On March 9, 2016, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) accepted for review a Third Party Complaint filed by the University of Washington regarding lack of payment of compensation and benefits at the factory Han Embroidery Ltd in Savar, Bangladesh. FLA-affiliated company Zephyr Graf-X sources from the factory Han Apparels Ltd (“Han Apparels”); Han Embroidery was a subcontracted embroidery factory to Han Apparels.

Informing this assessment was analysis of Han Embroidery’s closure conducted by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC).  The WRC found that when the factory closed on October 25, 2015, 168 workers -- many of whom were members of the Han Embroidery Ltd Workers Employee Union, affiliated to the National Garment Worker Federation (NGWF) – were affected.  WRC research estimated that the dismissed workers were owed $72,157 in legally mandated benefits, calculated as 30 days of wages for each year of service, calculated based on the worker’s basic wages, plus one month’s advance notice of the retrenchment or payment to the workers of an additional 30 days’ wages minus 30 days’ wages that the workers already received when the factory closed.