Hidden Harm: Audit Deception in Apparel Supply Chains and the Urgent Case for Reform

[...] Audit deception is a serious impediment to identifying and remedying human rights abuses in global supply chains. This report compiles evidence from Transparentem’s past investigations of efforts to conceal labor rights violations from social auditors in the apparel industry in India, Malaysia, and Myanmar, as well as research from peer organizations and academics, which indicate that audit deception is a pervasive problem in apparel supply chains.

Transparentem has uncovered evidence of audit deception at most worksites included in its disclosed investigations since 2019. Interviewees across nearly 20 garment factories and spinning mills in India, Malaysia, and Myanmar described various strategies by employers and recruiters to conceal labor rights violations. Common tactics included falsifying documents, coaching workers to lie, and hiding workers who appeared to be employed unlawfully. Some workers said they feared that buyers would cancel orders, and thus jeopardize their jobs, if they did not help their employers cover up violations. Collectively, workers’ testimony suggests that what auditors observe during a worksite visit is often not representative of typical conditions, and evidence shows that documents auditors review may sometimes be inaccurate[...]

In order to combat audit deception, buyers must structure audit processes to minimize the chances of deception and maximize worker agency. Buyers should increase worker involvement in audits, improve auditing techniques, and enhance transparency around audits and remediation processes. Improvements to auditing processes alone, however, are insufficient—buyers and suppliers should also do more to uphold workers’ rights, by providing greater support for worker organizing, proactive rights training for workers, and effective third-party grievance mechanisms, among other measures. Buyers must also work to develop sustained relationships with their suppliers based upon trust and shared human rights commitments[...]