Despite ‘No Fees to Workers’ Policies, Workers Are Still Paying

Despite ‘No Fees to Workers’ Policies, Workers Are Still Paying

Verite’s analysis of thousands of recent recruitment transactions between employers and labor recruiters in high-risk labor migration corridors into the Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Gulf Cooperation Council regions finds that fewer than 10% of employers are recruiting workers ethically by paying the full cost of recruitment and preventing workers from being charged for their job.

How to Conduct Effective Forced Labor Due Diligence at Scale?

How to Conduct Effective Forced Labor Due Diligence at Scale?

Social audits have proven to be ineffective in detecting and preventing debt bonded labor, the most pervasive and entrenched form of forced labor in global supply chains today. While deep dive, focused, worker-centric investigations of the type conducted by Verité and like-minded organizations, are the gold standard to detect and remedy these abuses, it is neither practical nor cost effective for buyers, investors, and other stakeholders to use this approach at every workplace in high-risk countries, sectors, supply chain tiers, or migration corridors.

Shedding Light on the Financial Burdens of Migrant Workers through Worker-Led Data Collection 

Shedding Light on the Financial Burdens of Migrant Workers through Worker-Led Data Collection 

As new and emerging human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation, such as the recently passed EU Corporate Social Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), gains traction, the demand for transparent and accurate information regarding labor recruitment costs has escalated. As global supply chains grapple with the pervasive issue of debt bondage, a deeply rooted manifestation of forced labor, the urgent need to shed light on the hidden financial burdens shouldered by migrant workers has become critical.

The Fostering Fee Accountability and Cost Tracking (FFACT) project, a collaborative effort between Verité and over 10 other civil society organizations (CSOs) in India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia, is addressing the need for transparent, accurate calculations of recruitment costs through worker-led digital