BOTTLENECKS IN CHILD LABOR PREVENTION
4
BOTTLENECKS IN CHILD LABOR PREVENTION
Capacity Gaps
• 74 % of auditors consider hiring procedures to be the common capacity gap in factory HR procedures in terms of child labor
According to an experienced auditor from China , while child labor occurs in about half of the factories due to shortcomings in their hiring procedures , the other half deliberately use child labor to reduce labor costs and find ways to cover it up ( for the full story , please refer to appendix 1 ). It is difficult for us to verify the extent to which factories are “ well intended ” but have limited capacity to prevent child labor , or “ carelessly ” hire child labor due to lack of commitment . However , Figure 13 shows that the “ hiring procedure ” is the number one capacity gap at the factory level in terms of child labor . This indicates a huge potential for improved prevention by assessing risks in factories ’ hiring procedures and providing clear guidelines and training to improve the factory procedures to prevent accidental recruitment of child laborers . According to an auditor from China , many factories that accidentally recruited child laborers are in fact grateful that the auditors helped them identify shortcomings in their hiring procedures . This indicates that many factories are willing to improve their practices if more support and guidance is given , instead of a negative audit report only . Closely following “ hiring procedures ”, especially in the case of China , “ capacity and means of age verification ” and “ child labor awareness ” are also major gaps in factories ’ HR capacity , which could also be improved with more training and support .
Figure 13 :
100
80
60
40
Common capacity gaps at the factory HR level in terms of child labor
All Bangladesh India Vietnam China
20
0
74 % 65 % 63 % 50 % 49 % 31 %
Hiring procedure
Capacity and means of age Verification
Child labor awareness
Insufficient Coordination communication with
/ whistleblowing system production department
Identifying ethical hiring agents / vocational schools
13 Best Response : Auditors ’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia