Brands must improve conditions for homeworkers in their supply chains

In the post-2008 world of global commerce, supply chain sustainability is everything. It's the difference between a strong, resilient brand with a loyal customer base and one that sinks in the storms of global market volatility.

Sustainability here is not just about the low-hanging fruit – offsetting carbon emissions or compensating local communities for high impact new developments and projects. It's where a brand has felt the fear of unveiling the many layers of its supply chain, but has done it anyway, identifying environmental or social issues and tackling these head-on.

Leading the pack are those brands that are driving improvements for homeworkers in their supply chains. Homeworkers are sub-contracted workers who work from home for a piece-rate and are often at the lower tiers of global supply chains. There are approximately 30 million in China and 20 million in India alone – together a workforce the size of the population of South Africa. While embroidery and garment embellishments are major products, the scope is much wider. Homeworking can be found within supply chains producing sports goods, electrical assembly, print finishing and packaging.

What are the risks to brands?

Despite being present in so many global supply chains, homeworkers themselves are not visible to the eyes of the consumer, and often not visible to the brands they produce for. They are often in the lower tiers of what are complex production chains where there are many intermediaries. For brands, this lack of visibility can be challenging and pose a very real risk to workers' rights.

Few homeworkers have the legal status of employees and their bargaining power tends to be very weak. They are often poorly educated and from minority groups, which can leave them vulnerable to exploitation. Any level of income security is hard to come by – work orders can be cancelled suddenly, finished goods rejected by contractors with little explanation, or payment delayed for months on end. Munisha, a 38-year-old female homeworker from Bareilly, northern India said: "Every day is a new beginning. Every morning we try to get the work to earn our bread. You are not sure about tomorrow. We don't have many options to feed our children. Only regular work can support us better to ensure regular income."

Other key concerns include health and safety risks, a lack of social protection and lack of access to training and information about rights and entitlements.

What are the opportunities?

Homeworking in northern India offers rural women the opportunity to work and earn from home, while also looking after children or completing domestic tasks. A brand or contractor withdrawing orders can create forced migration, with men leaving the villages to find work in nearby towns.

Brands that embrace homeworking benefit from the expertise of these workers, while efforts to stabilise precarious working conditions benefit both the workers and the supply chain resilience. The Ethical Trading Initiative's north India homeworker project is testament to this. The multi-stakeholder initiative worked to improve working conditions for artisan homeworkers, who benefitted from health and safety training, record-keeping training (giving homeworkers the tools to ensure they receive fair and correct payments) and the introduction of artisan cards (helping them gain access to health and life insurance). Brands gained increased visibility of their supply chain, and for the first time, built direct relationships with this important workforce.

Brands are not alone in this

There are tools and guidelines available for brands and other supply chain actors serious about improving their performance. Brands should treat this as an ongoing process. Global supply chains are complex, and they may have to complete the same steps for several different supply chains.

Brands should aim for continuous improvement. They are likely to find that many homeworkers' conditions fall short of international labour standards. Although they won't be able to address them all at once, you can steadily put in place activities that improve livelihoods.

Talking to other brands and retailers and learning from their successes and mistakes is important. Brands should develop partnerships. There is nothing to be gained by working in isolation. Where possible, they should forge partnerships with their suppliers and local partners (including trade unions, NGOs and government).

Efforts to improve working conditions for homeworkers can lead to stronger, more sustainable supply chains. Brands can play their part by working together to establish greater supply chain transparency, engaging local government and industry, and providing valuable employment to local communities. Taking such steps and communicating them, also shows customers that they take seriously their social commitments to those working in your supply chains.

Dr Julia Kilbourne is apparel and textiles category leader at Ethical Trading Initiative

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