The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is committed to upholding and advancing standards that prevent child labor, including hazardous work and the worst forms of child labor, in formal and informal sectors. The FLA Workplace Code of Conduct (the Fair Labor Code) is based on International Labour Organization (ILO) standards and mandates that no person shall be employed under the age of 15 or under the age for completion of compulsory education, whichever is higher. In addition to rigorous standards, FLA provides guidance and trainings that support member companies as they work with suppliers to ensure their supply chain remains free of child labor.
This guidance focuses on standards, frameworks, and best practices for identifying and remediating child labor in agricultural and manufacturing supply chains. The goal is to provide companies and employers with definitions, national and international requirements, and practical recommendations for implementing FLA’s standards to protect children. This document will provide guidance on the:
The FLA Principles help companies develop a robust human rights due diligence program, work in tandem with the Fair Labor Code, and are applied throughout the supply chain to protect workers and improve working conditions. They are grounded in international labor standards and internationally recognized guidelines for businesses.
What is child labor?
Child labor is work that is harmful to the mental, physical, or social well-being of children, or that impacts their ability to receive an education. Children are physically, socially, and psychologically developing and require adequate protection from abuse. While there are established global frameworks and national laws for protecting children from child labor, the ILO estimates one out of 10 children worldwide — 160 million children ages 5 to 17 — are engaged in some form of child labor. Nearly half of those children perform hazardous work that places their health, safety, or moral development at risk. In the world’s poorest countries, slightly more than one in five children are engaged in child labor.2 Migrant children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation as they are often from low-income households and may arrive to their destinations on their own.
According to the ILO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, “Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward,” efforts to combat child labor have stalled since 2016, and the number of children engaged in child labor worldwide is expected to grow. The United Nations (UN) has called for an end to child labor in all its forms by 2025, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are exacerbating remediation efforts as families continue to face severe economic disruptions and inadequate social protections, particularly in sectors of the economy that are not often subject to consumer or regulatory scrutiny.
Due to consumer pressure and demands for enhanced human rights due diligence (HRDD), companies have made tremendous strides in eradicating child labor with their direct suppliers. However, the complexity of global supply chains, which involve multiple supply chain tiers across regions and countries, means it can be difficult to identify, prevent, or remediate child labor in the deeper tiers of company supply chains. Despite the opacity of some supply chains, companies and all employers along the supply chain have a shared responsibility to understand the underlying causes (low wages, informality of work, lack of educational opportunities, etc.) that increase the risk of child labor, and then take steps to address those risks. Ignoring the risks of child labor can cause potential legal, reputational, and financial damage (such as when investors take action or when brands suspend sourcing from suppliers) for companies and their suppliers.
Eradicating child labor in agriculture and manufacturing supply chains requires that companies work closely with all stakeholders to address the root causes of child labor. By working with governments, local communities, civil society organizations (CSOs), and unions, companies can be a catalyst for systemic level change within communities and within their supply chains.