Question: Does the company mention engaging directly in dialogue with suppliers’ workers at one or more levels of the supply chain (raw materials, textiles, manufacturing) as part of their due diligence?
Answer:
Yes
14455961
Walk Free
2022
Unverified - Added by Community
updated over 1 year ago by Manali Rana

Pg. 25

“Blackwoods – participated in a Sedex-led Direct Worker Reporting Pilot from November 2021 to June 2022. The pilot engaged workers directly via an anonymous, online, in-language survey, to better understand working conditions and worker wellbeing, in parallel with a SMETA audit. The survey provided insights into worker sentiment (with targeted questions on health and safety), recruitment fees, overall wages, working hours and general wellbeing. The pilot was conducted at sites in India and China, engaging over 450 workers.”

pg. 33

“Following a successful pilot program in the 2021 financial year, Officeworks rolled out its worker survey program across four new factories in the 2022 financial year.

In the first round of surveys, 1,258 workers shared concerns, which included a lack of trust in internal grievance channels, lack of understanding of how wages are calculated, unequal treatment of workers based on their gender, and dissatisfaction with working hours.”

"Six months after the first round of surveys, Officeworks conducted follow-up surveys to assess worker sentiment at three of the initial sites. Overall, the survey response rate increased from about 30 per cent to just over 50 per cent, and worker sentiment generally improved with the largest improvements in the areas of wages and working hours"

Manali Rana.....2022-12-31 10:56:20 UTC