The Impact of Covid-19 on Ethical Employment in

Transcript:The Impact of Covid-19 on Ethical Employment in:
The Impact of Covid-19 on Ethical Employment in Supply Chains: Opportunities & Threats Dr Anthony Flynn, Lecturer, Cardiff University Business School E: flynna2@cardiff.ac.uk Dr Maryam Lotfi, Lecturer, Cardiff University Business School Ms. Vanja Strand, PhD candidate, Cardiff University Business School 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS 1 Introduction Maintaining employment standards in supply chains forms part of ethics and sustainability in business The Covid-19 pandemic has caused, and continues to cause, major disruption to supply chains and their workforces Covid-related disruption presents both opportunities and threats to employment standards in supply chains This presentation provides an overview of five opportunities and threats resulting from Covid-19 It also suggests what business can expect from future climatic, financial, technological and geo-political disruptive events 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS 2 Method Twin-track approach to investigating the effect of Covid-19 on ethical employment in supply chains Desk review of academic and practitioner literature on the topic Discussions with industry stakeholders to elicit their experiences and opinions 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS 3 Five threats to employment standards Surge in demand Collapse in demand Crisis management mode Restricted access to suppliers Endangerment of migrant workers 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS 4 1. Surge in demand Surge in demand for a product can undermine labour standards in supply chains EXAMPLE Covid-19 caused a surge in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) – a product line with high risk of modern slavery (Feinmann, 2020) Surges in demand New suppliers onboarded by public and private sector organisations without undergoing due diligence Restrictions rescinded on importing PPE from high-risk countries and/or firms with poor track records Existing PPE suppliers sub-contracted work to ‘cottage industry’ where there is no oversight or scrutiny New workers hired in PPE manufacturing without undergoing ‘right to work’ checks 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS 5 2. Collapse in demand Collapse in demand can lead to temporary cessation of supplier operations and displacement of workers EXAMPLE Pandemic lockdown restrictions led to clothing retailers invoking force majeure and cancelling orders with garment suppliers Collapse in demand Retailers cancelled orders, delayed payments or requested discounts - approx. $12.3 bn in orders cancelled between April-June 2020 (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2020) Workers laid off at short notice and without compensation Some retailers e.g., H&M, Primark established wage funds to cover the cost of labour for cancelled contracts, but others chose not to take this action (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2020) 30/09/2021 LOM Section, CARBS