Key Topic: Training and Capacity Building for Workers and Trade Unions

Men in red and gray shirts loading green fruit onto a truck
Photo Credit: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz_Pexels

What topics should training and capacity building cover?

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  • Workers' responsibilities in the workplace. 
  • Core labor standards: elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, effective abolition of child labor, freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, elimination of discrimination at work, and a safe and healthy working environment. (Note that CSOs and worker organizations often also independently lead their own human and labor rights trainings for workers.)
  • Additional workplace rights not covered in core training content, such as rights under local law.
  • Proper procedures for recording hours of work.
  • Understanding pay slips; calculating wages and deductions; computation of wages, including piece rates, overtime, bonuses, and legal, permitted deductions.
  • “Red flags” or indicators of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking, including but not limited to abuse of vulnerability, excessive overtime, restriction of movement, and retention of identity documents. 
  • Training on what workers’ real wages and earnings are, when they should expect to receive payment, and their recourse if they are not paid on time.  
  • Appropriate age-verification documentation. 
  • Company policies on appropriate treatment of children identified at worksites. 
  • Company policies and procedures for worker recruitment and hiring. 
  • The right of workers to have contracts in their own language, which cannot be changed without informed consent from workers.
  • How to access mechanisms through which workers can submit grievances and report harassment, threats, intimidation, or other rights violations.
  • Specific policies and procedures for migrant workers, including mechanisms to ensure that migrant workers are not charged fees by brokers or agents, are not required to post deposits, receive employment terms and conditions equal to those of non-migrants, and have ready access to their identity documents and a safe place to store them.
The following stakeholders should receive training: Workers and Trade Unions, Vendors and Agents, Management and Supervisors, and Human Resources Staff