FOA & worker representation: company guidance

Implementing clause 2 of the ETI Base Code

This resource aims to support businesses to implement Freedom of Association (FOA), Collective Bargaining (CB) and progress worker representation. It provides guidance to help you support your suppliers so that all workers across your supply chain can access their fundamental rights and protections at work.

Respecting FOA and CB can result in a positive business environment including formal arrangements for dialogue between workers and employers, early dispute resolution, and health and safety improvements.

The 5-step roadmap will guide you on  a journey towards mature and effective support of independent worker representation and trade union relationships.

Each step in the resource has specific guidance with a summary of recommended actions.

STEP 1: Review and refine internal policies on workers’ rights and protections

Internal policies on workers’ rights and protections. Policy matters - it sets the tone, practices and commitment for and to workers in your supply chain. It is important to confirm that your policy commitment is robust, and worker centred - in other words, does your policy reflect how your organisation helps ensure workers can access their universal rights and protections?

Workers’ rights should be built into sourcing policies from the outset and reviewed through engagement, audits and inspections. We recommend that you review existing internal policies and how they are applied, in order to identify the extent to which your policies reflect international labour standards and the ILO conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining. Worker representation should also be considered within policies on modern slavery, early remedy, grievance mechanisms, equality and diversity, health and safety, migrant labour, casual labour, responsible procurement and corporate responsibility commitments.

STEP 2: Identify risk to worker’s rights and protections

This step outlines how to assess and identify risk to workers through your human right’s due diligence process. It aims to:

• Demonstrate the pivotal role of freedom of association and collective bargaining to workers representing their needs and concerns within the due diligence process
• Raise awareness of the challenges and approaches to remedy for workers, and
• Provide resources and links to assist with mapping and assessments.

The ETI approach to due diligence and the associated technical background is contained in the ETI infographic and guidance document.

It is critical to understand whether existing laws support workers’ rights and protections are robustly enforced. As an absolute minimum, local law should promote adherence to the ILO conventions, although this is just a starting point for progress on worker representation.

STEP 3: Develop strategy for supporting and investing in workers’ rights

This step outlines how to mature workplace freedoms and worker representation. Effective worker representation is underpinned by FOA and collective worker voice through collective bargaining. Your due diligence mapping (STEP 2) will guide a strategic approach to implementing FOA and maturing your industrial relations.

The way in which you approach worker representation, and the degree of sensitivity required, varies by sourcing country and supplier. Use the evidence and knowledge gathered from your due diligence mapping to identify and categorise risk, determine the best approach and develop effective partnerships with trade unions and labour NGOs. For example, where workers are denied their rights, a labour NGO may be able to establish relationships, build awareness and even educate workers on their rights.

We recommend that you identify every opportunity to promote your commitment to worker representation with a supplier or agent. This could be through developing new contracts, supplier on-boarding, Codes of Conduct, the introduction of national regulations, technological changes or new initiatives, worker complaints, industrial action or instances of non-compliance raised through an audit report.

Ensure that worker representation forms a key part of regular discussions with your suppliers on the business case for improving standards, health and safety and worker wellbeing, fulfilling human rights obligations and sustainability requirements, or supporting workers and supervisors in developing skills.

STEP 4: Reach out to communicate or remediate

Step four considers how to prepare a communication strategy on workers’ rights and protections – i.e., FOA, CB and worker representation. It also introduces the idea of building internal evidence of good practice, the business case for positive dialogue and how to respond to non-compliance.

Through factory visits, audits and wider technical or commercial processes communicate with your suppliers regarding your company’s vision, social and legal requirements and commitment to empowering workers to raise their concerns and freely negotiate better pay and labour conditions.

Where appropriate, confirm how you will support your suppliers in taking action to promote worker representation. This could be through introducing them to programmes such as the ETI Social Dialogue Programme, the garment industry Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT) initiative on living wages, training resources, and other collaborative work. Keep workers’ needs central to your approach, by including workers and/or their representatives in your discussions where possible.

To understand the scale of change needed within a workplace and define the opportunities to promote or strengthen workers’ rights and protections. Our ETI resources on audit & non-compliance outlines the key areas for audit consideration and potential questions for follow up or communication with the supplier.

Where there are already organised workers, your formal outreach to the supplier should include a request for a meeting with elected worker representatives or the trade union. Be transparent about your shared agenda.

If there is no supporting legal framework to promote workers’ rights, ensure that you highlight to your supplier that worker representatives must be democratically elected by workers.

STEP 5: Act to embed, improve and consolidate

Where there are already organised workers, democratically elected representatives or the workplace trades union should be included as a partner in your efforts to promote workers’ rights. Even if this is outside of the traditional collective bargaining agreement, there is value in suppliers developing a relationship with trade unions or worker representatives through a partnership approach.

Where there is no supporting framework, you should build the capacity of workers, supervisors and managers on how to consult or have dialogue for example, ahead of any formal activity. This will help ensure that all parties have the skills they need to proceed.

Step five of the implementation road map considers how to act, embed and report on freedom of association, collective bargaining and worker representation. It also covers guidelines for ETI reporting. This resource provides an objective insight into the relevant standards available but does not seek to advise on which standard could best support your worker representation journey.