Apparel Online India Issue 1-15 March '18 | Page 22

SUSTAINABILITY
Nest Ethical Compliance Standards for Home and Small Workshops
A much-needed step in the
right direction
There is an urgent need to bring homeworkers
into the folds of compliances and regular
monitoring for decent working conditions. In
India particularly, a lot of handwork is done
by women sitting at home with work coming
mainly through agents or buying offices.
These workers are not being regulated,
similar to those working within the factory,
often leading to disparity in both wages and
working conditions. Taking the lead in this
direction, Nest – a non-profit organization
founded in 2016 and working towards building
a new handworker economy to generate
global workforce inclusivity, improve women’s
well-being beyond factories, and preserve
cultural traditions of craft – is working hand-in-
hand with brands, philanthropists, and artisan
businesses to develop ethical compliance
standards for home and small workshops.
T
he initiative – Nest Artisan
Advancement Project – is
in recognition of the enormous
industry-wide need for reliable
third-party assessment of artisans
and homeworker supply chains
that are often buried deep within
the unregulated informal sector
and complex subcontracting supply
chains. It is intended that the
verifications of these standards
reflect the various layers within the
complex supply chain of artisan
and subcontracted labour. These
standards provide the structure
for the Nest Assessment Tools
and inform any remediation
programming, following an
assessment.
The standards address various
aspects of the supply chain business
relationships among artisans,
sub-contractors and wholesale and
retail businesses. Significantly,
the standards do not supplant any
local laws, rules or statutes that
may apply. The objective is to use
these standards to verify the ethical
compliance of the decentralized
aspects of production, ensuring that
policies and procedures dictated by
the central business are understood
and carried out by all subcontractors
and are present in all workshops.
If the business is employing multiple
subcontractors, it is expected that
all subcontractors are following
the same guidelines. In situations
where multiple craft types are
utilized (i.e. weaving and ceramics),
it is conceivable that Nest will be
verifying only one specific craft
technique. If so, the seal will dictate
the specific craft which has been
verified for the business. The use of
a seal will be approved only after the
22 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
Nest is currently
reaching a population
of more than
67,000 individual
artisans spread out
across more than
50 countries and
representing more
than 350 artisan
businesses practising
very diverse craft
types. More than 42
artisan businesses
across 5 countries
(India, Kenya, Mexico,
Philippines, and Peru)
have participated
in the piloting of
Nest Compliance
for Homes and
Small Workshops,
contributing to
improved transparency
and increased well-
being of an estimated
11,000 hand workers.
completion of a qualified assessment.
The industry has come out in support
of the initiative. Says Janhavi
Dave, International Coordinator,
HomeNet South Asia (HNSA),
Ahmedabad, “In the current
scenario when companies are not
recognizing homeworkers in their
supply chains, the NEST Ethical
Compliance Standards for Home and
Small Workshops is a welcome move.
It does recognize that homeworkers
are part of the supply chain and has
a well-researched and understood
section on wages.” However,
Janhavi points out that Nest has
not mentioned ‘homeworkers’ in
the entire document. ‘Artisans’
and ‘workers working in home
workshops’ are the phrases that
have been used alternatively for
‘homeworkers’. “The reality is that
homeworkers may or may not be