COVID-19 and Child Labor

Although businesses must make hard financial and practical decisions during times of crisis, the moral and legal imperative to protect workers in company supply chains applies even more in these times of burgeoning vulnerability. Companies must identify risks, sustain commitments to human rights, and address the unique vulnerabilities of workers and children who are employed at the bottom of supply chains. Steps that companies should take to address the increased risk of child labor during the coronavirus crisis include:

Companies should conduct due diligence to ensure that pandemic response activities do not contribute to the exploitation of children.

• Effective due diligence entails identifying and assessing actual or potential adverse human rights impacts and taking action to address them.
• Business for Social Responsibility has created a rapid human rights due diligence tool to help with decision-making and the UN Development Program (UNDP) has developed a Rapid Self-Assessment for Business.
• UNICEF has developed a guide for companies on integrating children’s rights into business policies.
• For the agricultural sector, the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) has a library of resources to help protect workers during the coronavirus outbreak and printable materials to share directly with workers in English and Spanish that underscore preventive measures.

Companies must assess where risks are highest in order to prioritize interventions.

• Countries that have high rates of child labor and human trafficking during relatively stable times will likely be more at risk during a pandemic.
• The identification of ‘‘hot spots’’ will allow for more targeted interventions. Companies should communicate with suppliers in high-risk countries to understand challenges in identifying and addressing child labor and human trafficking during the crisis and encourage them to make protection of children a priority.
• Companies may find information about child labor and forced labor risk in international child labor and forced labor reports published by the US Department of Labor, or in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report from the US Department of State.
• Verité’s Responsible Sourcing Tool highlights the links between child labor and forced labor risks and helps companies understand risks of worker exploitation by sector and geography.

Companies must ensure that supplier policies provide sufficient support to workers and their families at the commodity level.

• During the crisis, expanded policies should include sick and family leave for all categories of workers, increased health and safety protections, accommodations for remote work where possible, protections for workers laid off or furloughed, and an expansion of worker grievance systems.
• Access a set of general principles drafted by Verité.

Companies must provide increased support for small-scale producers.

• Companies must support small-scale suppliers with cash and credit to facilitate continued employment of workers, along with paid sick and family leave, and flexible working arrangements.
• Companies should consider conversion of sustainability premiums to cash transfers or the creation of new, short-term, emergency funds to channel emergency resources to humanitarian organizations, cooperatives, and producer organizations in the areas from which they source.
• Companies must remind suppliers about the importance of adhering to policies on child labor even during times of crisis. The ILO has guidelines for companies on developing strong child labor policies.

Companies must involve at-risk youth in the identification of needs for support services.

• Children and youth should be engaged in assessing how the crisis affects them and in developing a response to the crisis that ensures they don’t just survive the epidemic, but are able to get back to full-time learning and pursuing their dreams once the crisis is over.
• Access UNICEF’s principles and practices for communicating with children.

Measures must be taken to ensure support for children left alone due to the hospitalization or death of a parent or caregiver

• This could include direct support for civil-society groups and frontline social-service providers (e.g. teachers, social workers, and youth groups) so that they can maintain outreach to vulnerable children and youth.

Through multi-stakeholder initiatives, companies can promote information sharing on support services available to children in sourcing countries.

• These can include free meal programs, mental health counseling, childcare, remote learning opportunities, and birth registration services.