RespectVN & the FLA 3.0 Vietnam - a project funded by USDOL & executed by Fair Labor Association - co-developed a standardized system of forms, called EASYFORM, to help labor-intensive manufacturers enhance their direct and indirect communication channels and systematically track labor issues for long-term solutions.
1. What is FLA 3.0 Vietnam?
2. Why RespectVN created EASYFORM
3. What is EASYFORM & how it works
To sustainably resolve workplace conflicts, we must seek for their root causes & build solutions based on rootcases - RespectVN Founder on new papers
1. What is FLA 3.0 Vietnam?
FLA 3.0 Vietnam is the grant awarded by United States Department of State to the FLA on April 3, 2009. The grant was for a period of 24 months, with a plan to target 50 factories. The total contribution from the US Department of State was $500,000, with the FLA contributing $104,095 towards the project. Administrative delays in securing permission for the FLA to begin legally operating in Vietnam led the factory-based activities to commence later than anticipated, in 2011. A revised scope of work and timeline targeted 31 factories and the project concluded in July 2014.
FLA 3.0 Vietnam adopted a novel approach to monitoring labor compliance along global supply chain that goes beyond auditing and proactively identifies and seeks to remedy compliance issues through capacity building.
This new methodology known as the Sustainable Compliance Initiative (SCI), represents a fundamental change in monitoring philosophy from policing to partnership. It is based on the premise that in order for labor compliance to be sustainable, factories need to take ownership of the process instead of having it externally imposed on them by buyers. The approach also introduced a new way of measuring the health of labor relations in a factory by assessing the perspective gap between workers and managers regarding key labor issues at the workplace.
TABLE 1: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SUSTAINABLE COMPLIANCE AND AUDITING APPROACHES
1. SUSTAINABLE COMPLIANCE INITIATIVE (SCI)
Factory improvement subject to engagement with internal monitoring process
External intervention by assessors and trainers
Key workplace concerns prioritized
Long-term development goals
Workers’ perspectives valued and integrated in action planning
Capacity building provided as part of the SCI methodology is a value add
2. AUDITING
Factory improvement subject to buyers’ or other stakeholders’ imposed external monitoring process
External intervention by auditors
External Code of Conduct and labor standards addressed
Quick fixes and snapshot of remediation captured
Poor worker participation
Poor capacity building follow-up
2. Why RespectVN created EASYFORM
Findings from the FLA3.0 Vietnam's baseline assessment offered comprehensive analysis of both the strengths and the weaknesses of the current factory-level practices from the perspective of both the workers and management; these findings proved to be a starting point for developing a tailored capacity-building training program in the third phase, and a benchmark for an impact assessment in the final phase.
As Results from the Baseline Assessments - Labor Relations, FLA 3.0 Vietnam Project examined five dimensions of labor relations in factories:
(1) Information – Are workers informed about the factory’s policies and the appropriate channels for participating in factory affairs;
(2) Consultation – Are workers consulted on issues that matter to them?
(3) Communication – Are workers using the available channels to voice their concerns?
(4) Integration – Are workers integrated into factory affairs in a systematic way?, and
(5) Awareness – Are workers aware of the policies and procedures governing labor relations in the factory?
Figure 1: Facts and Figures about the status of Communications in Factories Lead to EASYFORM
Although workers are well informed of the factory’s policies and procedures, more than half (56 percent) do not adequately understand them.
While workers are consulted on factory affairs, the coverage and frequency of the current consultation can be further enhanced.
Among all available communications and grievance channels, those most frequently used by workers include: suggestions boxes (47 percent), talking to line supervisors (34 percent), talking to colleagues (30 percent), and talking to worker representatives or trade unions (27 percent).
Workers are willing to express themselves and use the current communication channels quite often, but their satisfaction level regarding the grievance handling process and its results can be further improved.
Workers’ integration into factory affairs is ineffective, though some workers who are aware of the worker representative mechanism express that they are satisfied with them.
Both workers and management need to be educated about channels and tools through which they could improve worker participation and integration into factory affairs.
3. What is EASYFORM & how it works
As one of FLA partners, RespectVN & the FLA 3.0 Vietnam co-developed a standardized system of forms, called EASYFORM, to help labor-intensive manufacturers enhance their direct and indirect communication channels and systematically track labor issues for long-term solutions (below figure). After the project, RespectVN remained & reserved its original rights against EASYFORM with the official recognition of the FLA.
EASYFORM BENEFITS
Enable effective two-way communication between workers and managers via standard forms
Ensure workers’ rights to have access to workplace information and to have their voices heard
Measure worker satisfaction
Create a tracking system that helps managers address contingent issues and develop long-term solutions
Develop a culture of mutual trust, respect, and self-evaluation within a factory
HOW EASYFORM MAKES DIFFERENCE
About 30% of workers made anonymous grievances with Blue EASYFORMs making clear about their grievances & what they expect to get from the grievances;
Grievance makers turned out all wage-earners in the workplaces, including managers, supervisors, white-collar workers (Not only blue-collar workers)
About 80% of received grievances were handled with respect, presenting in Yellow EASYFORMs with Codes & on the whiteboards at canteens, entrance gates & in the production floors; They also became event-based knowledge hubs for all workers who learn about workplace regulations, changes & how companies handle grievances via other addressed grievances;
About 20% of pending grievances which are systematic problems were studied & analysed carefully by HRM, Compliance and other departments to propose new/revised workplace policies to top leaders;
Some manufacturers recruited more personnel & softwares to handle worker grievances, they also translated grievances received and handled into employers' native languages so they can understand the "iceberg of ignorance" - workplace issues that they couldn't see - more often & systematically;
50% of received grievances turned out to be workers' inquires & requests for knowledges of internal workplace regulations, rules & policies (misinterpretation & miscommunication); 30% were the struggles among workers & managers with regard to the inconsistency or incoherence between how regulations are written and how they are implemented; Only 20% revealing systematic or pending system issues such as no/poor performance evaluations, the mismatching between production planning & production execution; the non alignment between manpower, facilities, equipments and the task assignment among layers of management;
HR teams & company trade unions competed for the first time with regard to how many grievances they received (who workers trust better), how well they handled the grievances (who perform better), how many good feedbacks they have from workerks (who know workers better).
EASYFORM was highly appreciated by users, who particularly praised the innovation in the system to encourage communication via suggestion boxes – the most convenient channel to workers.
Project staff provided each participating factory with a DVD offering “Worker Guidance on How to Use EASYFORM Suggestion Boxes” and a copy of a 30-page guidebook in English and Vietnamese.
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EASYFORM ON PAGE NO.33 - PROJECT END REPORT VIETNAM 2009 - 2014 - PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE COMPLIANCE IN VIETNAM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE GRANT S-LMAQM-09- GR-548 https://www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/documents/promoting_sustainable_compliance_in_vietnam_final_2009_to_2014_.pdf
FLA 3.0 VIETNAM & LABOR CHALLENGES IN TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (TPP) - CTA'S PRESENTATION AT AMCHAM'S US AMBASSADOR EVENT -
UPDATES ON RESPECTVN'S WORK IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY THAT IS WORTH SHARING WITH REGARD TO HOW RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCTS LEAD TO ORGANISATIONAL RESILIENCE
WE@WORK has been developed by RespectVN since 2013 to turn dysfunctional conflicts into functional ones that lead to improvements or stop them from becoming disputes at work.
"There are no great organizations.
There are only great people who make great organizations"
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Respect Vietnam prepares purpose-driven leaders
& people-centric organizations
in the face of the fast-changing world of work
