COMMENT
COUNTING THE COST
In recent months, the UK has
faced supply chain disruption
on a massive scale, from food,
drink and toy shortages, to a lack
of critical equipment like medical
supplies. Industry experts predict
that this isn’t a short term issue either, with
the disruption expected to lead to significant
shortages over Christmas and into 2022.
Suppliers are clearly under huge pressure, made
worse by a lack of skilled sta„ , such as HGV drivers,
in the UK. As this pressure increases, working
conditions and employee welfare are at risk - with
understa„ ed businesses finding themselves relying
too heavily on existing workers to overcome
shortfalls and pick up significant overtime.
The risk is clear - we could see the UK sleepwalk
into a crisis that compromises our hard-earned
labour standards. Where organisations are putting
pressure on their workforce to breach legal
requirements around working hours, forcing people
to work excessive amounts of overtime - a wellknown
indicator for forced labour.
Excessive overtime can lead to a range of poor
health problems for workers and compromise
their safety, as well as decrease the long-term
productivity of a business, and can increase worker
absenteeism and turnover. If the UK does not
deal with this crisis now, the consequences could
be severely detrimental, and eventually lead to
widescale health impacts, resignations and worker
12 OCTOBER 2021
unrest, which we’re already seeing with proposed
action by drivers for wholesaler Booker.
It is crucial that businesses mitigate this risk
so that disruption is kept to a minimum, and
reputations for treating employees well are
maintained.
SHORT-TERM ACTION NEEDED
With no end in sight for
current supply disruption,
businesses must take
immediate short-term
action to ensure working
conditions - both at their
organisation and suppliers
- are being upheld. One
way to do this lies in having
the policies and systems
in place that give a business
visibility of their supply chain,
and collates and monitors employee
data to understand and manage risks, such as
excessive overtime.
While supply disruption is stressful for all parties,
businesses have to ensure that they consider their
workers and do not push this stress onto people in
an attempt to make up for shortages.
If not dealt with rapidly, excessive overtime and
rising pressure on workers has the potential to
become a vicious cycle - as increased absenteeism
and employee turnover will only exacerbate
employee shortages, further increasing the pressure
on remaining workers.
LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS SOUGHT
Improving employee working conditions and
wellbeing is an ongoing process, and it needs
constant monitoring and management to ensure
best practice is upheld. There are also other changes
that need to be brought in that can help tackle this
problem in the long-term.
One suggestion lies in accurately planning
production flow, which is good for business and for
specifically controlling working hours and overtime.
Understanding how your business is economically
impacted by the consequences of excessive
overtime can also improve overall business
e„ iciency and profitability. And while managing
supply chain disruption, organisations need to
recognise excessive overtime as a practice that
can increase the risk of forced labour - proactively
addressing this issue will actually increase
productivity in the long term.
It’s important to look at the root causes for
problems, such as excessive overtime, which is o¬ en
due to a lack of policies and procedures related to
hours of work, and poor business planning and time
management. To manage these issues, businesses
need to work with their suppliers to plan e„ ectively
and address root causes together. Within your own
business, working with HR and procurement teams
to understand skills gaps, and running training
and upskilling workers, will support to manage
disruption. Setting up e„ ective channels for workers
anywhere in your supply chain to report concerns,
and listen to worker feedback, will also be useful for
understanding and addressing problems.
These are all solutions that can be overlooked
by certain parts of the supply chain. But
the demands of the workforce - for
greater employee wellbeing and
conditions - have evolved,
and can’t be ignored. As
Brakes’ CEO Hugo Mahoney
covered, in a recent article
on its website, the industries
involved in the supply chain,
such as professional driving
where only two per cent of
HGV drivers are under 25, can
su„ er from an image problem.
Mahoney suggests the answer lies
in “more apprenticeships; company
sponsorship of licence attainment; and evolving
vehicles, technology and working practices that will
support and attract the next generation of drivers”.
All of these changes, if introduced alongside other
government initiatives, should gradually help to
alleviate pressures on the small, critical workforce
tasked with keeping supply chain disruption to a
minimum. Ultimately, humans are at the heart of
all supply issues, and protecting them is key for
preventing future disruption.
Jessica McGoverne, Director of Policy and Corporate Aff airs, Sedex on
preventing the human costs of supply chain disruption
These are all solutions
that can be overlooked by
certain parts of the supply chain.
But the demands of the workforce
- for greater employee wellbeing
and conditions - have evolved,
and can’t be ignored.”
ADVICE & OPINION