High working hours in labor-intensive industries—particularly footwear and apparel—have been debated for decades and remain one of the most persistent challenges in responsible supply chain management. At the heart of this discussion is Principle 6: Hours of Work, a foundational component of WRAP এর 12 টি নীতি, which collectively define WRAP’s approach to ethical, lawful, and humane workplace conditions. Within the social compliance community, working hours continue to sit at the intersection of international labor standards and the practical realities faced by workers and facilities.
The Limits of Traditional Social Compliance Requirements
Conventional social compliance programs are largely built on are International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and local legal requirements. For many years, a 60-hour workweek has been treated as a “golden rule.” Since the 1990s, global buyers have widely applied this benchmark to assess supply chains concentrated in developing countries. Facilities that failed to comply often faced serious commercial consequences, including the loss of business.
In practice, however, this approach has frequently fallen short of its intended goals. Rather than meaningfully reducing working hours, some facilities sought to conceal excessive overtime. A primary reason is economic: workers’ income expectations often cannot be met within shorter workweeks. Factory owners also tend to favor longer hours to meet production targets and remain competitive. As a result, workers and management often share aligned short-term interests, even when these conflict with international standards.
This tension—between income needs and working hours limits—has long fueled debate within the social compliance field. Because Principle 6 is integral to WRAP’s certification framework, the organization has consistently treated working hours not as a standalone compliance metric, but as a core indicator of worker well-being, wage sufficiency, and production planning. After years of internal and external discussions on how to strike a more realistic balance, WRAP revised working hours policy in 2016 aimed at better reflecting on-the-ground conditions while upholding core labor protections.
Insights from a Large-Scale Worker Survey
In 2025, WRAP partnered with a global fashion retailer to pilot a new data-driven approach to assessing wages, working hours, and worker perspectives. While the retailer operates its own Code of Conduct program and has not yet pursued WRAP certification for its suppliers, this collaboration offers a unique opportunity to test a more structured and consistent methodology.
Rather than relying solely on traditional compliance audits and open-ended worker interviews, WRAP developed a standardized wage assessment tool alongside a structured worker survey questionnaire. This approach improved data consistency and enabled more meaningful analysis at scale.
The results were notable. Only 2% of workers surveyed expressed general dissatisfaction with their current workplace. Some factors appeared to encourage workers to remain employed at these facilities. Income was clearly central to this dynamic. A striking 99.8% of workers reported earning more than the local minimum wage (with 95.3% reporting earning more than the internationally benchmarked living wage).
At the same time, perceptions of income adequacy told a more nuanced story. Approximately 61% of respondents said their income was sufficient or very sufficient to cover living expenses. This suggests that many workers’ income expectations extend well beyond a basic living wage.
A Realistic and Protective Approach
While international and local working hours standards are designed to protect workers’ health and safety, the desire of workers to earn higher incomes cannot be ignored. Principle 6: Hours of Work plays a central role in balancing these sometimes-competing priorities. The worker survey results underscore a critical reality: many workers actively seek earnings beyond what traditional compliance models assume, even when working hours already exceed legal or benchmark limits.
WRAP’s revised approach to Principle 6 reflects a pragmatic and worker-centered understanding of global production realities. By allowing for progressive improvement—while maintaining strict requirements around voluntariness, legal wage payments, overtime premiums, and worker health and safety—WRAP reinforces that responsible working hours are not optional, but essential. As part of WRAP’s broader 12 Principles framework, this policy demonstrates how standards can evolve without compromising their core purpose: protecting workers while promoting sustainable, ethical supply chains.
Brian has worked with WRAP for over 12 years and is currently the WRAP’s Head of Operations for East Asia.
