ManpowerGroup and Verite Release Ethical Framework to Combat Human Trafficking and Forced Labor in Cross-Border Recruitment

Risk of Abusive Labor Practices Grows as Worker Migration Increases

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Feb 15, 2012, 04:55 ET

ATLANTA, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, and Verite, the award-winning human rights and labor rights NGO, released a detailed framework for combatting human trafficking and forced labor at a conference titled "Engaging Business: Addressing Human Trafficking in Labor Sourcing" in Atlanta, Georgia.

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According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 214 million people across the globe live outside their countries of origin, and migrant workers and their families account for 90 percent of all international migration. Such movement of workers has become increasingly important to the prosperity of the global economy, and to the livelihood of individual workers seeking opportunity. Unfortunately, as more individuals move for work, and more employers seek global talent, many migrants find themselves entangled in a "grey" market run by unscrupulous brokers and employers. As a result, they can face abusive conditions that amount to modern-day slavery.

"Today's environment requires businesses to be global and talent to be mobile, therefore ManpowerGroup has made it a priority to be at the forefront of ensuring that global recruitment markets operate transparently and ethically," said David Arkless, ManpowerGroup President of Global Corporate and Government Affairs. "Leading firms already commit to high ethical standards, but too many other operators exploit workers through recruitment debt, fraudulent contract substitution, and other forms of abuse. And even well-intentioned businesses face reputational risk from unwittingly becoming entangled with unethical partners."

ManpowerGroup and Verite's Ethical Framework for Cross-Border Labor Recruitment offers a checklist of specific "Standards of Ethical Practice" for firms involved in cross-border recruitment of workers, which are designed to protect those workers against specific patterns of vulnerability and abuse. These standards are to be backed up by a verification system that certifies business compliance and provides key information for leveraging the influence of consumer groups, regulators, and other third parties.

"Labor migrants can face horrible conditions, including modern-day slavery. Through the framework that we developed with ManpowerGroup, we are committed to using standards and credentialing systems to provide a market for ethical recruiters – as they should be the ones who supply workers to the factories and farms that supply consumers, rather than the unethical firms that currently play too big a role," said Dan Viederman, Chief Executive Officer of Verite. "The current cross-border recruitment marketplace has almost no transparency and limited ability to enforce standards. Our Framework makes it easy for ethical businesses to understand what they need to do, and easy for them to point to like-minded firms who they want to work with. The ultimate goal is for ethical behavior to be rewarded."

The Framework is the first phase of a three-phase collaboration for ManpowerGroup and Verite. In the second phase, ManpowerGroup and Verite will lead a demonstration project in a real-world labor market setting to test the effectiveness of the Framework. In the third phase, ManpowerGroup and Verite will develop and disseminate results and recommendations for wider replication of the Framework.

"Our ultimate goal is a safe, effective, and transparent system for cross-border labor recruitment, where workers have maximum information to help them pursue opportunities, confidence in the enforceability of contracts, and effective protection against labor abuses; and where employers have access, on fair terms, to a global labor supply to sustain economic growth," added Arkless.

"This project is a model of collaboration between business and civil society. Companies and NGOs can achieve much more together than they can separately, provided they remain focused on demonstrating impact," said Viederman. "We are actively seeking dialogue with partners, stakeholders, and other interested parties as we build our demonstration project."

The Atlanta conference, sponsored by the United States Council for International Business, the International Organization of Employers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and hosted by The Coca-Cola Company and Lexis-Nexis, assembled global business and human rights leaders to develop networks, strategies, tactics, and tools to address human trafficking in sourcing people for work.

About ManpowerGroup
ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,900 offices in 80 countries, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined – because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, being the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. In addition, ManpowerGroup has also been recognized as the industry leader by Fortune magazine, who named the company in first place on its 2011 list of the Most Admired Companies in the temporary help sector.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success.

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

About Verite
Verite aims to ensure that globalization is made to work for poor and vulnerable people around the world. We aim to resolve serious problems: child labor, modern-day slavery, systemic discrimination against women, dangerous working conditions, and unpaid work. The impact of our work is tangible: more income for workers and harvesters; increased opportunities for women, minorities and migrants; protection for children and those in forced labor; safer working conditions in factories, farms, fisheries and mines; and empowerment for workers and harvesters. Some of these problems can be resolved by working directly with individual companies within their areas of influence. In other cases we develop and promulgate standards of performance and promote their adoption to change industries, and improve common business processes like procurement and hiring.

Learn more about Verite and its programs at: www.verite.org.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup