Excessive working hours in factories - how much is too much?
It’s a supply chain risk that is often overlooked. While forced labour and child labour remain at the forefront of salient issues threatening supply chain integrity and responsible sourcing, excessive working hours is another all-too common violation that is equally harmful to a supply chain’s health.
Two of the metrics we assess from sites through our supply chain due diligence platform EiQ are the average amount of time that workers spend in a factory continuously working and the longest period of time a worker has been continuously working. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says excessive working hours means regularly working more than 48 hours per week – but what if a factory’s employees are clocking say, 129 hours in a week?
This is a real statistic from a recent risk assessment conducted on factories for a large Western retail chain.
It’s common to see overtime violations in factories – with extreme cases being 60 to 80 hours a week, as peak production seasons are high. But the supply chain assessed above showed at least 25 different sites where employees worked more than 90, even more than 100 hours in one week.
What is this data telling us? Risk mitigation strategies are still falling short. And risk remediation cannot only apply to forced labour and child labour instances – but to all transgressions which violate workers’ basic rights.
Get a free demo of EiQ to understand your supply chain’s ESG risk exposure.
Markets at high risk for excessive working hours
Our supply chain ESG global risk analysis shows the sourcing markets with the highest risk exposure to working hour violations.
In 2024, China showed some of the most extreme levels of risk for working hour issues on sites, followed by other key sourcing regions such as Bangladesh, Turkey, and Pakistan.
Excessive working hours are increasingly being linked to health and safety issues among workers, and in 2016, the ILO estimated that nearly 40% of 1.9 million work-related deaths could be attributed to long working hours.
It's the responsibility of organisations to conduct further due diligence on their upstream activities and understand where violations may be occurring at every link of their supply chain. Broadening the focus on all critical labour issues and ensuring these critical violations are being prioritised and mitigated are essential to maintain regulatory compliance and protect workers' rights connected to their operations.
Read more about the top ESG risks from sourcing markets this year in our latest global risk outlook.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Speaking of regulations, the EU is answering your frequently asked questions about upcoming laws
If any of the recent European Union supply chain laws apply to your organisation and could be causing a headache from all the acronyms and specific requirements - you're in luck.
The EU has published resources regarding Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) of recent laws, and we have compiled them here for you:
If you're looking for further support in preparing for upcoming regulations, let us help! We support with every step of the compliance process, from policy implementation to human rights due diligence. Reach out to one of our experts to find out more.
And find out more about global supply chain regulations from our interactive legislation map.
Engaging suppliers to improve risk management
Supplier engagement is critical in improving your supply chain's ESG risk exposure. Aligning suppliers with expectations, targets, and regulatory compliance will enhance your end-to-end operations and support in protecting your business integrity.
The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) surveyed fashion executives across the US - including brands, retailers, and wholesalers - and their new report showed more than half of respondents surveyed plan to strengthen their social compliance training for suppliers in 2024 to keep up with evolving legislation, industry standards, and consumer expectations.
Our digital learning service empowers suppliers to implement business best practice and offers training courses in local languages on various supply chain ESG topics. Businesses around the world are using EiQ Learn to understand supply chain risks, align with regulatory requirements, and support supplier compliance and remediation.
Access a free eLearning course by clicking here and entering the branch code ‘insights’.
We're excited to bring you this newsletter here on LinkedIn. Please subscribe to make sure you don't miss the next edition of EiQ Insights.
Lead Auditor - BAP, Aquaculture and Certiifcation Consultant, ESG Professional, Biologist, BRSR, Sustainability.........
4moBut most of the companies claim to be complying to the requirement of child labour, forced labour along with other requirements related to work hours. It is very sad to know what is happening actually in the workplace.
Social and Security Compliance Manager and Senior Executive at TMI EGYPT Co. - TCW Trends Inc. USA
4moYes, this topic is very important, as excessive working hours became more in many factories. And this is negatively affecting employees and productivity as well.