Policy Research and Advocacy

Since voluntary initiatives like corporate codes of conduct alone do not provide adequate protection for workers, Verité consults with governments and investment leaders to implement systemic and country-level programs that improve protections for millions of workers. Verité's Policy and Research Department explores issues of global sourcing, focusing on working conditions in global production. We leverage Verité’s unique data sources to analyze labor conditions worldwide, and make specific recommendations for changes in policy, law and corporate performance.  Verité’s policy advocacy is based on:

• Interviews with over 20,000 workers in over 2,000 factories in 65 countries;
• Consultation and cooperation with government agencies, human rights organizations, labor unions, academics, business and trade associations, and journalists in over 25 countries;
• Interactions with workers, factory supervisors and factory owners during practical remediation efforts in apparel, footwear, electronics and toy factories around the world, as well as in agricultural workplaces; and
• Investigations carried out by Verité's global network of non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.

Since 2002, Verité has undertaken a total of 30 labor rights policy interventions in over 25 countries. Some of our policy advocacy initiatives include:

• Verité has outlined the steps needed to be taken by a wide range of stakeholders – governments, employers, corporations, factories and social monitoring firms – to ensure that migrant laborers from Southeast Asia are protected from labor abuses. We are currently in the early stages of designing and implementing a system of standards for the performance of private labor brokers, seeking to remedy the causes of some of the most egregious violations faced by foreign contract workers. This system will be developed and implemented with the collaboration of the governments of Taiwan and the Philippines, with eventual expansion to other forums.
• Our on-going efforts to improve conditions for migrant workers are grounded in our 2005 research report on Protecting Overseas Workers: Research Findings and Strategic Perspectives on Labor Conditions for Foreign Contract Workers in Asia and the Middle East.
• Verité has undertaken a detailed look at the causes and impacts of excessive overtime among Chinese workers in the export sector.  Our 2004 study for the first time brought out workers’ own views on hours and wages, providing ways forward for corporations, factories, trade unions and international organizations. In 2006 we took the first steps to quantify the financial impact of wage and hour violations, and published our findings in our Piece Rate Report
• Since 2000, Verité's Emerging Markets Research Project offers a ranking of 27 emerging markets countries using a quantitative assessment that employs 42 indicators of labor standards compliance – the first such framework of its kind to be used for investment purposes.
• With support from the US Department of Labor, Verité developed tools to track country progress toward compliance with international labor standards and has trained U.S. Foreign Service Labor Officers in the use of the tools
• Verité has convened a multi-stakeholder group to begin the process of examining and improving labor conditions in the Information Technology sector in India, the first such initiative.  Verité publishes a quarter ICT Newsletter as part of our effort to raise awareness of the need to upgrade understanding and management of labor and environmental responsibility among Indian ICT facilities. Subscribe to the ICT newsletter by emailing Verité
• In response to Verité’s engagement on women’s rights and working conditions for foreign women in Taiwan, the Taiwanese government established a new set of laws on women's reproductive health and maternity benefits in 2002

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