The United States of America – land of the free, home to child labour in 2022

Written By? Hannah Dale , Ardea |International

8 Nov 2022

The recent revelation of underage workers in the heart of the US has sparked consumer and regulatory backlash across the globe. In July, earlier this year, Reuters published findings confirming that a subsidiary of Hyundai has used child labour at a metal stamping plant in Alabama.

The investigation into the plant, operated by SMART Alabama LLC, came about following the disappearance of a migrant child from her family home. The girl, who was 13 at the time, and her two brothers, aged 12 and 15, all worked at the plant in early 2022 and were not going to school,?according to people familiar with their employment and confirmed by their father in an interview with Reuters. The discovery probed a wider investigation and authorities?found?children as young as 13 working at another of Hyundai’s regional supplier plants, SL Alabama.

Hyundai announced last month that they it would?‘sever relationships’ with the companies in an attempt to get a grip on the scandal. However, it must be asked, is this enough? Without addressing the root causes of child labour and developing robust due diligence and risk management processes, it is unlikely that child labour will be eliminated from an organisation’s operations or supply chain.

At both plants, the underage workers were hired by recruiting or staffing firms in the region. While organisations often believe that recruitment agencies should take fully responsibility in the recruitment of workers, including when things go wrong, the Hyundai scandal has highlighted that the burden is shared. The Alabama Department of Labour fined both the plant operator and staffing agency $17,800 each in the?SL Alabama case. The?consent judgment?also enjoined the plant from ‘shipping any goods produced within 30 days of a child labour violation’, further highlighting the business risk and disruption that child labour in supply chains can pose.

No-one who heard about the recent Hyundai scandal wants to imagine there is child labour in their supply chains, but the problem is it can be very difficult to discover, much less root out, without specialist help. Ardea’s S.T.O.P Child Labour Programme?is for everyone from directors to sustainability managers to legal and compliance professionals who want to identify and eliminate child labour in their supply chains, avoid risk and reputational damage and develop robust processes for the future. To sign up to our next programme, click?here?for more information.

For a shorter course, check out our?STOP Child Labour: bite-sized e-learning?which sets out legislation changes and how to identify and mitigate risk.

If you have any questions or queries, then get in touch with the team via?[email protected]?today.