Reference no: EM132874346

The child labour dilemma (CIPD)

You are the personnel manager for a UK clothing retailer. In addition to your personnel duties, you are also the company's Ethics Officer, responsible for implementing the Code of Ethics. One of your successful clothing lines are T-shirts, which are assembled in Pakistan and imported into the UK. Opening your e-mails today, you find a report from one of your buyers of his recent visit to Pakistan. He reports that in a plant in Lahore, he has seen girls who look no older than ten, sweeping the floor between the rows of sewing machines the other women work on. Your code of ethics does not specifically mention child labour, but it does contain a clause about treating all workers, both directly employed and employed by suppliers, with dignity and respect.

Your first action is to e-mail Mansur Khan, your agent in Lahore, and to ask him to investigate. He reports back that working conditions aren't bad. The girls concerned are aged from eleven upwards and are the daughters of female production workers. He also says that child labour below the age of 14 is illegal in Pakistan, but there is widespread evasion of the law, which is not generally enforced.

Your first reaction is to tell your Purchasing Department to insist that the supplier stops employing the children, or your contract with them will be cancelled. However, a friend then brings to your attention the view of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which has called for clauses on labour standards to be incorporated into World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements, despite claims by developing countries that they could be used to prevent third-world goods competing against western products. The ICFTU is concerned by employers that pay low wages, use child labour, ignore health and safety standards and deny staff union representation. Some argue that free trade is exacerbating exploitation by allowing companies to relocate to wherever production costs are lowest, regardless of local employment standards. But NGOs and developing countries argue that if third-world countries are to compete in the global economy, they cannot afford to pay the same levels as Western employers, because their productivity levels are much lower. Developing countries should not be denied the competitive advantage they gain from cheaper wages.

You are now thoroughly confused.

1. Do you have the right to impose western moral principles on the factory in Lahore, if there is a risk that as a result the girls and their mothers will lose their jobs? You decide that the best way forward is to use Archie Carroll's ethical principles. Using in turn the Golden Rule, the Disclosure Rule, the Intuition ethic and the Utilitarian Principle, think about what your response to this problem would be. Define, explain, demonstrate, criticize, assess and propose.