a factory visit of JC Mode by Karen

labor - Discussing a bogus auditing system

I have been writing some time ago about Policing your suppliers. Since an updated article is out on Chinabiz, I'm getting quite some interesting feedback from the industry itself. They agree with the basic assumption: the current auditing system is bogus. One of them writes:

However, the fact that the audits are not entirely legitimate does not mean that the factories do not honestly want to be compliant with the majorityof labor regulations. With regards to installing appropriate safety equipment, not hiring child labor, or ensuring a healthy factory and dormitory environment, I have seldom encountered factories that are notwilling to invest some money and effort to make the required changes. Inaddition, the average worker salary at the factories is almost always 50%or more higher than the minimum wage when calculated on a monthly basis.

Most problems are with overtime and paying for tax and benefits, the idea of the auditors themselves is.
The question is then, when factories are in general willing to comply, how to get that done. The auditors that reacted obvious do not want to discuss the issue in public, since it is their bred and butter. It would be worth to discuss how a system could be developed that does work.

Another happy factory: