Table 9.2: Cascading effect of brand actions on suppliers’ employment practices
Exercise of Managerial Power and Leverage over Workers
1. Malafide Use of Power to Change Employment Status
Employment Practices
Forms of Wage Theft
• Failure to recognise seniority of workers (such as rehiring older workers on fresh contracts or termination of senior workers without following • Reduction in wages due due process) to demotion • Replacing more secure • Reduction in employment with more employment-related precarious employment benefits due to shift in (such as rehiring regular contract type workers as contractual or casual workers) • Wrongful designation of permanent workers as short term contract workers • Layoffs and termination to reduce size of workforce
2. Arbitrary Practices to Impose Flexibility of Workforce
• Coercive intensification of work by smaller workforce • Extension of the work day of smaller workforce • Manipulation of workrelated documentation (such as mis-reporting of reduction in wages, number of work days, number of overtime hours)
3. Use of Deceptive Practices to Evade Liability Under Labour Law
• Loss of terminal benefits • Loss of wages • Unpaid/underpaid overtime
• Loss of wages
• Termination or wage • Unpaid or underpaid theft under the guise of overtime disciplinary action (such as in the case of workers • Loss of terminal benefits for joining protests, taking sick leaves or being unable to rejoin work on the date set by the employer due to Covid-19 restrictions)
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