This is the twelfth report to be produced by Better Work Haiti in the framework of the HOPE II legislation. This synthesis report provides an overview of the working conditions of 25 factories.
As outlined in the tenth public biannual synthesis report, Better Work (BW) transitioned to a revised service delivery model in spring 2015 with a stronger focus on advisory services. Therefore, compliance information presented in this public report is based on assessment and advisory services at the factory level.
In the period between September 2015 and February 2016, eleven out of the currently operating 25 exporting factories in Haiti were assessed by Better Work and their updated compliance information is included in this report. For the remaining fourteen factories, information from their last assessment – conducted in the previous reporting cycle – is included to present aggregated industry level compliance data.
A number of factories continue to be out of operations at the time of writing this report or have even closed down completely over the past months. In total, 25 out of formerly 32 factories are exporting from Haiti and continue to be assessed by Better Work Haiti. It also has to be noted that the closure of some factories has not resulted in an overall reduction in the number of employees in the garment industry in Haiti.
The first section of this report gives an overview of the HOPE II legislation and the origin of the Better Work program in Haiti. This section also includes an explanation of the Better Work methodology, including the reports produced in the framework of the Better Work program and the HOPE II legislation.
The second section of the report outlines the compliance assessment findings from the most recent factory assessments in all factories.
The third section of the report describes Better Work Haiti advisory and training services in the period from September 2015 – February 2016 in all participating factories
The fourth section of the report outlines the priorities of the Better Work Haiti program in the upcoming months. Finally, the last section describes the efforts made by the factories to correct the compliance needs identified in the Better Work Haiti compliance assessments. This section also allows for an overview of compliance of each factory over time since their first assessment by Better Work Haiti.