“Investigation Highlights Workplace Issues and Evidence of Audit Deception in Myanmar; Prompts Apparel Company and Supplier Collaboration”, September 2020

… Transparentem conducted a two-part, three-year investigation. That investigation looked closely at three garment factories, and uncovered evidence of practices that appeared to violate international human rights standards and Myanmar law.

[All] seven apparel companies identified as appearing to have products produced at one or more of the three factories … took some form of action, with six companies pursuing factory-level improvements….

Findings

Child Labor and 14- and 15-year-olds Employed Beyond Legal Restrictions: Some workers who said they were 14 and 15 described working in excess … the maximum shift length … permitted … under Myanmar law ... some workers … said they were 13 or younger at the time of their interviews. Employing children under 14 in factories is illegal in Myanmar…

Hazardous Labor: Transparentem found evidence that workers, including two children under age 14 at one factory, stuffed garments with down feathers … [with] only … thin, inadequate masks … Exposure to fine organic dust from down feathers can cause short-term health problems and permanent lung damage, risks which are elevated for children.

Wage and Overtime Violations: Workers at all factories said managers sometimes required them to work against their will, or, at two factories, without pay. One worker noted that workers “have no options” to refuse overtime work…

Inadequate Documentation: Workers said management did not provide them with pay slips … [or] copies of their labor contract; others were made to sign a contract without having its terms explained to them.

Workplace Loans and Debt: Workers told Transparentem they borrowed money with interest from other employees, including supervisors and security guards…

Inadequate Grievance Systems: Workers at two factories were either unaware of grievance mechanisms available to them or skeptical that such avenues were safe and effective.

Audit Deception: Workers at all three factories told investigators that factory managers concealed underage workers and others from auditors by hiding them or sending them home during audits… Workers at two factories also said managers instructed workers to lie to auditors, and in some cases, coached them on how to do so.