Purpose

Based on the experiences of Better Work Bangladesh and Better Factories Cambodia through the programmes’ direct engagement with hundreds of factories in the sector, many factories are struggling to address and resolve grievances at the workplace. Strong and effective grievance mechanisms at the enterprise or on-site level are a key part of a robust industrial relations environment. The purpose of operational level grievance mechanisms is to enable workers to file complaints on violations of rights as a first point of entry and to handle these within the enterprise quickly, fairly and at a low cost. This does not mean, however, that all grievances will be resolved in a satisfactory manner. The worker retains the right to take his or her complaint outside the enterprise by lodging the dispute with the relevant authority and having it handled in accordance with the procedures contained in legislation.

Enterprise-level grievance mechanisms provide a vital means through which companies can be alerted to the possibility of causing or contributing to adverse human and labour rights impacts or that such impacts may be directly linked to their operations, products, or services by their business relationships. By having a functional grievance mechanism at the enterprise level, workers and managers together can solve problems as close to the source as possible, resulting in more timely and effective solutions.
Effective grievance mechanisms are a key element of human rights and environmental due diligence processes. They support risk identification, mitigation and remediation. The establishment and implementation of effective grievance mechanisms is also mandated by the international instruments on responsible business conduct,1 as well as existing and forthcoming regulations in this field. Grievance mechanisms identify affected rightsholders, provide an early warning system, enable improvement of risk management systems at the enterprise level and are part of monitoring performance of due diligence processes.

The document is intended to act as a practical guidance to support the implementation and promotion of effective grievance mechanisms, especially for factories, workers, employers, brands and government representatives. It outlines the key features of operational level grievance handling mechanisms, establishment of procedures and steps for handling complaints. The note also shares practical findings and outcomes of stakeholder consultations from the Better Work – GIZ project on ‘Promoting and strengthening effective grievance handling mechanisms in the garment, footwear and travel goods sectors’ implemented in Bangladesh and Cambodia.