Session #11 – Option 1
PR2: LABOUR AND WORKING CONDITIONS
Presented by
Monkey Forest Consulting
OBJECTIVE AND OUTLINE
The objective of this module is to interactively discuss and review key
considerations associated with labour and working conditions. Topics will
include:
Ø  “The project will have the positive impact of new jobs”. Really?
Ø  Labour Codes, ILO and PR2 Overview
Ø  Impact assessment vs. due diligence for labour
Ø  PR2 Overview (child and forced labour, non-discrimination and equal opportunities,
retrenchment, workers’ organisations, supply chain)
Ø  Contractor management
Ø  Voluntary Principles
Ø  Worker grievance mechanism
“GREAT IMPACT IN TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT…”
“There will also be no detrimental impacts on local shops, businesses or
facilities as a result of either development. In addition, local employment
opportunities will be created during the construction phases for unskilled
labour.”
“ Key issues for the Project
are related to employment.
The Project is located near
existing industrial facilities
so there are relatively
limited new impacts due to
the historical development
of heavy industry in the
local study area.”
“…the project
implementation will imply a
great impact in terms of
employment, given that
during both the
construction and
operational phase a great
amount of workforce will
be employed for the
project realization.”
…OR NOT.
“[Another company] held the same interviews as you when the
[neighbouring facility] was built saying 90% of population would be
employed there. But now, finding a job there is a real problem the
main reason being bribery. To find a job one needs to have a cover
or money.”
“There are about 80 contractors,
none of them who care about the
people . There are only 2-4
companies that are doing
something. Only words. None of the
locals are taken… And why better
[people from another, distant city]?
Because of corruption and
connections.”
“OUR LABOUR LAWS ARE VERY STRINGENT!”
EBRD REQUIRES: LABOUR CODES AND ILO
ü  Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
ü  Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining
ü  Convention 29 on Forced Labor
ü  Convention 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor
ü  Convention 138 on Minimum Age (of Employment)
ü  Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
ü  Convention 100 on Equal Remuneration
ü  Convention 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
PR2 OVERVIEW
Ø  HR policies
Ø  Working relationships
Ø  Child & forced labour
Ø  Non-discrimination
Ø  Workers’ organisations
Ø  Wages, benefits, conditions
Ø  Occupational Health and Safety
Ø  Worker accommodation
Ø  Retrenchment
Ø  Grievance mechanism
Ø  Contractors & supply chain
Ø  Security personnel
INFORMATION REQUEST
Workforce Data
Ø  Current workforce statistics and, if available, including:
Ø Part-time and full-time staff
Ø Male and female data disaggregated
Ø Ethnicity, if documented through HR procedures
Ø Length of employment
Ø  Number of employees joining and leaving in the given year
INFORMATION REQUEST
Management Structure
Ø  Existing organizational chart (diagram of management hierarchy and
responsibilities) for the following key managers that include the following functions:
Ø  Human resources
Ø  Industrial relations
Ø  Training
Ø  Personnel records and payroll administration
Ø  Health and Safety
Ø  Construction or renovation contractor management
Ø  Supply chain or procurement
Ø  Security
INFORMATION REQUEST
Policies and Procedures
Ø  Human resources policy
Ø  Collective bargaining agreements
Ø  Recruitment and downsizing policies and procedures
Ø  Grievance mechanism or procedures
Ø  Employee health and safety policy
Ø  Contractor management policies or procedures
INFORMATION REQUEST
Staff Selection, Reward and Development
Ø  Human resources policy
Ø  Information on recruitment, including information on any recruitment
agencies that might be used
Ø  Procedures for recording hours
Ø  Procedures for determining wage levels
Ø  Procedures for rewards and development
Ø  Systems for managing employment records
NOT ALL PROJECTS HAVE THE SAME RISKS
Riskier projects
Ø  Labour intensive industries
Ø  Migrant workers
Ø  Where there is a history of
worker issues
Ø  Primary sector activities
Ø  Construction
Ø  Mass redundancies / mass
recruitment
Why do these increase risks?
What additional actions would
demonstrate due diligence for a high
turn-over activity employing many
migrant workers?
FORCED LABOUR & CHILD LABOUR
Ø  New member countries of EU
– transit countries
Ø  Non-EU countries + Ukraine
– source countries
Ø  Increasing:
–  Sexual exploitation (22%)
–  Labour exploitation (68%)
Ø  Child labour decreasing
–  Except in Mongolia
FORCED LABOUR DUE DILIGENCE
Ø  How prevented?
Ø  Recruitment charges
reasonable
Ø  Reputable agencies
Ø  Reasonable costs for housing
and food etc.
Ø  Free to leave
Ø  Free access to documents
(secure)
Ø  No involuntary prison labour
Ø  Overtime – legal and free of
coercion
NON - DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Country
Labour practice gender
inclusion gap
Albania
Large
Bosnia
Large
Croatia
Large
Macedonia
Large
Mongolia
Large
Turkey
Large
Serbia
Large
Ukraine
Large
•  How are jobs advertised?
•  How are jobs defined?
•  Applications from
underrepresented groups
•  Pre and employment health tests
•  Interview questions
•  Pay equity
•  Harassment monitored &
addressed
•  Accommodations for disabled
TRIANGULATION
Ø  When should a consultant hold
worker interviews?
Ø  Should managers be permitted to
attend worker interviews?
Ø  If workers are not interviewed,
what other standard outputs could
be checked as evidence of good
practice?
TRIANGULATION -- DISCUSSION
Working Relationships
Ø  Has the client documented and communicated to all workers their
rights under national labour and employment law and any applicable
collective agreements, working conditions and terms of
employment? The following aspects should be included:
Ø Entitlement to wages
Ø Hours of work
Ø Overtime arrangements and overtime compensation
Ø Benefits (leave for illness, maternity/paternity or holiday) (PS2 7)
RETRENCHMENT
Ø  For all retrenchment over 30 redundancies
(less for small companies)
Ø  Requires
ü  Plan
ü  Consult with unions
ü  Explain why needed
ü  Transparent selection criteria
ü  Severance pay
ü  Support and training to find alternative
employ
ü  Consider food security & community
dependency
EBRD REQUIREMENTS: WORKER’S ORGANIZATIONS
ü  Don’t penalize workers for joining union
ü  Don’t condition employment on not joining a union
ü  Don’t force them to join a union
ü  Must negotiate in good faith where required by law
ü  Must honour terms of collective agreements
ü  Cannot interfere with operation of union
ü  Can’t retaliate against workers for participating in union
activities
WORKER ACCOMMODATION
Ø  Where a client provides
accommodation must be:
Ø  Appropriate, clean & safe.
Ø  Meet national laws & international
good practice for:
ü  Charging workers
ü  Minimum space
ü  Sanitary, potable water, laundry &
cooking facilities
ü  Health, fire safety, hazards, first aid
& medical facilities
ü  Heating & ventilation.
ü  Freedom of movement; and
ü  Location with regard to workplace.
CONTRACTORS (NON-EMPLOYEE WORKERS)
Consultant: “That person
has no PPE and is
walking on a dark mining
road at night.”
HSE staff: “That is not our
employee. It’s a
contractor.”
For non-employee workers engaged
through contractors or
intermediaries to perform work
directly related to the the project,
the client will use reasonable
efforts to:
(i) 
Ascertain they are reputable
and legitimate enterprises; &
(ii)  require that they apply
requirements in paragraphs
6-18 and 20 above.
EBRD
VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLES ON SECURITY AND HUMAN
RIGHTS
Ø  Risk Assessment
–  Identify security risks
–  Potential for violence
–  Human rights record
–  Rule of law
–  Conflict analysis
–  Equipment transfers
Ø  Companies and Public Security
Ø  Companies and Private Security
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE - PRIVATE SECURITY RISKS
Industry history shows that private security providers have
been guilty of the full range of abuses ranging from simple
physical assault to torture and inappropriate use of lethal force.
Even basic tasks can bring problems –
Example 1
A gate guard correctly but rudely denies a community leader
access to a site; he yells angrily at the guard who slaps him
and throws him to the ground. The community leader does
not leave and the guard threatens this leader with a dog as
well.
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE - PUBLIC SECURITY FORCES
Risk exists at even low levels of engagement
Example
A site security manager requests the local police to help
investigate the theft of food from the company dining facility and
gives them the name of a contract employee who is suspected of
being involved. While questioning him at the local police station,
the police severely beat him and burn him with cigarettes.
WORKER GRIEVANCE MECHANISM
Ø  Clear procedure (not a comment
box)
Ø  Widely distributed / Explained at
time of hire
Ø  Confirms “non-retaliation”
Ø  Results tracked in management
system
GOOD PRACTICE DOCUMENTS
Ø  Human Resources Policies: Guidance
Note for Clients
Ø  Employment Documentation: guidance
for clients
Ø  Non-discrimination and equal opportunity:
guidance for clients
Ø  Children, young people and work:
guidance for clients
Ø  Forced labour: guidance for clients
Ø  Retrenchment and Restructuring –
Labour and Community Issues, a Brief
Guide
http://www.ebrd.com/pages/about/principles/
sustainability/requirements/guidance.shtml
Ø  Workers’ accommodation: processes and
standards
LABOUR ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Ø  Window/ manufacturing client
Ø  Four facilities ranging from 185 to 603 full
time workers
Ø  All employees covered by the same
policies
Ø  Assess compliance
Ø  Best Practice
Ø  Good practice//largely compliant
Ø  Minor deficiencies
Ø  Major deficiencies
TAKE AWAY MESSAGES
Ø  Employment is not automatically a positive impact.
Ø  Having a stringent labour code alone is not enough to reduce labour
risks.
Ø  PR2 seeks documented evidence of policies and procedures that
reduce the negative impacts of labour.
Ø  Key challenge for consultants is assessing “appropriate” and
“reasonable” efforts to comply with PR2.
1 800 491 0274
[email protected]
www.monkeyforestconsulting.com