"Level Works Likes Thinking Outside the Box"
Other than our regular service offerings, we're enthusiastic about undertaking special project work. Such work helps move our industry in innovative directions needed to address the ever-changing dynamics and challenges related to global working conditions. Whether it's developing pilot project methodology, or conducting specialized research, Level Works is capable of being your strategic thought-partner as well executioner. Examples of our most recent projects are below.
Level Works partnered with Good World Solutions and the Labor Link platform to survey Tirupur-based factory workers via their mobile phones. The survey – a natural extension of the Level Works 2009 study on “Wages, Working Hours and Child Labor” in India – asked workers questions about their pay, benefits and other labor rights indicators. More than 750 workers chose to participate in this innovative, ground-breaking survey. Many of them produce goods for global brands and retailers like Walmart, Ralph Lauren and Primark. The survey’s success paves the way for future Level Works and Good World collaboration that moves supply-chain monitoring beyond auditing to direct, mobile-enabled worker engagement.
"Knit Capital" Community Survey (Tirupur, India) – June/July 2012 : 1.64 MB
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In May 2006 allegations appeared in public concerning widespread labor rights violations of migrant workers, including trafficking, in Jordan 's garment sector. Since these allegations first appeared, the Jordanian Ministry of Labor and USAID have been working together to determine the validity of these allegations and to begin to address the underlying causes of worker rights violations in Jordan .
 Towards this end, Level Works was selected by USAID to develop, manage and implement the Joint Labor Assessment and Training Project to assess the working conditions in Jordan 's garment sector and at the same time take initial steps to build capacity within the Ministry of Labor (MOL), especially within its Directorate of Labor Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health.
The main activity of the Project was to undertake unannounced visits over a three-month period of the majority garment factories found in Jordan -- comparing factory working conditions against a list of standards compiled from Jordanian law and the international labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
In follow-up to the JLATP project, Level Works was asked to provide ongoing advisory and support services to the Jordanian MOL for the duration of 2007, funded in part by USAID. Level Works maintains staff in Jordan for this purpose.
On behalf of a large seed processing company, Level Works was chosen to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of an existing multi-company initiative to monitor and reduce child labor in the Indian agricultural industry.
As part of the project, Level Works also:
- Develop monitoring methodology, field tools, and reporting instruments for the identification of child labor and root cause analysis on seed farms in India
- Undertake child labor assessments of more than 100 seed growing sites
- Train of supplier auditors on proper protocol and field work assessment methodology, tools, reporting instruments
- Compile related statistics for program review
- Facilitate formal stakeholder engagement in order to enhance program success capabilities
- Evaluate past efforts to monitor compliance with standards
On behalf of an industry association, Level Works performed pilot assessments of carpet manufacturers and loom subcontractors with the goal of eliminating child labor in weaving carpets.
Our ongoing work includes:
- Prioritization of child labor with a secondary focus on safety and wages
- Development of next-generation audit tools and supplier communications
- Establishing specific goals for main factories, sub-contractors and looms
- Building capacity in local staff to monitor long-term progress
In the midst of ever increasing discussion about the complexities of labor compliance issues in China, Level Works was recently commissioned to undertake research on the current Wage, Working Hours, and Benefits conditions focusing on the following five provinces of China: Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang, and the municipality of Shanghai. Level Works was chosen in part due to our unique understanding of the record falsification issue in China,
and more importantly our access to real factory documentation facilitated by our continuous improvement programs.
If you'd like to download a copy of this paper please click on the below.
Wages, Working Hours, and Benefits in the PRC : 419 KB
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Level Works was commissioned to examine wages & benefits, working hours, record falsification and child labor in Indian apparel production. The report highlights the complexity of sub-contracting in India and how that affects the apparel industries in Bangalore , Haryana, and Tiruppur. To learn what companies can do to improve social compliance in India , please click on the link to download the paper.
Wages, Working Hours, and Child Labor in India : 693 KB
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