Preparing the Garment Sector through Better Work Bangladesh: Working Conditions, Labour Rights, and Competitiveness
Better Work Bangladesh is a flagship initiative — a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — that brings together all levels of the garment and footwear industry in Bangladesh. It aims to improve working conditions, promote respect for workers’ labour rights, and simultaneously enhance the competitiveness of apparel businesses.
Triple Focus: Conditions, Rights, and Competitiveness via Collaborative Programming
To drive meaningful transformation, Better Work Bangladesh delivers a multi-tiered intervention anchored in these three core pillars:
1. Working Conditions – Through factory-level assessments, advisory services, and training, the programme targets improvements in compliance with labour laws such as compensation, contracts, occupational safety and health, and working time.
2. Labour Rights – It fosters social dialogue and strengthens worker–management engagement through tools like grievance mechanisms, training, and support for Participation Committees.
3. Competitiveness – By elevating labour standards and operational practices, participating factories boost their productivity and business performance. Supplier improvements often lead to higher export revenues, better pricing, and enhanced profitability.
Impact Highlights and Strategic Phases
Reach and Scale: Originally launched around 2014–15, Better Work Bangladesh has grown to engage roughly 450–480 factories, impacting around 1.3 million workers, approximately 51% of whom are women.
Outcomes Achieved
1. Labor Compliance & Working Conditions: Factories show improved adherence to labour laws, including better occupational safety, timely payments, maternity protections, and reduced non-compliance in emergency preparedness.
2. Productivity & Profitability: Participating factories report up to a 5% increase in production-line efficiency, and in some cases, a 5.4% increase in base pay, translating into meaningful income gains for workers.
3. Export Performance: Better Work factories often achieve higher export revenues and volumes, and frequently obtain around 5% premium pricing over non-participating factories.
4. Worker Empowerment: Social dialogue, grievance mechanisms, and factory-level committees—especially between 2018 and 2022—have seen major improvements, including a nearly 50% drop in non-compliance rates.
Five-Axis Transformation through Better Work Bangladesh
In line with your saved format, here’s how Better Work Bangladesh’s strategy aligns across five key dimensions:
1. Data – The programme uses rigorous factory-level assessment, reporting systems, and evidence-based monitoring to inform both factories and stakeholders.
2. Capacity Building / Technical Assistance – Factories receive training, advisory support, and development of internal systems (e.g., OSH committees, Participation Committees) to sustain compliance and productivity.
3. Technology / Machinery – Though not a direct focus, improvements in operational practices and efficiency may indirectly facilitate better use of existing technologies and adoption of process improvements.
4. Finance – Enhanced competitiveness and compliance yield economic benefits: increased revenue, better wages, and access to premium pricing that supports reinvestment and growth.
5. Policy – The programme collaborates closely with the government to align national labour laws with ILO standards; one example is its contribution to updates in the Bangladesh Labour Act and union regulations