas where anti fatigue mats are missing and provide anti fatigue mats for standing workers. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Several machines missing safety guards. Define who is in charge of installing & regularly maintaining the machine guards. Then, install the guards in accordance with the company regulation. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Electrical box, wire and outlets are not properly maintained. Properly cover electrical box; Insulate the exposed electrical wires, Make sure that the electrical outlets have been fixed. The electrical box has been covered. 20 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection The meeting points in case of emergency are not properly located. Identify another meeting point. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace temperature exceed BW recommended limit of 30 C. Ensure that the air-flow to and from the fans is not blocked. Monitor workplace temperature on a regular basis. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace lighting insufficient. Ensure the lighting is adequate and adapted to worker's needs. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities Insufficient number of toilets. Increase the number of toilets. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory does not provide workers health checks within the first three months of hiring. Provide free medical heath checks for workers within the first three months of hiring. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory did not show evidence of annual medical checks for workers. Provide free annual checks for all workers once a year in all buildings. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid Insufficient medical staff. Increase the number of nurse 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid Insufficient number of workers trained in first aid. Ensure that at least 10 percent of the workforce are trained. The training in first Aid took place and 12 percent of the workforce are trained. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness One fire alarm was obstructed by fabrics and other materials. Have a fire detection and alarm system suitable for the factory conditions. Remind workers that fire alarm should remain unobstructed 20 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Two fire extinguishers were not properly charged. Have someone in charge to regularly check that the fire extinguishers are properly maintained. The fire extinguishers have been replaced. 32 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness No evacuation plan was posted on the stock floor. Evacuation plans need to be updated to accurately reflect all buildings floors. Develop and update the emergency plan. 20 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness The stock floor has two doors, one is identify as exits and the other one as emergency exit. Ensure that each floor has at least 2 possible exit door. Each floor has at least 2 possible exit door. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Aisles in stamping or pad print area, sewing and cutting floor were obstructed with fabrics. Identify additional space for storing goods. Remind supervisors about their responsibility to enforce OSH in their area. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Fire drill not conducted every 6 months in all buildings. Conduct at least one emergency drill every six months. 20 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems Work-related accidents and diseases were not recorded and submitted to OFATMA for the month of May and June 2018 . Declare accidents to OFATMA 8 Feb-19 Working Time Leave The factory provided 13 days of annual leave to workers with 1 year of service instead of 15 days in 2018. Give workers the required time for annual leave. 8 Assessment January 2018 Jan-18 Compensation Paid Leave Payments for non-working holidays are based on the minimum wage instead of average earnings. Ensure that payments for non working holidays are based average earnings. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances There was no eye wash station in all areas where chemicals are stored. Install eye wash stations where chemicals are store. Eye wash stations have been installed where chemicals are used and stored. The OSH officer is in charge of the daily checks. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Management did not provide gloves and goggles for workers in the spot cleaning area using chemicals. Provide employees with all necessary personal protective clothing and equipment according to PPE regulation. Personal protective equipment such as gloves and goggles have been provided to the workers. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Standing workers in the packing area near the cutting room were not provided with foot rests or shock absorbing mats. Provide anti fatigue mats for standing workers Anti-fatigue mats have been provided to workers and additional stocks are available. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection About 30 percent of all sewing machines were missing finger guards and pulley guards. Install the guards in accordance with the company regulation. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Assessors observed 2 uncovered electrical boxes with exposed wires in the cafeteria. Moreover, in the printing building uncovered electrical outlets and electrical box were also observed near the generator room. Insulate the exposed electrical wires, Make sure that the door of the electrical panel is closed. All electrical panels are enclosed in non combustible material. Jan-18 Compensation Paid Leave Payments for weekly rest days are based on the minimum wage instead of average earnings. Ensure that payments for weekly rest days are based on average earnings Jan-18 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Employer's contribution to ONA is less than 6 percent of workers' base salaries. Ensure that employer's contribution are based on workers' base salaries then collected and forwarded to ONA on time. Payment should be submitted within the 10 business day of each month for the previous month. Jan-18 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Collecting and forwarding workers' contributions for social security insurance funds to ONA. Ensure that workers' contribution are based on workers' base salary then collected and forwarded to ONA on time. Payment should be submitted within the 10 business day of each month for the previous month. Jan-18 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits The last payment for OFATMA work related accident insurance was done for the previous fiscal year. Also, the amount paid by the employer to OFATMA is less than 3 percent of the workers' base salary. Pay OFATMA work-related accident insurance for the fiscal year 2017-2018. Ensure that the amount declared to OFATMA match the amount received by the workers for the previous fiscal year. Payments for OFATMA work related accident have been made. Jan-18 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Employer contribution to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. The factory has not yet registered with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Register to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Pay the required employer contribution within the first 10 days of the months. Jan-18 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Collecting and forwarding of workers' contributions to OFATMA. The factory has not yet registered with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Register to OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. Then Collect and forward workers' contributions to OFATMA within the first 10 days of the months. Jan-18 Compensation Wage Information, Use and Deduction Time records of hours worked on Sundays are not entered in the payroll and are paid separately. Include the hours worked on Sunday in the payroll Jan-18 Contract and Human Resources Employment Contracts The contracts issued in 2017 did not specify the employee's position as required by law. Modify the contract and inform workers about their right. Employment contract as been modified as required by the law. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Chemicals and hazardous substances such as K7M used in the spot cleaning area are not properly labelled. Define who controls the chemical container upon receipt from supplier and control the label. Define who is entitled to pour chemicals in other recipients and label them. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Chemicals and hazardous substances were not stored properly in the chemical room. Identify a storage area for chemicals. Ensure all chemicals and hazardous substances used in the factory are properly stored. Issue instruction on proper storage. New chemical warehouse is operational. All chemicals are labelled and MSDS is available and posted. Eye Wash station is installed. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances No MSDS were posted in the chemical room near the printing building where chemicals are stored. Assign a person in charge of receiving MSDS from supplier and verify that the MSDS has all the required sections. Integrate this in the purchasing procedure. Make sure to have the MSDS for all hazardous chemicals used in the workplace. Purchasing Department is responsible to collect the MSDS from the providers. All MSDS are available and translated in local language. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace temperature exceed BW recommended limit of 30 C. Use electrical exhaust fans or air conditioning. Ensure that the air flow to and from the fans is not blocked.Make sure that all fans are well-maintained and regularly cleaned Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Workplace lighting insufficient. Ensure the lighting is adequate and adapted to worker's needs. Specify who is in charge of regular maintenance of the light. Conduct regular measurement & compare with BW recommended limit. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities Insufficient number of toilets. Increase the number of toilets. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities Soap was not available in the AGC building and workers complained about that. Ensure that soap is always available during working hours. Soap dispenser are installed and liquid soap is available in all toilets. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory did not show evidence of annual medical checks for workers. Provide free annual checks for all workers once a year in all factories. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory did not provide health checks to workers who have been exposed to work-related hazards. Provide free annual checks for all workers exposed to work-related hazards twice a year. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory does not provide workers health checks within the first three months of hiring. Provide free medical health checks for workers within the first three months of hiring. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The factory has 2 full time nurses. To comply with the Haitian Labour Code, a factory of this size must have a permanent onsite medical service, with at least 8 nurses and 3 doctor's visits per week. Increase the number of nurse and ensure that the factory received 3 doctor's visits per week. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid At the time of the assessment visit, the training records provided revealed that 123 out of 1548 workers were trained in first aid, which is less than the 10 percent of the workforce recommended by Better Work. Ensure that trained workers regularly represent 10 percent of the workforce. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Access to 1 alarm system was obstructed by boxes in the cutting building. Furthermore, the alarm system in the printing building is not working. Ensure that all alarm system is working and they are not obstructed. Alarms are installed, working and are monitored. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Access to 3 fire extinguishers was obstructed. Ensure that all fire extinguishers are properly maintained and are not obstructed. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Insufficient number of workers trained in firefighting. Ensure that trained workers regularly represent 10 percent of the workforce. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness The current evacuation plans in the cutting and fabric warehouse buildings have not been updated to indicate the actual escape routes according to the recently reorganized floor layout. Update the evacuation plan. Ensure that the evacuation plan is the same as the current layout. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Fire drill not conducted every 6 months in all buildings. Have someone in charge to plan an emergency drill every 6 months. Ensure that the drill is performed on the scheduled dates Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Source of ignition not properly safeguarded. Have someone in charge of the daily inspection. Inform workers about bad practices that are prohibited in the workplace. Jan-18 Working Time Leave Breastfeeding break is not systematically granted. Develop a breastfeeding break policy and inform workers and supervisors of this policy. Breast feeding policy is in place and the nurses are responsible to inform workers. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems The OSH policy has not been developed in consultation with workers and their representatives. Translate the OSH policy into the local language and ensure that the policy is signed by top management. Consult with worker representatives to make necessary adjustment in the policy. Jan-18 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Management did not isolate the use of chemicals and did not install exhaust ventilation. Also, the employer does not measure exposure to occupational and environmental hazards. Set policy on maximum daily time of exposure including solution in case of overtime. Improve isolation from the chemical . BETTER WORK HAITI – 19TH SYNTHESIS REPORT Factory: CODEVI Location: Ouanaminthe Number of workers: 10030 Date of registration: Sep-09 Date of last two Better Work assessments: Advisory and Training Services Feb-19 May-18 25-Jul-19 Training Workers training HIV/AIDS 24-Jul-19 Training Workers training HIV/AIDS 23-Jul-19 Training Workers training HIV/AIDS 5-Jun-19 Advisory meeting Factory visit. Interview with HR Manager and Security Director: case of union leaders dismissals. 2nd factory tour: AMII, MD, Fabrik and Top Choice. 4-Jun-19 Advisory meeting Factory visit. Factory tour with CODEVI Compliance Manager at MD industries, Fabrik, Mazava, Brand M(AMII), Top Choice. 3-Jun-19 Advisory meeting Factory visit. Improvements review. Review of paperwork for NCs related to payroll, training, etc. 3-May-19 Advisory meeting 2-May-19 Advisory meeting Factory visit. Factory tour at Top Choice to verify OSH improvements. Meeting with 4 unions reps to discuss their challenges and social dialogue issues. Factory visit. Improvements review. Bipartite committee meeting to address improvements and develop an action plan to reactivate the committee. 3-May-19 Training Chemicals Management 15-May-19 Training Risk Management & Control 13-Sep-19 Advisory meeting OSH factory tour at Uniwell and Superior with a focus on emergency preparedness and chemicals management. Interviews with unions. 12-Sep-19 Advisory meeting OSH factory tour in AM1: Emergency preparedness and chemicals management. 2-Oct-19 Advisory meeting Factory visit. Boilers safety tour Everbright and BKI (BKI boiler currently inactive). Emergency preparedness tour: Everbright, Superior. 3-Oct-19 Advisory meetingEmergency preparedness tour at Uniwell, Top Choice, MD1, MD2, CIH, BKI. Request to CODEVI: Management systems (procedures, tools, internal audits check list, etc.) of emergency preparedness in place for all factories. ASSESSMENT COMPLIANCE CLUSTER COMPLIANCE POINT DETAILS OF NON COMPLIANCE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES REMEDIATION EFFORTS MONTHS Assessment February 2019 Feb-19 Compensation Minimum Wages/Piece Rate Wages Inaccurate payroll liquidity issues. Workers are not properly informed of these deductions. Inform workers of all deductions. Ensure payment of remaining fraction of salary within the next month . Codevi management is working on the implementation of a project for electronic payment to employees and to avoid this kind of problems. The workers have also been informed of the procedure to make the reply. 8 Feb-19 Compensation Overtime Wages Overtime payment is not accurate for some categories of personnel. Ensure that overtime is accurately paid to all eligible workers. CODEVI's compliance department will be following up on all overtime being correctly paid, doing semi annual audits in all factories. 6 facilities correctly pay overtime, this has been verified by internal audits conducted by the codevi compliance department. 36 Feb-19 Compensation Premium Pay Working hours completed on weekly rest days are not paid to all workers. Ensure that hours worked on Saturday are accurately paid to all eligible workers 4 facilities pay all worked hours to their workforce. Codevi's administration has agreed to conduct mandatories audits to all the other factories which are in Non-compliance. 96 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness No fire detectors available in 1 of the buildings. Install fire detectors in all buildings. Fire detectors were installed in the affected building. These are checked in a weekly and monthly basis. All fire detectors from all buildings will be checked during audits carried out by Codevi´s compliance department. 36 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Several fire extinguishers were obstructed, not properly charged, not properly mounted, missing inspection tags and identification arrows. Ensure that all fire extinguishers are properly maintained and unobstructed. CODEVI carries internal audits to ensure that all extinguishers are properly inspected monthly by a certified external company. 36 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Evacuation plans were not updated or posted on the floor for several buildings. Post updated evacuation plans for all buildings. CODEVI updated the evacuation plans for 9 buildings. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Aisles obstructed with fabrics in several buildings. 5 exits locked in 3 buildings. Keep all emergency exits and aisles unobstructed and easily accessible. All emergency exits and aisles are monitored during internal audits to ensure that they are unobstructed and easily accessible. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness Emergency drills not conducted every 6 months in all buildings. Conduct emergency drill every 6 months in all buildings. Emergency drills were already completed in 6 facilities. 108 Feb-19 Working Time Regular Hours Working hours including break time were not posted by the employer on the floor of several building. Post the factory's working hours including break time on the floor of all buildings. Working hours and breaks are posted in the HR board. 36 Feb-19 Working Time Leave The factory did not provide at least 15 days of annual leave to all workers with one year of service. Provide at least 15 days of annual leave to all workers with one year of service. All factories gave the missing days in the holy week, from April 15 to 19. 8 Feb-19 Compensation Paid Leave Annual leave payment amount is incorrect because many elements are not included in the total earnings. Revise the procedures for annual leave to ensure that is accurately paid to all eligible workers. The management of CODEVI is reviewing that the payment of maternity and the payment of sick leave is correctly made by all factories. 36 Feb-19 Compensation Paid Leave Sick leave payment is based on minimum wage instead of the average daily earnings. Revise the procedures for sick leave to ensure that is accurately paid to all eligible workers. Codevi management is reviewing the sick leave procedures to ensure that is accurately paid all eligible workers. 96 Feb-19 Compensation Paid Leave The factory only paid 6 weeks for maternity leave instead of 12 weeks. Register with OFATMA for maternity and health insurance. 96 Feb-19 Compensation Paid Leave The lunch breaks is not compensated in the payroll. Modify the payroll procedure to ensure that the daily break is accurately paid. 8 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits The employer contribution to ONA is inaccurate and paid late. Revise the payment procedures to ensure that the employer contribution to ONA is paid accurately and on time. 36 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits Workers' contributions to ONA is inaccurate and paid late. Revise the payment procedures to ensure that the workers contribution to ONA is accurate and forwarded on time. 36 Feb-19 Compensation Social Security and Other Benefits The annual salary supplement or bonus payment is incorrect because many elements are not included in the total earnings. Revise the procedures for annual salary supplement or bonus to ensure that is accurately paid to all eligible workers. 36 Feb-19 Contract and Human Resources Employment Contracts The contracts of the night shift workers, do not specify the hours of work, the nature of the work and the salary. Revise the contracts of the night shift workers, to specify the hours of work, the nature of the work and the salaries. 8 Feb-19 Contract and Human Resources Contracting Procedures A review of worker contracts revealed that the apprentice contracts were not approved as legally mandated. Revise the contracts of the apprentice workers, to specify the hours of work and the salaries. Submit to MAST for approval. 8 Feb-19 occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems The employer did not perform an assessment of general occupational safety and health (OSH) issues consistently across all buildings. Conduct an assessment of general occupational safety and health (OSH) issues in all buildings. Inform workers of the results of the assessment. Codevi's compliance department performs internal health and safety audits in 6 factories in a monthly basis. In addition, a general self-assessment is performed every 6 months using Wrap principles. 8 Feb-19 occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems The OSH Committee does not include representatives from all buildings. Implement OSH committees with representatives from all buildings. Ensure that management and workers are equally represented. Organize monthly meetings and keep minutes. All the committees of each of the factory were evaluated for the integration of the personnel of different commands, thus having a mixed committee representing all the areas and different ideas. BrandM has already formed a equally balanced committee with representation from both, workers and management. They hold monthly meetings to address OSH issues. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health OSH Management Systems CODEVI does not submit work related accidents records to OFATMA. Submit work-related accidents and diseases records to OFATMA on a monthly basis. CODEVI management is reviewing this with your health department 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances The employer did not provide evidence of inventory tracking for chemicals used in the workplace for all the buildings in operation. Keep an updated inventory for chemicals used in the workplace for all the buildings in operation The inventories of the chemicals are updated. 36 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Several chemical spray guns in the spot cleaning sections with no proper labelling indicating chemical classification, hazards and safety precautions. Ensure that all chemicals used in the workplace are properly labelled in local language for all the buildings. The chemical containers were labelled. The codevi compliance department check that all factories have their chemical containers properly labeled. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Chemical and hazardous substances not properly stored. Ensure that all chemicals used in the workplace are properly stored. We have arranged proper chemical room and we have installed barriers to avoid sun exposure. The chemicals are well ventilated as well. Chemical suppliers were informed about the requirement to put the chemicals in the designated 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Chemical safety data sheets are not available in local language for all chemical used in the workplace. Ensure availability of all MSDSs used in the workplace. Ensure that are in local language and posted in all areas. The compliance department check that all the factories have the msds placed in the local language. MSDS were translated into the local language and posted in the required places. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances The employer does not take adequate measures to limit and isolate the chemicals in the workplace. Limit workers 'exposure to chemicals. Ensure that chemicals are only used in adequately ventilated areas. The employee was relocated to a suitable place for his work. he spot cleaning was placed in a suitable place with proper ventilation. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Evidence for training of workers who work with chemicals and hazardous substances are available for only one building. Provide regular training for all workers exposed to chemicals . We have done training for the proper handling of chemicals and we have evidence of training. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Chemicals and Hazardous Substances Missing eyewash stations in several spot cleaning areas. Install adequate eyewash stations in all areas where Chemicals and Hazardous Substances are used. We have installed eyewash station for spot cleaning areas. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Personal protective equipment were not provided to all eligible workers. Provide all required PPEs in all buildings. management have an action plan together with human resources for employees to use PPE. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Insufficient training for workers on proper use of personal protective equipment and machines. Provide regular training for workers on the use of PPE in all buildings. Keep adequate records. The factories BrandM, MD, Fabrik, Mazava have carried out training on the use of protective equipment. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Several workers sitting on chairs without proper backrests in at least 4 buildings. Replace all damaged chairs. Ensure monitoring of this improvement. We are in the process of repairing and replacing the chairs in poor condition. At the factory, Brandm, all defective chairs were corrected. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Safety guards were missing on sewing machines. Replace all missing guards on the sewing machines. Ensure regular maintenance. We have a maintenance plan for all the machines, we are repairing all the necessary protectors. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Worker Protection Missing hazard signs on electrical panels in 2 buildings. Install proper hazard signs on all the electrical panels. We install proper hazard signs on all electrical panels. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Temperature levels exceeded 30 C. Ensure that the workplace temperature is below 30 C in all buildings. we carry out environmental measures (light, noise, temperature) we have certified equipment and we carry out an action plan for the found findings. 48 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Noise levels exceeded 90 Db. Ensure that the workplace noise is below 85 Db. in all buildings. we carry out environmental measures (light, noise, temperature) we have certified equipment and we carry out an action plan for the found findings. 21 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Working Environment Insufficient lights level in several sections. Ensure that the factory has the adequate light levels in all buildings. The employer carries out environmental measures with certified equipment in our facilities to ensure that the levels are appropriate according to international standards. 8 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities Insufficient number of toilets. Increase the number of toilets to meet the legal requirements. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities No soap was provided in several buildings and workers complain about inconsistent soap availability. Provide sufficient soap in the toilets Internal audits are carried out in factories to prevent this from happening. In the factories, Brandm, MD, Fabrik, Mazava the bathrooms have an employee all the time to track the soap and paper. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Welfare Facilities The number of seats available in the eating area is not enough to accommodate the entire workforce. Increase the eating areas available for workers. The employer sets different lunch times to ensure people from having places to sit and eat. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid No evidence of annual medical checks to workers within the first three months of hiring were available. Provide medical checks within the first three months of hiring for all new workers The health department has a schedule to ensure that all the medical check-ups are done for all workers. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid No evidence of annual medical checks to workers exposed to work related hazards were available. Provide medical checks for workers exposed to work related hazards twice a year. The health department has a schedule to ensure that all the medical check-ups are done for all workers. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid No evidence of annual medical checks were available. Provide annual medical checks for all workers. The health department has a schedule to ensure that all the medical check-ups are done for all workers. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid Insufficient medical staff. Increase the number of nurses and doctors to meet the legal requirements. 108 Feb-19 Occupational Safety and Health Health Services and First Aid The total number of workers trained in first aid is less 10 percent of the workforce as recommended by Better Work. Provide first aid training to a minimum of 10 percent of the workforce An internal training program is in place for all CODEVI employees, in first aid, evacuation and rescue, fire prevention, industrial electricity, safe handling of chemical products, handling of forklifts, among others. 108 Assessment Jan 2018