Verité News from our Vision Newsletter
Remediation and Elimination of Recruitment Costs Charged to Migrant Workers
Migrant workers are frequently confronted with a choice: pay illegal or unethical recruitment fees for employment abroad or go without work altogether. To finance these exorbitant costs, they may take out loans that leave them vulnerable to debt bondage, a form of forced labor. For more than a decade, Verité has worked with global companies in diverse sectors to ensure their suppliers and business partners absorb the true cost of recruitment and prohibit the charging of recruitment costs to workers, in accordance with international standards and regulations.
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Verité Addresses Gender Inequity & Forced Labor in the Seafood Sector
Seafood supply chains are complex and rife with vulnerability to human trafficking risks and other labor problems (see infographic below). This past March, Verité attended Seafood Expo North America in Boston, speaking on panels about gender equality and social responsibility in supply chains.
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Introducing the Journal of Fair Trade
Companies don’t doubt they have to play a role in solving social, labor, and environmental problems in their supply chains: But how? What works? Definitive answers are needed on what socially and environmentally safe business looks like. The Fair Trade Society, a new global membership organization, is proud to announce the launch of the Journal of Fair Trade.
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What We’re Talking About in April 2019
Full Disclosure: Toward Better Modern Slavery Reporting | Conflict and Mass Displacement Increase Child Labor in Middle East and North Africa | New Report: Realizing the Benefits of Worker Reporting Digital Tools | “Apple Deserves Kudos for Doing Right by Workers” | The Software that Shapes Workers’ Lives
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The Link Between Headlines on Central American Migrants & Living Wages in Agriculture
You see the headlines about the US-Mexico border on a daily basis: Asylum seekers, guest workers, and other international migrants are seeking safety and a chance to break out of a cycle of poverty by coming to the United States. Yet for all the exposure these stories receive, there is little explanation of who these people are and why they take their risky journeys. This story offers supply chain professionals a clear context and understanding of how promoting compliance with national laws and corporate supply chain standards can directly impact the lives of these vulnerable populations.
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Addressing Forced Labor in Cocoa
This past February, Verité released a new research study on the nature and indicators of forced labor and human trafficking for labor exploitation in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire. The report is accompanied by a comprehensive set of actionable recommendations for government, industry, and civil society to address the problem through strategic, targeted programming.
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What We’re Talking About in March 2019
Article Links: Condom supplier to NHS and British high street accused of “shameful” working conditions | Electronics Watch Releases Compliance Report on Leading Thailand Electronics Manufacturer | How the World Got Hooked on Palm Oil
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FAR Definition Takes a Zero-Tolerance Approach to Recruitment Fees
Prohibiting federal contractors from charging workers recruitment fees is a cornerstone of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requiring contractors and subcontractors to take specific preventive measures to detect and eliminate forced labor and human trafficking in their supply chains. In December 2018, the U.S. Government amended the FAR to include a comprehensive and clear definition of what constitute “recruitment fees.”
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Private Kenyan Employment Agencies Learn About Promoting Ethical Recruitment in Qatar
In an unprecedented step toward protecting Kenyan migrant workers in Qatar, this past December, seven Kenyan licensed Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) participated in a visit to Doha to learn about ethical recruitment and worker welfare initiatives in Qatar, a key...
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What We’re Talking About in January
Why Businesses Are Nothing Without Strong Human Rights |
Article on the World Economic Forum website: Business has an interest and responsibility to support human rights defenders and civic freedoms.
Verité in the News
Read coverage of Verité’s work in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, and others.
