Impactt conducted an ethical assessment of several tea estates belonging to the world largest tea company in Assam, India, in 2021. The assessments were interview-based, reviewing the operating environment in India for tea plantations and workers’ priorities (livelihoods and working conditions).
Methodology:
- Reviewed the operating environment in India for the plantation sector, including the Plantation Labour Act and Collective Bargaining agreements
- Interviewed key stakeholders to understand their perceptions and knowledge of human rights issues and risks on tea estates
- Carried out field assessments, interviewing workers and residents, committee members, union members and various management on the estates and factories.
- Developed short- and medium-term recommendations for tea estate management on how to ensure standards are met on the estates, particularly on record keeping, workers contracts and differences in the treatment of female vs male workers on the estates
- Our assessment helped the client decide if they wanted to continue the business relationship with the tea company and where further improvements and checks and balances needed to be introduced, including:
- Continuing to carry out regular assessments (via Impactt team) on the tea estates to check if Impactt recommendations are implemented by management, and through worker interviews, capture the changes in management systems and working conditions
