Rethinking Responsibility in Our Supply Chain
Labor issues are complex and deeply entrenched in recruitment malpractices. Many migrant workers are forced to pay excessive recruitment fees that keep them in debt, effectively placing them in situations of forced labor and exploitive working conditions. Last...
Ethical Recruitment Remains Elusive in Global Supply Chains: Learnings From Verité’s Remote CUMULUS Forced Labor Screen™ Platform
Despite the growing awareness of, and commitments to, ethical recruitment, an analysis of CUMULUS data from early 2019 to the present reveals that less than five percent of employers fully absorb the true cost of cross border recruitment, including all recruitment fees and related costs. Instead, those costs continue to be passed on to foreign migrant workers.
Financial and Contractual Approaches to Mitigating Migrant Worker Recruitment-Related Risks
A growing number of multinational corporations and their suppliers have begun to adopt “Employer Pays” recruitment policies. The purpose of this white paper from Verité is to identify, map, and assess the impact and potential application of contract clauses, ethical recruitment bonds, and insurance policies for promoting sustained compliance with key migrant worker standards, while mitigating financial risk to employers.
Remediation and Elimination of Recruitment Costs Charged to Migrant Workers
Migrant workers are frequently confronted with a choice: pay illegal or unethical recruitment fees for employment abroad or go without work altogether. To finance these exorbitant costs, they may take out loans that leave them vulnerable to debt bondage, a form of forced labor. For more than a decade, Verité has worked with global companies in diverse sectors to ensure their suppliers and business partners absorb the true cost of recruitment and prohibit the charging of recruitment costs to workers, in accordance with international standards and regulations.