Help Wanted

Fair, Safe, and Legal Working Conditions Begin with Hiring.

Migrant workers all around the world make the products we buy and harvest the food we eat.

These migrants leave home for jobs that can help them achieve a better life, or simply allow them to feed their family. Almost all of our products – clothes, shoes, computers, toys, furniture and food – involve a supply chain that employs migrant workers. Migrants provide the flexible workforce that keeps our just-in-time global economy humming.

Workers will go to great lengths to snag promising jobs, no matter where they are located. Often workers become indebted to middlemen – labor recruiters and moneylenders – whose practices can be exploitative and illegal and it becomes difficult or impossible to come out on top.
Our research showed us that:

  • The job probably won’t pay what the recruiter promised;
  • They don’t often know about the compound interest on their debt, which increases every month;
  • There are illegal wage deductions and unexpected fees;
  • Their passports may be taken away so that they can’t complain or flee;
  • Their work visas will tie them to their employer, giving them no other alternative way to dig themselves out of debt;
  • What they also don’t know is that they may end up for months – even years — in slave-like conditions or debt bondage.

How do we end this practice? Verité’s Help Wanted initiative begins with fair hiring worldwide.


Our Help Wanted Primer articulates the risk to multinational companies of forced labor and resulting debt-bondage caused by labor recruitment, and identifies the places within a company’s sourcing practices where recruiters present a reputational and legal liability.

Use this report to identify the needed changes in corporate practices and ways that brands and their suppliers can take action.

Download the report in English | Français |  عربي | Español | हिन्दी | Português

The Fair Hiring Toolkit:

To view content in another language, view Help Wanted in a Google Chrome browser then right click and select to “translate to” your language of choice.

For Governments
 
This section provides a tailored introduction to the materials for governments and public policy actors, including an overview of the most relevant tools and guidance with an explanation of how these tools can support the work of governments and other public policy actors. These tools complement national and international regulatory efforts to promote fair hiring, reign in abusive labor recruiter practices, and establish rigorous protections for migrant workers.
For Advocates
 
This section of Verité’s Fair Hiring Toolkit provides a tailored introduction to the materials for labor rights advocates and labor unionists. An overview of the most relevant tools and guidance is provided, with an explanation of how these tools can support their work. The tools provided here are broad and multi-faceted, providing guidance on a range of issues linked to forced labor and human trafficking. You are encouraged to explore the material provided here and discover how you can put it to use in your own work.
For Investors
 
This section provides a tailored introduction to the materials for investors. An overview of the most relevant tools and guidance is provided, with an explanation of how these tools can support the work of investors. These tools can support investor campaigns, corporate advocacy and dialogue, and investment analysis of risks of forced labor and human trafficking in company operations and supply chains.
For Auditors
 
This section of Verité’s Fair Hiring Toolkit provides a tailored introduction to the materials for social auditors and certifiers. An overview of the most relevant tools and guidance is provided, with an explanation of how these tools can support their work. The Toolkit is extensive and multi-faceted; it provides guidance on a range of issues. Auditors are encouraged to explore the complete set of materials provided.
For Multi-Stakeholders
 
This section provides a tailored introduction to the materials for multi-stakeholder and multi-brand initiatives. An overview of the most relevant tools and guidance is provided, with an explanation of how these tools can support the work of multi-stakeholder and multi-brand initiatives.

 


 

Humanity United LogoVerité gratefully acknowledges Humanity United for their generous support on this research and communications initiative.