Responsible recruitment and decent work for workers go hand in hand, says the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and labour advocate, Andy Hall. They delve into steps companies can take to ensure workers are responsibly recruited in Key Markers for Promoting Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers (May 2024).
Human Level’s Take: Millions of workers are on the move in a globalised economy, finding employment abroad and often sending earnings home to their families. But these workers are at risk of exploitation in the recruitment process, whether it’s paying high fees or taking on loans to pay the costs of their employment, entering countries without permanent immigration status, or staying in exploitative workplaces because of legal restrictions, intimidation and fear. This means that companies who recruit workers through intermediaries or have suppliers that do so are at risk of forced labour and other abusive working practices in their value chain. Labour advocate Andy Hall and the Fair Labor Association make the connection clear in their report: “Responsible recruitment and decent work go hand in hand, and it is difficult to achieve one without the other.” The report goes into detail on key indicators of responsible recruitment and how buyers can ensure workers are recruited ethically in their own supply chains. Some key actions include having strong policies in place to prevent payment of recruitment fees, follow-through to make sure suppliers and recruiters are meeting those requirements, and putting in place responsible procurement practices that don’t undercut their recruitment policies. Companies can also work to cascade knowledge of fair recruitment practices to suppliers and to workers themselves, and ensure that workers have access to grievance mechanisms to sound the alarm when their rights are at risk. And, as always, human rights due diligence and remedy for workers are essential.
Key points from the report
- The challenge of responsible recruitment: Migrant workers’ vulnerability in foreign workplaces leads to higher risks of forced labour, especially when host countries don’t have strong regulatory and monitoring systems to protect migrant workers. Even where rules are followed, workers might still be paying recruitment fees because the law allows it, showing that responsible recruitment goes beyond compliance. Other factors, like recruiters needing to pay “kickbacks” to send workers abroad or not being reimbursed for the full costs of recruitment, can mean that the costs are pushed onto workers.
- The role for buyers: Buying companies are essential to driving good recruitment practices in their own supply chain because they are the ones setting the terms of the business relationship with their suppliers, who then pass on the costs and risks of doing business to recruitment agents. Buyers should proactively engage with their suppliers to make sure that their policies and expectations are clear to the supplier—and also that suppliers can raise responsible recruitment blockers (like pushing down on prices and production timelines) to buying companies. Buying companies also often have the leverage to influence responsible recruitment in their broader industry or countries where they operate. The report highlights the important role for buyers of demanding, ensuring and monitoring responsible recruitment, which in turn means that suppliers need to do the same for their own business partners.
- Steps to ensuring responsible recruitment: The report details steps companies and buyers can take to make sure they and their suppliers are recruiting workers ethically. For example, companies can promote a “good governance” recruitment strategy by agreeing with suppliers and recruitment agents on the costs of recruitment up-front, and by putting in place anti-bribery policies that prevent recruiters from paying kickbacks. Companies can also cascade knowledge about responsible recruitment down the supply chain by organising trainings and promoting open tender selection for recruitment agencies, or they can mitigate risks by bringing recruitment in-house as much as possible. Companies should additionally make sure their own practices aren’t inhibiting responsible recruitment—like putting in place realistic recruitment timelines and payment schedules, paying the costs of decent work, using responsible purchasing practices that don’t put the squeeze on suppliers to quickly onboard workers, and negotiating agreements that ensure shared financial responsibility in case of unexpected events. Companies and their suppliers can also work to strengthen workers’ ability to raise issues and advocate for their own rights by making sure there are independent monitoring mechanisms accessible to workers pre-departure and upon arrival; these can be local trade unions and former workers. Remedies owed to workers should ideally be provided before they leave the host country. And, crucially, workers should be given the knowledge of what to expect and what their rights are, in the form of written contracts in the worker’s language and interactive approaches that clearly explain the terms and conditions of employment—including policies on recruitment fees.
