Why do Global Labor Standards Matter?
You’re (probably) already halfway there.
How workers are treated matters to consumers, regulators and enforcement officials, shareholders, and activists. It also matters to the workers themselves, their communities, and their societies. And it matters to business leaders and decision makers like you, too.
Look around you: working conditions are always under the microscope.
If you are a CEO, you’re thinking about your company’s human resources policy, new mandatory due diligence requirements, or your annual ESG/CSR report.
You might be one of the 44% of US consumers who rank worker issues as the most important ESG category.*
A shareholder could be focused on a company’s risk exposure, or proactively on its reputation and actions in the business and human rights space.
An activist campaigns to remedy a specific abuse of workers or to make systems-level changes at the company, sector, national, or international level.
As a regulator or enforcement official, you’re concerned with a company’s compliance with domestic or international laws pertaining to working conditions, like: occupational safety and health, non-discrimination, the right to form a union, collective bargaining rights, child labor and forced labor bans, or wages and overtime.
A worker’s quality of life is often a direct result of their working conditions. Do they earn enough to put adequate and nutritious food on the table for their family? Are they able to send their children to school every day? Are they protected from preventable diseases and injuries during their workday? Do they have access to quality medical care if they get sick or injured, whether on or off the job?
In turn, communities and societies are shaped by the working conditions of its members. Are people thriving, or barely making ends meet? Do people have energy, time, health, and resources to experience and contribute to their culture, join civic groups, volunteer in their community, learn about policy issues and champion democratic processes?
What Kind of Business Do You Want to Lead?
Your company is your workplace, and you want to take pride in it. Maybe that means that your company has a measurable net positive impact on the world. It could mean shining as a comprehensive ESG leader among your business community peers. Perhaps inspiring loyalty from consumers who care about working conditions is your goal. Or you aim to serve as an example to others that a company can be people-oriented and profitable at the same time. Your drive to achieve can transform not only your own company or brand, but your supply chain and all of the communities that your product touches. And it starts with a mindset that global labor standards matter.
Don’t let anyone tell you that it isn’t possible or is too expensive.
How Are Conditions Set?
Workers have fundamental human rights to certain workplace conditions and protections. Ideally, those are made a reality proactively by some combination of:
An employer’s excellent human resources policies and meaningful commitment to workers rights.
Requirements of business to business relationships like codes of conduct and oversight that go beyond box-checking or surface-level analysis.
Worker-driven social responsibility initiatives that sync what workers are seeing on the ground and their self-identified needs with meaningful employer, brand, or buyer action.
Independent trade unions that authentically represent, advocate for, and negotiate on behalf of workers.**
Effective enforcement of labor laws by a government - meaning high-quality, non-corrupt, and timely work by administrative and judicial oversight bodies.
What Can You Do?
If you’re reading this and thinking, we’re already doing some of this, but how do I make sure that my policies are really “excellent” or that our CSR initiative is truly “synced”? How do I navigate the things that are outside of my control? I have great news for you. You’re more than halfway there. It won’t require a major investment or culture change within your company to take what you’re already doing to the next level - and Enterprise for Humankind is on your team. And if you’re just starting on the journey, we can help, too.
*Source: JUST Capital. “ANNUAL SURVEY: In an Unstable Economic Environmnet, Workers and Wages Are More Important Than Ever to the American Public.” September 15, 2022.
**I know, unions are often considered scary. But they don’t have to be! A company can productively engage with a union while making a healthy profit. Stay tuned for a future blog post about common misconceptions on unions and organizing.
