Events for ETI Members - Advance Flyer

ETI Members' Roundtable
HOMEWORKERS

Background:

ETI members have expressed an interest in relation to workers who are part of the informal sector and are incorporated within supply chains. Homeworkers are an important part of the informal sector in many industries and are common in many countries.

Homeworkers are exposed to exploitation due to a lack of regulation in the informal sector. By definition homeworkers are small, dispersed units which consequently makes homeworking a problematic area to monitor or ensure effective implementation of labour standards. Furthermore, there is a risk that some suppliers will withdraw from employing homeworkers as a consequence of not being able to implement codes.

A central concern of ETI members is how to apply codes of conduct to homeworkers in a responsible way along with the challenge companies face in identifying homeworkers in their supply chain. This led to the setting up of the Smallholders & Homeworkers Working Group and the commissioning of research to provide further information.

In 2001, ETI members discovered that they had a collective problem with sub-minimum wages being paid to homeworkers that are sub-contracted by a common supplier to assemble Christmas crackers in South Wales. In response to this, ETI members buying from this supplier have been working together to address this problem. Following this it was clear that a greater awareness about the application of codes of labour practice in relation to homeworkers was required.

Purpose:

The purpose of this seminar is to improve members' understanding of homeworkers, and to discuss practical options for implementing codes in supply chains involving homeworkers. This will be achieved through sharing lessons from the Smallholders and Homeworkers Working Group (SHWG) and from the collective action taken by a number of ETI members in reaction to the crackers situation in Wales.

Specific Issues to be Covered in the Seminar Include:

• Who are homeworkers and why do they work from home?
   
• Problems faced by homeworkers
   
• Company experiences of applying codes in the homeworking sector
   
• Case study on crackers to highlight specific issues that arise in dealing with homeworkers in relation to the ETI Base Code.
   
• An opportunity for members to express their views on where their responsibility lies in this area

Draft Programme:

 

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