GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS

Patrick McKeller

ELEVATE

Khai Yau Chua

Responsible Business Alliance

GRIEVANCE MECHANISMSInternal & External Channels

WHY GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS?

Legislative

Requirements

Assessment

Requirements

• Grievance mechanisms are an important supplement to the top-

down audit approach to understand how workers are being

impacted.

• It is an important part of the assessment requirements of key industry

audit programs (e.g. RBA, BSCI, SMETA, ICTI, etc.)

• e.g. RBA CoC: D6.1 A way to confidentially report suspected ethical

misconduct is available to workers and workers of suppliers

• To verify, auditors will review records and documents of the grievance

mechanism at the operational level…this is an important step to

verify compliance performance

• AIM-PROGRESS is exploring various options to provide guidance to

members both from a industry perspective and as individual members

• Legislation at the country level requests a grievance mechanism (internal

or external)

• e.g. Sapin II in France specifies protection for whistleblowers to report

violations and misbehavior

GRIEVANCE MECHANISM IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Internal:

Managed by

Facilities

External:

Managed by

External

Parties

VS.

INTERNAL

Internal:

Managed by

Facilities

Facilities manage workers directly,

so internal grievance mechanisms are the

MOST IMPORTANT

Most Sustainable

Most Efficient

Most Impactful

EXTERNAL

• Supplements internal grievance mechanisms

• Independent & confidential

• e.g. Local NGOs, Trade Unions, 3rd Parties, Gov’ts

External:

Managed by

External

Parties

INTERNAL GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS – FOR WHOM AND WHY?

Worker

Facility

Client

FOR WHOM WHY

• Collect feedback/direct communication with management

• Address issues in the workplace

• Build trust with the facility

• Provide early opportunities to alleviate tension

• Identify gaps in current management practices

• Demonstrate commitment and build trust with workers

• Minimize delivery interruption

• Create a sustainable supply chain

• Promote worker engagement

INTERNAL GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS – WHAT AND HOW?

8

How To Promote?

Channel

• Trainings

• Noticeboard

• Meetings

Vehicle

• Posters/cards

• Wage slips

Channels

• Suggestion box

• GM’s email/number

• Internal hotline

• Production managers

• HR department

• Supervisors

Protocol

• Case handling and

categorization

• Confidentiality

• Remediation

What? How?How to Measure

Impact?

• *No. of cases reported

/usage

• Frequency of repetitive

cases

• % cases closed

• Evaluation results from

callers

• Survey/interview on internal

grievance mechanism

• Turnover rate

How?

RBA WORKPLACE OF CHOICEMalaysia Program Overview

INTRODUCTION: WORKPLACE OF CHOICE PROGRAM 1.0 (PILOT)

Worker SurveyWorker – Management

Communication HelplineWorker Education

Building Effective Grievance Mechanisms for Foreign Migrant Workers in Malaysia’s Electronics Sector

22Factories

Surveyed

2,882Workers Surveyed

1,914Foreign Workers Surveyed

45,991Workers Covered

Indonesia

Nepal

MyanmarVietnam

Philippines

Bangladesh

FMW are

from….India

Thailand

Sri Lanka

Cambodia

Pakistan

China

KEY WORKER SURVEY RESULTS

Do FOREIGN workers understand the

information provided during

recruitment?

32% Partly

Understand

2% Do NOT

Understand

66%

64%

15%

14%

10%

10%

11%

13%

10%

4%

Supervisor

Suggestion box

HR

Formal grievance channel

Hostel

Production manager

Labor broker

I would not say anything

General manager

Who would you talk to in case of issues?

(Foreign Workers only)

68%Trust

% Foreign workers trust

communication

channels

2 Training Modules

6 Workshops

24 Factories & Labor Agents Participated

49 HR and Operations Staff Trained

HIGHLIGHTS

Worker

Management

Communication

Pre-Departure

Orientation

Training

Evaluation Results

Fair

3%

97%

Feel Excellent

or Good

Topics:

Supervisor capacity building and management; components of an

effective internal grievance mechanisms.

Key topics to be included in PDO

Effective training delivery and maximized impact

GROUP EXERCISE

GROUP EXERCISE

Common Practices, Challenges and Ideas

Step 1: Circle the channels being used by facilities represented in your group.

Step 2: Discuss and write down common grievance mechanism practices related to the three critical elements: promotion, management and measurement.

Step 3: Identify and write down 3 common challenges related to each critical element.

Step 4: Choose 1 challenge to focus on and list 3 ideas for addressing that challenge.

Step 5: Share your ideas!

GROUP EXERCISE

GROUP PRESENTATIONS

INTERNAL GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS – IDEAS FOR SUCCESS

1. Better understand

your workers

• Understand how workers prefer to

communicate

• Solicit their feedback on existing

mechanisms

• Raise awareness and show

commitment to encourage better

worker engagement

• Provide offline and online training and

support to supervisors focusing on

practical issues such as:

• How to conduct pre-shift meetings

effectively

• How to handle worker feedback

focusing on common issues

• Focusing on Supervisors and their

important role within a facility might

lead to more sustainable change

2. Focus on key groups

like supervisors

CONCLUSION

Internal:

Managed by

Facilities

External:

Managed by

External

Parties

Grievance Mechanisms

Not just a buzzword, becoming a requirement and expectation

Internal vs. External

Important that both are available and functioning

Internal

Most Sustainable

External

Supplement to Internal Mechanism

Elevate Hong Kong Holdings Limited

Arion Commercial Building, 2-12 Queen's Road West, Hong Kong

香港皇后大道2-12號，聯發商業中心19樓1室

GROUP EXERCISEInternal Grievance Mechanisms Popular Channels (Circle All Channels Being Used)

-Supervisors -Production Managers -HR Department -Suggestion Box -Internal Hotline -Mobile Channel -Unions

-Web Channel -General Manager -Contact Info -Worker Committee -Worker Representative -Meetings

-Other:_____________________

Critical

Elements

Common

Practices

Common

Challenges

Improvement Ideas

(Choose 1 Challenge)

Promotion

How are workers made

aware of the available

channels for voicing

concerns/ opinions?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

GROUP EXERCISE

Management

How is you internal

grievance mechanism

being managed? E.g.

protocol, responsible

person,

documentation?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Measurement

What KPIs are being

used to measure the

effectiveness of your

grievance

mechanism?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

GROUP EXERCISE

Popular

Channels

Critical

Elements

Common

Practices

Common

Challenges

Improvement Ideas

(Choose 1 Challenge)

Supervisors

Production Managers

HR Department

Suggestion Box

Internal Hotline

Mobile Channel

Web Channel

General ManagerContact Info

Worker Committee

Union

Worker Representative

Meetings

Other:

Promotion

How are workers

made aware of the

available channels for

voicing concerns/

opinions?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Management

How is you internal

grievance mechanism

being managed? E.g.

protocol, responsible

person,

documentation?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Measurement

What KPIs are being

used to measure the

effectiveness of your

grievance

mechanism?

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.