AN ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR CROSS-BORDER LABOR RECRUITMENT

Authors

Jessica McCormick, Manpower, Inc.Follow

Date of this Version

10-2012

Comments

Presented October 13, 2012, at Fourth Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, Lincoln, NE

Abstract

ManpowerGroup and Verité are working together to mobilize a new, pragmatic, multi-stakeholder effort to combat forced labor and human trafficking in the cross-border movement of workers.

Our initiative is aligned with existing principles, standards, and recommendations that have been developed by leading global organizations, governments, businesses, labor, civil society and other stakeholder coalitions. We join them in working to raise awareness about these serious human rights abuses and helping to eradicate them.

What we can distinctively contribute to this global effort is a concrete set of operational recommendations for protecting workers recruited across borders, focused on those labor market intermediaries that are directly involved in the movement of people, and backed by a system of verification and certification that can leverage intervention from regulators, stakeholders, and other interested parties. These recommendations are informed by ManpowerGroup’s pragmatic experience in responsible cross-border recruitment of workers and Verité’s expertise in creating verification systems to protect human rights.

In this document, we first review the risks to both workers and businesses that exist in the current cross-border recruitment marketplace, and identify the potential benefits that incentivize stakeholder engagement in finding solutions. In order both to address identified challenges and to engage stakeholders in solutions, we then present an Ethical Framework for Cross-Border Labor Recruitment (the “Framework”) which has two parts: a set of Standards for Ethical Practice, and an outline of a Verification and Certification System.