Fashion’s least respected workers

J.Sathya at her home in Tirupur

“I am not recognised as a worker” J. Sathya, Homeworker, Tirupur, India

When we imagine fast fashion production, we picture rows of women in factories bent over sewing machines. But that’s not the whole story. Outside the factory gates, millions of workers are involved in the garment business – sewing, packing and finishing clothing from their own homes or small, unregulated workshops.

They are hidden homeworkers – and they are fashion’s least respected workers.

Often drawn from the most marginalized communities, such as Dalit families or migrant labourers, homeworkers receive work when the factory can’t fulfil an order or have additional work which doesn’t need a factory setting. There’s no guarantee of work – purchasing practices in the fashion industry are notoriously unethical, with factories expected to make last minute changes to orders, quantities and designs for no extra payment.

“I get paid only by the piece, if I am not well and cannot do work, I am not paid that day. There is no fixed income, or wages. Medical insurance, Pension doesn’t exist.” E. Kamalam, Homeworker, Tirupur, India

Homeworkers do not receive minimum wage (itself not enough to live on), and are instead paid a much lower rate per piece they complete. There is often no formal written contract of work, their contributions are often ignored, and they are not formally recognised as workers and receive no state benefits, such as maternity pay, sick leave, or pensions.

Despite the challenges, homeworking provides vital income to many people who cannot work outside the home. The vast majority are women with caring responsibilities, whether for young children or elderly relatives. Older people, too, often support themselves through homework when they are no longer able to work in a factory setting.

“I worked in a factory for 8 years, there was a fixed income, bonus, ESI [medical insurance], PF [pension] facilities. In Homebased work none of these exist but I can take care of my house, kids and do the work which wouldn’t have been possible in factory.”  J. Sathya, Homeworker, Tirupur, India

It is estimated that there are at least 50 million women across India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Vietnam working as homeworkers.

For four years Transform Trade have worked with Homeworkers Worldwide and HomeNet South Asia and Cividep India to map supply chains down to the homeworker level.

As part of this work we have produced a practical toolkit to help businesses (and organisations working with them) improve transparency about homeworking within their supply chains.

What needs to change?

“Right now, as brands and the government don’t recognise homeworkers, working conditions are not regulated. If we can open the eyes of the government and others to homebased workers, wages, working conditions and social security will be enforced, and medical expenses will be paid” K. Kavitha, Homeworker, Tirupur, India 

Over two thirds of global fashion brands don’t have policies recognising homeworking. Narrowing this down to UK brands, this includes some big players. ASDA, Boohoo, Clarks, John Lewis, M&S, Primark, Sainsburys and Sports Direct are all without an inclusive policy recognising homeworkers.

Without a policy, suppliers assume that homeworking is banned and so hide their use of homeworkers, not declaring their work and keeping homeworkers trapped in low paid work.

This needs to change.

Take action today and email these brands to ask them to take the first step in recognising the contribution of homeworkers in making their clothes.

Even brands with homeworker policies need to do more to put these policies into action. They must ensure these polices are explicitly shared with suppliers, and undertake comprehensive audits to uncover homeworking and ensure homeworkers are paid a fair wage. Only then will homeworkers stop being fashion’s least respected workers.

“Success is when home-based work gets formal recognition. I want my work to give more opportunities and compensate fairly and improve our life.” R. Kalivani, Homeworker, Tirupur, India