Decent Work Due Diligence Bangladesh

Project Description

This project works to improve labour rights and working conditions for workers in Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG), leather, and tannery sectors — industries that sit at the heart of the country's export economy and employ millions of people, predominantly women. Despite years of reform efforts, workers in these sectors continue to face challenges such as wages below living-wage levels, limited freedom of association, and unsafe working conditions. At the same time, international pressure on companies to take responsibility for what happens in their supply chains is growing. This project responds to both realities by putting workers' voices and lived experiences at the centre of the evidence it generates.

The project uses two complementary tools developed by WageIndicator. The Decent Work Due Diligence Check (DWDDC) is an expanded version of WageIndicator's established Decent Work Check, designed to capture a broader range of workers' experiences in relation to national labour laws and international human rights standards. The Worker Priority Poll (WPP) is a shorter survey that captures what workers themselves identify as the most pressing issues they face. Together, these tools ensure the data collected reflects working conditions as workers actually experience them on the ground.

The findings serve multiple audiences. Global brands and buyers gain insight into conditions across their supply chains. Trade unions are equipped with data to strengthen their advocacy and negotiations with employers. Factory management and employers' associations are engaged to identify areas for improvement. Policymakers and international bodies, including the EU and the ILO, are informed about conditions on the ground.

Beyond individual factories, the project builds trade union capacity and supports dialogue between workers, employers, and government. It also contributes to Bangladesh's standing under the EU GSP+ scheme, a trade arrangement that grants developing countries preferential access to EU markets in exchange for upholding internationally recognised human rights and labour standards. The project's approach is aligned with Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) requirements, the growing obligation on companies to identify and address human rights risks in their supply chains.

WageIndicator Foundation provides the technical backbone of the project, developing and deploying the DWDDC and WPP surveys, managing and analysing the data collected, producing accessible reports and visualisations, and building the capacity of trade unions and partners to act on the findings. Drawing on experience across more than 30 countries, WageIndicator ensures that the findings are methodologically sound, action-oriented, and attentive to the specific experiences of women, who make up the majority of Bangladesh's garment and leather workforce.

Role WageIndicator

WageIndicator is the technical partner responsible for turning workers' experiences into usable evidence. This means designing and running the surveys, ensuring the data collected is reliable and well-organised, and presenting the findings in ways that trade unions, brands, and policymakers can readily understand and act on.

Specifically, WageIndicator is responsible for:

1. Survey setup and contextualisation
2. Data management and cleaning
3. Data visualisation and reporting
4. Capacity support for unions and partners

With experience running similar programmes in more than 30 countries, WageIndicator brings both methodological rigour and practical know-how to the project, ensuring findings are reliable, gender-sensitive, and built for action.

EU Disclaimer

This project is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Mondiaal FNV, WageIndicator Foundation, and Bangladesh Labour Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.