APPENDIX 2
Auditors ’ Insights from China : Shortcomings in Recruitment Practices
APPENDIX 2
Auditors ’ Insights from China : Shortcomings in Recruitment Practices
Disclaimer : The following story is based on in-depth interviews CCR CSR conducted with three auditors in China . In order to protect their identity , aliases were used throughout the story . The views presented in this article are based on the interview transcripts and do not necessarily reflect the views of CCR CSR .
After conducting in-depth interviews with three auditors in China about their experiences with child labor , some clear patterns have emerged . Each auditor cited shortcomings in recruitment procedures or factory management systems as a key cause of child labor in factories . What ’ s more , none of them had follow-up procedures to check on the status of the child following a child labor remediation procedure .
According to Mr . Zhang , an auditor from Shenzhen with nine years of auditing experience , child labor in Chinese factories exists for three reasons :
1 . Labour shortages in coastal areas and urgent orders from clients
2 . Regulation shortcomings in remote factories : normally the factory will hire local workers , who bring their children to the factories to work during school vacations
3 . Factory management shortcomings : Child laborer use fake IDs , but the factory has no way of checking the authenticity of the IDs , and don ’ t want to increase their HR expenses
“ They are afraid the auditor can discover the child , so they normally ask the child laborer to leave before the auditor arrives and they will not provide any record of attendance related to the child . They may also tell the child laborer to not show their ID and not to tell the auditor their age .”
A lack of awareness among the children ’ s caregivers further exacerbates the situation : “ They don ’ t care so much about the issue , as he / she is not their child and some of them even think that by leading the kids to the factory , they are solving problems for them . “
Ms . Tang ( alias ) a third-party auditor from Shanghai , confirms this : “ Their parents don ’ t have the awareness that their children shouldn ’ t work at this early age and they will ask the children ’ s wish whether they want to continue studying in school or work in the factory . If they choose the factory , the parents will allow them .”
Suggestions for improvement
When it comes to supervising the child labor remediation process , Mr . Zhang feels a lot can be improved :
Lack of awareness and effective systems to prevent and remediate child labor
While about half of the factories Mr . Zhang has worked with are grateful that the auditors helped them identify shortcomings in their hiring procedures , the other half deliberately use child labor to reduce labor costs and find ways to cover it up :
“ We still need to improve the follow-up procedure . We have the procedure to ask the factory to provide the payment receipts for tuition and travel expenses to his / her guardians , but we will not follow up on the remediation plan .”
This means that there is no way of knowing whether the remediation case has been
27 Best Response : Auditors ’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia
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