Reiterating and re-emphasising the urgent imperative to prohibit and prevent child labour in India’s textile sector, a collaborative code of conduct has been drawn up, mandating adherence to local laws, international conventions, and industry-specific guidelines to prevent child and forced labour. It stresses on ethical sourcing, transparency, and accountability, enhancing brand reputation and contributing to the elimination of exploitative labour practices.
This ‘Code of Conduct for Prevention of Child Labor and Forced Labor in Indian Textile Industry’ is a collective commitment by nine key trade organisations to uphold ethical standards and safeguard worker rights by ensuring:
- Social responsibility: Protecting children and ensuring fair treatment of workers.
- Brand Reputation: Upholding ethical practices to enhance brand image.
- Legal Compliance: Adherence to Indian and international labour laws.
THE GUIDELINES
By implementing Code of Conduct, signatory factories need to create mechanisms that adhere to Indian laws, re-frame policies and better practices aimed at improving social and environmental impacts by the textile and apparel factories.
Implementation guidelines
- Children under 14-18 should not engage in hazardous or harmful work, including tasks involving heavy lifting, dangerous environments, night shifts, or exposure to hazardous substances or equipment.
- The factory must have written policies and procedures on the prohibition of child labour.
- However, children are allowed to work only after school hours or during vacations in family businesses/enterprises if they are non-hazardous.
- To designate a person who will be responsible and authorised to implement systems and procedures prohibiting child labour and employment of young persons.
- To have a procedure for training and creating awareness among all persons employed (especially those used in the selection procedure) on recruitment procedures.
- The company shall be committed to combating and eliminating child labour across its entire supply chain and condemn all forms of child exploitation.
- The company shall be responsible for rehabilitation and remediation if child labour is identified within its supply chain.
Implementing systems
- No person below the prescribed employment age, as laid down under the Factories Act, 1948 provision, shall be recruited.
- The preferred age for recruitment shall be 18 and above. Engaging adolescents shall be as per the Factory Act, 1948, or the amended provision.
- Factories must comply with ILO conventions on child labour and young persons ratified by India.
- Screening of visitors to ensure that no child enters the manufacturing areas.
- Recruitment of workers and a procedure for verifying the ‘proof of age’ to prevent employment of child workers.
- Ensure that any of the vendors and suppliers do not engage child labour in manufacturing any of the products.
- Regulate employment of young persons, including conditions of their employment.
- Identify potential conditions for employment of child labour or violation of conditions of employment of young persons, taking adequate preventive measures.
- Aadhaar Card authenticity shall be verified through the apps available.
GUIDELINES FOR PREVENTION OF FORCED LABOUR
Factories are required to establish and enforce the following guidelines for implementation:
- A factory should have a written policy and procedures on prohibition of bonded labour and forced labour.
- To designate an individual who would be responsible and authorised to implement systems and procedures relating to prohibition of bonded labour and forced labour.
- To have a procedure for training and creating awareness among all persons employed (especially those employed on selection procedure), on bonded and forced labour conditions.
- The company will adhere to all national laws, regulations, and procedures related to the prohibition of forced labour, human trafficking, and the employment of migrant workers.
- Workers will be informed of their rights in a proactive manner at the beginning of their employment, in a language they understand.
- A written employment contract will be provided to employees in a language they understand, signed by both parties before the start of employment, with copies provided to both the employee and employer.
- Recognising the correlation between gender inequality, discrimination, and forced labour, the company will establish separate policies to address these issues alongside its forced labour policies.
SYSTEM FOR PREVENTION OF FORCED LABOUR
- Identify and maintain all applicable statutory / legal records, registers and records related to the factory, data and information collection related to bonded labour or forced labour conditions and reporting to the management.
- Periodically review issues arising out of conditions leading to instances of bonded and forced labour by the management and implement procedures for corrective and preventive action.
- Ensure that no worker is engaged in any work against his / her will or threatened with corporal punishment or coercion of any kind.
- Ensure that workers maintain possession or control of personal documents such as passports and identity papers. The company may only retain copies of original documents for record-keeping purposes
- Prohibit use of bonded or forced labour in any of the units or premises of the organization and tier 2 and tier 3 supply chain.
- Establish clear recruitment policies in alignment with local laws and ILO legislations ratified by India to prevent forced labour or human trafficking during the recruitment process.
- Regulate wage distribution and manage and monitor advances and loans to prohibit conditions of bonded labour and forced labour.
- Regulate contract labour employment to comply with legal requirements.
- Identify conditions/legal provisions that could be construed as bonded labour and forced labour and incorporate in relevant procedures.
