 |
|
The monitoring system
The monitoring system consists of the following components:
Registration of participating factories
The Ministry of Commerce requires registration with Better Factories
Cambodia in order to export.
Over 300 operating factories are registered with Better Factories
Cambodia. Registration means that the ILO and the participating factory
sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining their duties and
responsibilities. The factory agrees to provide ILO monitors with full access
to the factory premises at all times. The factory also agrees that ILO monitors
will interact freely with shop stewards, union representatives and factory
workers, both inside and outside the factory premises. See a complete list of active factories that have registered and been monitored by the project.
The ILO agrees that monitoring visits will be fair and objective, will minimize
disruption to factory operation, and that any allegation of misconduct by its
own monitors will be considered in good faith.
Top
Procedures for monitoring visits
Better Factories Cambodia has 12 monitors. They have been trained
in Cambodian labour law and international labour standards, interviewing
techniques, and report-writing. In visiting factories, monitors are guided by a
checklist of over 500 questions, most of which relate to articles in the labour
code or provisions in the relevant ILO conventions. The government as well as employers and unions involved in the garment industry have endorsed this checklist.
Monitors normally visit in pairs. All monitoring visits are unannounced visits.
Each visit follows a similar procedure, which includes meetings with
management, an unaccompanied walk-through and observation, collection of
documents such as payroll, contracts and leave records, and interviews with
individual workers as well as worker and union representatives. Interviews
wilth workers are done both at and away from the factory. Wherever possible
monitors rely on documents and direct observation.
With the IMS now in place, ILO monitors directly record results on small tablet PCs that are specifically designed to collect the monitoring data. After each factory visit, monitors review and edit the information collected.
The Chief Technical Advisor, who is head of the Project, then provides final approval. Once a factory report has been approved and uploaded to the IMS, Better Factories Cambodia notifies the factory by email. Factories can log onto the IMS’s limited access website (extranet) to view their own detailed reports using a password. Other users (e.g., head office, buyers or vendors) can also access reports for specific factories, provided they have been granted access. Factories that do not have email or internet access receive paper copies of their reports.
Factories can lodge objections to findings in their factory’s reports online, by logging onto the Better Factories Cambodia IMS extranet. Objections will be reviewed by the ILO, and will be visible to buyers who have been granted access to the reports.
Upon request from management, Better Factories Cambodia can offer assistance to factories in implementing the suggestions identified in the report.
Top
Public reporting procedures
The IMS enables Better Factories Cambodia to publish synthesis reports on a semi-annual basis. The synthesis reports include easy-to-read graphs highlighting compliance trends, employment figures for the garment industry, and progress made on improving working conditions.
Better Factories Cambodia will continue the practice of naming factories monitored and their progress in implementing suggestions for improvement. The public can access this summary information from the ILO Better Factories Cambodia’s website. These summary reports will be posted as soon as the factory report has been finalized
See a list of synthesis reports produced before the IMS was implemented.
Top
|
|