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Hours of Work
WORKPLACE CODE PROVISION: "Except in extraordinary business circumstances, employees will (i) not be required to work more than the lesser of (a) 48 hours per week and 12 hours overtime or (b) the limits on regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country of manufacture or, where the laws of such country will not limit the hours of work, the regular work week in such country plus 12 hours overtime; and (ii) be entitled to at least one day off in every seven day period."
Click here to access FLA Benchmarks for this provision.
FLA Year Two IEM Findings - Hours of Work
* Please note that these findings represent the 1,595 incidences of separate noncompliance issues as found in 105 of the 110 factories subjected to IEMs in Year Two.
Click herefor more about the way this data was collected.
Eight percent of all reported noncompliance for Year Two, approximately 130 individual incidents related to Hours of Work. Most incidents took place in Southeast Asia (46), East Asia (36), and South Asia (35). Noncompliance with maximum hours of work standards was more common in regions where there is increased demand for production (see graph in Facts and Figures), indicating that factories may not have the capacity to complete orders without increasing working hours.
Click here to access a breakdown of Year Two reported noncompliance issues tallied according to the Hours of Work benchmarks.
Sixty-three percent of all noncompliance with this Code provision related to excessive overtime hours. In China, for example, findings of excessive overtime were not uncommon, even in factories where factory managers can acquire a waiver from the local labor bureau that permits them to employ workers for more than the legally-allowed overtime limits (a maximum of 36 hours of overtime per month). These waivers, which tend to be valid for six months, are often easy to obtain. In fact, based on investigations in China, the FLA believes there is a risk that waivers can be acquired through bribes or local connections with labor departments. The FLA does not consider local waivers to be valid if they do not comply with China's national standards; therefore, even if factories had obtained such permits, they were not considered to be in compliance with the Code if they went beyond national work hour restrictions.
In working with companies to remediate Hours of Work noncompliance, the FLA has observed that the underlying causes of excessive overtime include: pressures on workers to achieve high production quotas set by management; inflexible and very short production deadlines; and strict and sometimes outdated domestic labor laws. Managers also remark that company production targets conflict with local labor laws. The FLA is looking more closely at the complex of issues that contribute to excessive working hours through its Hours of Work Project in China. s
Please click here to visit the tracking charts to review how various companies have worked to remediate these and other issues.
Link to:
| Wages and Benefits Benchmarks |
Number of Noncompliance Issues |
Percent of Total |
| Minimum Wage |
19 |
8% |
| Training Wage |
2 |
1% |
| Wage Benefits Awareness |
31 |
12% |
| Wage and Benefits Posting |
9 |
4% |
| Wage and Benefits Information Access |
10 |
4% |
| Voluntary Use of Benefits |
1 |
0% |
| Deduction for Services |
2 |
1% |
| Payroll Reporting |
6 |
2% |
| Pay statement |
14 |
6% |
| Time-recording system |
27 |
11% |
| Record Maintenance |
15 |
6% |
| Legal benefits |
37 |
15% |
| Payment of wages |
4 |
2% |
| Payment of Legal Benefits |
7 |
3% |
| Timely Payment of Benefits |
5 |
2% |
| Illegal Holding of Funds |
2 |
1% |
| Legal Compliance for holiday/leave |
9 |
4% |
| Accurate recording of wage compensation |
9 |
4% |
| Timely Payment |
4 |
2% |
| Minimum wage/ Quotas |
2 |
1% |
| Minimum wage/ Incentives |
1 |
0% |
| False Payroll Records |
11 |
4% |
| Record Maintenance |
13 |
5% |
| Accurate benefit compensation |
7 |
3% |
| Wages and Benefits Other |
5 |
2% |
| Total |
252 |
100% |
| Hours of Work Benchmarks |
Number of Noncompliance Issues |
Percent of Total |
| Forced overtime |
12 |
9% |
| Positive Incentives |
1 |
1% |
| Negative Incentives |
3 |
2% |
| Reasonable Maintaining of Staff |
1 |
1% |
| Overtime Limitations |
82 |
63% |
| Reduce Mandated OT |
8 |
6% |
| Explanation of continued required OT |
5 |
4% |
| Overtime Explanation |
7 |
5% |
| Legal compliance with protected workers |
5 |
4% |
| Record Maintenance (Women, <18yrs) |
3 |
2% |
| Hours of Work Other |
4 |
3% |
| Total |
131 |
100% |
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