Consumer Goods Forum - Guidance on the Repayment of Worker-paid Recruitment Fees

31 Oct 2022

"The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Human Rights Coalition – Working to End Forced Labour (HRC), in partnership with AIM-Progress, has today released new “Guidance on the Repayment of Worker-paid Recruitment Fees and Related Costs” to support corporate action around the topic of remediating worker-paid recruitment fees. As workers in global supply chains – particularly migrant workers – may be coerced to pay fees to recruitment agencies in order to secure jobs, they are at risk of falling into debt bondage, which may lead to cases of forced labour. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), around one-fifth of all people in forced labour exploitation in the private economy are in situations of debt bondage.

This Guidance is intended to be a practical tool for all businesses to help ensure their recruitment and employment practices respect the CGF’s Priority Industry Principles (PIPs), which were launched in 2017 and define the most common, yet problematic, employment practices which can lead to cases of forced labour. The PIPs state:

• Every workers should have freedom of movement.
• No worker should pay for a job.
• No worker should be indebted or coerced to work."