APPENDIX 2
Auditors’ Insights from China: Shortcomings in Recruitment Practices
APPENDIX 2
Auditors’ Insights from China: Shortcomings in Recruitment Practices
successful over the long-term, or whether the child simply switched to another factory or workplace.
Ms. Bai, also an auditor from China, echoes these sentiments:“ Due to the limitation of auditing reports, I can only see whether the child labor cases have been closed, but not how it was closed. This is not reflected in the auditing report.“
Ms. Tang, who has discovered 20 cases of child labor with her auditing company to date, agrees:“ Our whole industry lacks a follow-up procedure. I think it is due to the fact that once the factory regains cooperation with the brands, it is over for them. To us, if the factory has paid all related expenses, it is a closed case and we will not follow up to see whether the children have gone to other factories.”
Having a very detailed procedure in place and customizing the remediation plan to each individual case is another key for a successful child labor remediation case, Mr. Zhang stresses. He thinks a tailored plan could for example include psychological support to those from broken homes who don’ t want to go back to school. According to CCR CSR’ s own experience with child labor remediation, the majority of child workers do indeed come from troubled backgrounds. Many are leftbehind children who have received little to no support and encouragement to stay in school.
Another important factor in ensuring a successful remediation is the budget.
“ I think the factory should not be the only finance source. The brands should also financially support the factory so that the child labor remediation( CLR) can go on successfully. Previously, I haven’ t met any brand that finances a CLR plan; all of them ask the factory to pay,” says Mr. Zhang.
Ms. Bai thinks the entire factory management system is flawed and needs an overhaul. For example, many factories are tolerant of children working during the summer vacations because they know they are only temporary and the management team doesn’ t factor in the risks to the brands and often only focus on the costs. Ms. Bai believes that a close collaboration between brands and factories can help improve the remediation process:
“ The factory management must be willing to implement child labor remediation to the end and if the brands provide certain support( e. g. volume of orders and unit price), that could leverage factory management’ s decision on CLR, the factory could have a greater possibility to complete the CLR.”
In short, according to all three auditors’ experiences in China, the current system in place for child labor remediation is a shortterm solution that is essentially designed to allow factories to continue cooperation with brands once the child has been removed from the workplace. For most factories, the completion of a report signals closure of the case. A lack of follow-up procedures means there is no way of knowing whether the remediation has had a positive impact on the child’ s life or whether he / she simply switched employers. What’ s more, lax hiring procedures and a lack of awareness among factory management on the risks of child labor means that these children are likely to find employment elsewhere, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.
27 Best Response: Auditors’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia 28