Apparel Online India Magazine December 1st Issue 2018 | Page 38

INDUSTRY LIVE
SHIPMENTS DELAYED AS WORKERS WERE ON
LEAVE FOR DEEPAVALI AND CHHATH PUJA
I
ndian apparel industry which
is labour-intensive as well
as largely dependent on the
migratory labour from states like
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha,
faced some delay in shipments during
festive season as workers were on
long leave for Deepavali and
Chhath Puja.
It came at a time when factories were
in rush to complete orders on time
for Christmas season. Like Eid in
Bangladesh, Deepavali is the biggest
festival in India while Chhath Puja
majorly belongs to Bihar, home to
lakhs of workers who work across
India’s garment factories. In most
of the apparel manufacturing hubs,
a majority of garment factories had
announced 3 days’ leave on Deepavali,
but many workers took leave for
at least 10 days or even more as
Deepavali was on 7th November
and Chhath Puja concluded on 14th
November. Apart from workers,
some mid-level staff was also on long
vacation. Most of the companies had
20 per cent or even less workers from
6th to 15th November. Some of the HR
managers and production managers of
these companies shared with Apparel
Online that in reality the absenteeism
rate was even higher than 30 per cent.
This vicious circle of leaves and
holidays is a routine affair for the
Indian garment industry; therefore,
various factories had planned well-in-
advance for this oncoming situation,
but despite their best planning, things
were quite challenging for them. If any
worker has to go for a long vacation,
he will go at any cost. Financial loss or
even fear of losing job can’t stop them.
Factories working on piece-rate
face a much difficult scenario as
piece-rate workers have lesser loyalty
compared to factories having
workers on their payroll.
In all these different scenarios,
various factories decided to go
according to their shipment and
production status. Apparel trade
bodies were also concerned about
the same and took some measures
to minimise the effect. For instance,
Tirupur Exporters’ Association
High absenteeism is already a big issue for many Indian apparel factories
(TEA) sent a circular to its members
requesting them to commence
the exercise effectively regarding
workers going on long leave, make
the workers to understand the ground
realities, and get their expected
cooperation for the well-being of units.
TEA also sent a communication to all
Knitwear Stakeholders Association
to advice their members that with the
cooperation of all, the production can
be resumed within two to three days
and the loss in productivity can be
minimised.
Executive Committee of TEA
elaborately discussed the impact of
long leave and expressed the impact
on delivery schedule, which will
naturally lead to cancellation of orders
and will also have a cascading effect
on working capital and other financial
stress. Raja M Shanmugham,
President, TEA shared, “It is a fact
that the negative factor for us will be
a ‘big advantage’ for our competing
countries at a time when we have been
struggling to withstand the onslaught
of their competition.
Apparel Online approached some HR
managers and mid-level professionals
on this issue and explored their
preparations. “As we plan our holidays
for the coming year at the end of the
current year, we try to make sure that
we should have minimum impact on
work. But, it also depends on order
booking situation which can’t be
estimated well-in-advance. So, we
38 Apparel Online India | DECEMBER 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
As an incentive,
some of the
factories offer
some gifts, train
tickets facilities,
etc. to their
workers so that
they remain on
leave as per their
pre-planning.
Normally workers
take long
holidays; more
than their pre-
approved holidays
which spoils
the production
planning of the
factories.
paid overtime to our workers to get
the required work. Yes, it is adding
to the cost, but there is no other
way,” shared Ajay Kumar Mishra,
GM – HR, CTA Apparels, Noida.
The company employs nearly 2,500
workers in its various factories.
This year the situation is a little
different. In north India, work had
been slow in the last few months, but
now the situation is slightly improving
as many workers who had gone to
their hometowns earlier, do not want
to go now. Some workers preferred
to celebrate one festival, either
Deepavali or Chhath Puja with their
families at their hometowns. With the
growing trend of celebrating Chhath
Puja in north India, some workers
celebrated the festival in the city with
other close relatives, rather than
going to hometowns. As per industry
estimates, at least 40 per cent of
workers in the garment factories are
migratory workers who go back at
least once a year to their hometowns
during the festival, or during the
various crop seasons.
Some factories were hardly affected
with this situation as they have
minimum orders and don’t have any
pressure or rush of work. “Recently
we had some layoffs and currently
orders are not as they used to be
earlier; so, we don’t have any such
concern about leaves or holidays
on Deepavali,” told a Noida-based
exporter who doesn’t want to
be quoted.