Complaint Outdoor & Sports Company Ltd. Vietnam

Transcription

1 Cmplaint Outdr & Sprts Cmpany Ltd. Vietnam Status: Clsed FWF is respnsible fr setting up a cmplaints prcedure in prductin cuntries where FWF is active. The cmplaints prcedure allws third parties t make cmplaints abut the wrking cnditins r the way the Cde f Labur Practices is implemented in factries which supply FWF members. The respnsibility f FWF includes investigating the cmplaint, verifying whether the agreed crrective actin plan is implemented and public reprting. This cmplaint reprt gives an verview f a cmplaint filed t FWF, the investigatin and agreed crrective actin plan as well as hw the utcme is verified. Fr mre infrmatin n the cmplaints prcedure see the FWF website. FWF als publishes an verview f cmplaints received in its annual reprts. 1. Member cmpany invlved Outdr & Sprts Cmpany Ltd. (OSC). 2. Accused party A factry lcated in Vietnam supplying OSC. 3. Date f receiving cmplaint The cmplaint was received n 4 Nvember Filing party A wrker that was emplyed until 4 Nvember 2016 by the factry. 5. The cmplaint The cmplainant claimed she has been wrking at the factry fr abut 1 year withut a signed labur cntract. The wrker des nt have an emplyee's card r health insurance card. She received the pay slip every mnth but she was nt able t share it with the cmplaints handler. The cmplainant sated she was fired n 4 Nvember withut advance ntice. Accrding t the wrker, factry management has sent the wrking time sheets in Octber t wrkers fr checking. The cmplainants name was nt in the time sheet. When she infrmed her line leader and vice line leader, her supervisrs infrmed her they have frwarded the issue the accuntant. The accuntant replied that the wrker 1 / 5

2 was fired by an HR manager wh is wrking at Administratin Department and was ff that day. The next day n 5 Nvember, the wrker went t the factry, but the security did nt let her enter. The cmplainant indicated she needs t receive her salary fr Octber (22 days and 41 hurs f vertime) and 4 days in Nvember (1~4 Nv). The line leader had infrmed her that her salary fr Octber will be paid if she agrees t wrk extra 3 days withut payment. This meant there will be n payment fr wrking days in Nvember. 6. Admissibility FWF decided that the case is admissible n 5 Nvember The factry is an active supplier f OSC, a member f FWF. The case is relevant t the fllwing labur standards f FWF s Cde f Labur Practices: - Payment f a living wage - Legally binding emplyment relatinship 7. Investigatin FWF infrmed OSC abut the case. OSC is expected t cntact the supplier and ask fr a reply within ne week. FWFs cmplaint handler btained evidence the wrker was in fact emplyed by the factry. The cmplaint handler asked the cmplainant whether she culd share the telephne phne numbers f her line leader/vice line leader r c-wrker in rder t verify that she has wrked at the cmpany until 4 Nvember. FWF s cmplaint handler called ne f the cmplainant s cwrker wh wrks at the factry apprximately 4 mnths withut a labur cntract. The cwrker infrmed FWF s cmplaint handler she was under the impressin the plaintiff was fired because she was absent fr 2 days withut permissin (29&31 Oct). The cwrker cnfirmed that the plaintiff has wrked at the factry until yesterday (Nv 4) and she gt fired at the end f wrking time. The factry infrmed OSC the cmplainant was indeed emplyed by their cmpany. Factry management indicated the emplyee started wrking in December 2015 and had her first cntract in April Accrding t management the emplyee left and came back in September Management stated many wrkers d nt stay with the same cmpany fr a lng time, rather mve back and frth between different factries. Factry management sent the emplyee s time recrd fr Octber and Nvember On 14 Nvember, anther emplyee frm the same cmpany called FWF s cmplaints handler. She claimed t have wrked fr the cmpany 2.5 years and she resigned 16 Nvember. She nly wanted t state she wuld like t receive her scial insurance bk. Accrding t her, the resigned wrkers ften received their scial insurance bk s late in sme cases, 6~7 mnths after terminatin date. Therefre, they cannt receive the unemplyment allwance. She sent her pay-slip t the cmplaints handler but did nt receive a cpy f labr cntract. FWF had scheduled an audit at this supplier n behalf f Outdr & Sprts in December. FWF prpsed t mve the audit date frward t end f Nvember. During 2 / 5

3 the audit, FWF can verify the labur cntracts fr all wrkers and further investigate this case. Payday is every 15 th f the mnth, which will allw the audit team t verify the paid wages, including the cmplainant s wage payments. In the evening f the first audit, the cmplaints handler met with ne f the cmplainants at a cffee t share infrmatin n the status f her scial insurance bk. 8. Findings and cnclusins After the abve mentined investigatin and the FWF audit, the fllwing cnclusins were drawn: The cmplainant has wrked at the factry frm 17 Nvember 2015 t 4 Nvember Frm reviewing her persnnel file, it was nted that there was n labr cntract kept in her persnnel file. The factry management culd nt prvide the cmplainant s labr cntract during the FWF audit. The cmplainant received her Octber salary n 25 Nvember. Factry had infrmed her salary f Nvember will be paid n Dec 25 th. The cmplainant did nt submit a resignatin letter. Frm the interview with the line leader, the line leader cnfirmed that smene in her line wrte the resignatin letter (n behalf f the cmplainant) and the line leader has signed t apprve her terminatin n Nv 7. The interviewed HR manager (wh is als a labr unin leader) indicated she needs a resignatin letter t cmplete payment prcedures t resigned wrkers. Accrding t factry's plicy, factry will nt pay fr resigned wrkers wh resigned withut resignatin letters. Frm the pay rll inspectins it was nticed n severance pay was paid. The cmplainant cnfirmed that she was ff 2 days withut giving ntice n 29th and 31st f Octber. She did nt cnfirm hwever that she wuld have walked away withut an answer, and as there are n meeting minutes it is nt pssible t cnfirm what happened. Fr the fact that she was absent fr 2 days, she culd have been disciplined by a written reprimand. Factry cannt use that as reasn fr dismissal. Lking at the legal prvisins, it is nted that the dismissal did nt cmply with the legal prcedure. Factry indicated t nt have dismissed her, but the fact that she was nt n the list f the time sheet while she was still wrking culd be cnsidered as unilateral terminatin by the factry. Which means that severance payments need t be paid. Accrding t the time-sheet that factry sent and reviewing the time recrd during audit, it is nted that 1) the cmplainant has wrk cntinuusly at the factry, n stp r return many times, 2) It is nted that the time recrd shwed the cmplainant did nt wrk frm Sept 19 t Oct 3 due t wrk stppage (dwntime). In case f wrk stppage, factry did nt pay wrkers as required by lcal laws (accrding t Article 98 f the Labr cde, factry shuld pay wrkers in full). The secnd emplyee wh cntacted FWF s cmplaints handler received her salary f Octber n 22 Nvember and factry has infrmed her her salary f Nvember will be paid n Dec 25 as well. Factry did nt infrm the date she can get her insurance bk. Factry cannt settle her scial insurance bk at 3 / 5

4 the mment because factry is late in paying scial insurance. S far it nly pays until June The scial insurance f Lam Dng Prvince cnducted an inspectin at factry n 19 Oct 2016 and require factry must pay the shrtage amunt by Nv 30, Remediatin All wrkers must receive cpies f labur cntracts. Labur cntracts must be signed with all emplyees after prbatin perid and include prvide scial insurance, medical insurance and unemplyment insurance. Factry shuld avid late payment f insurances. Factry shuld pay resigned wrkers due wages within 7 days frm terminating the labr cntract. Factry must pay severance allwance t the tw cmplainants fr the wrking time served when emplyees did nt pay unemplyment insurance cntributins as prescribed by law. The labr discipline (such as dismissal) r terminatin shuld be in cmpliance with lcal laws requirements. Fr bth cmplainants, factry must pay their severance allwance fr the wrking time served when they did nt pay unemplyment insurance. When factry prvides insurances and settle the insurance bk n time, the emplyees will receive jb-lss allwance frm the insurance agency when they are unemplyed. In case f wrk stppage, factry shuld pay emplyees in full accrding t Article 98 f the Labr cde. Factry shuld set up a written resignatin/terminatin plicy that includes factry will nt pay fr resigned wrkers wh resigned withut resignatin letters. Accrding t Article 20 f the factry s labr regulatins, the cmplainant shuld have been disciplined by the written reprimand fr her vilatins (2 days ff withut permissin). Accrding t Article f the Labr Cde and Article 22.3 f the factry s labr regulatins, the frm f disciplinary dismissal is applied by the emplyer in case the emplyee is absent fr 5 accumulating wrking days within 30 days since the 1st absent day r 20 days accumulating wrking days within 365 days since the 1st days withut legitimate reasns. Therefre, the factry cannt dismiss her fr her vilatin. In the lnger run, it is suggested t investigate ways f reducing wrker turnver; jb security might reduce the need fr wrkers t cme and g. A training as part f FWF s Wrkplace Educatin Prgramme can be a first step in discussing labur rights with wrkers and management. 10. Verificatin Part f this case was verified during the audit that was cnducted by FWF s lcal audit team end f Nvember after the cmplaint. On 2 nd f January 2017, FWFs cmplaint handler cnfirmed bth emplyees were paid their due salaries f Nvember and December Hwever, scial insurance and severance cmpensatin were nt paid. Remediatin and fllw up by OSC will be verified during next Brand Perfrmance Check. 4 / 5

5 11. Evaluatin by the cmplainant The cmplainant shared she is happy with the result f her Octber, Nvember and December wage being paid. 5 / 5