Child Labor in Lebanon - Essay Example

Introduction This paper examines the principles of international industrial relations in the global context. It examines the issue of child labour in Lebanon. It attempts to identify the best way the principles of international human resource management can be employed to control the problem for multinational businesses planning to operate in Lebanon. Child Labour Child labour entails the employment of people below the legal age (Taylor, 2005). Around the world, most nations have rules and regulations that prevent children under a stated age from working. Most legal frameworks that makes such practices illegal forbid offering employment, employing or even considering the employment of persons under the legal age. However, there is a major issue with setting the legal age. In some jurisdiction, persons under the age of 13 cannot be employed although in some jurisdictions, persons under 18 cannot be fully employed (Taylor, 2009). Thus, there are a lot of variations and limitations that exist for the employment of people between 13 and 18. In 1802, the Robert Peel Factories Act was passed in Great Britain and this set the stage for an attempt to abolish child labour on the global scale (Basu & Tzannatos,2003). This effort, which originates from Britain was spread first to other parts of Europe and then to the various colonies and overseas dependencies of Britain and other European powers. However, the various social, economic and historical events in nations around the world affected the evolution and spread of the process of abolishing the process of child labour around the world. Currently, the United Nations and its humanitarian wing, International Labour Organizations (ILO) and UNICEF champion the supervision and implementation of child-labour laws around the world. However, Basu and Tzannatos report that in 2002 when the Robert Peel Factories Act was celebrating its 200th birthday, there were 186 million child labourers in the world. This clearly shows that although the efforts of the international community attempts to cause the extinction of the practice, there are several nations and communities around the world, particularly in the developing world who are not abiding by these rules and regulations. Taylor identifies that the main reason why child labour around the world persists is mainly economic in nature. Most factory and business supervisors seek to maximise profits so they employ children who are willing to take lower wages and put in more effort which benefits the owners of the factory. Also, some children lack sufficient financial support to survive so they end up working. Child Labour in Lebanon Lebanon has a serious problem with child labour. In 2000, UNICEF estimated that 45% of children between 5 and 14 in Lebanon are working (DOL, 2003). This is a very huge figure and it suggests that most businesses in Lebanon find it to be a normal practice to employ children below 15. Most of these children work in electrical, textile, food, furniture and fashion manufacturing industries. Many of these businesses operating in Lebanon that employ these children have links to international organizations. Some of them export their products internationally whilst others are subsidiaries and/or agencies of international businesses that operate on strict ethics that forbid child labour. However, in 1994, the Lebanese Ministry of Social Justice established the Higher Council for Childhood (HCC) to coordinate efforts between the government and NGOs to end the practice (DOL, 2003). The Council and its partners have worked to put in place measures to end child labour in Lebanon. In 1996, the HCC pushed for the minimum age for the employment of children to be set at 13 years. They also set up a labour code that put limitations on what children between 13 and 15 could do, for instance, they cannot work for more than 6 hours a day and cannot do overtime. In October 1998, the HCC drew up a strategy for the control and containment of child labour in Lebanon. Factors Hindering the fight Against Child Labour In spite of all these efforts, the incidence of child labour in Lebanon is still very high. This has a direct link with the political system of Lebanon which is very fragile (Epstein & Limage, 2008). Lebanon went to war between 1975 and 1982 and the war was a complicated one since it involved sectarian violence which reflected divisions in the Middle East as well as global divisions via the Arab-Isareli conflict. The war that lasted between 1975 and 1982, over 150,000 people were killed whilst 200,000 people were wounded (Time, 1991). This left a large number of children whose parents were killed as well as a strong requirement to rebuild the economy. The peace was brokered with a very fragile ceasefire which led to the formation of a national unity government. The government sought to include all the sects and factions involved in the war: Sunni, Shiite and Christian populations of the country. On the other hand, during the war, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) used Lebanon as a point to launch rockets into Israel which was seen as a common enemy to all the factions in the conflict. This added an international twist to the conflict situation. Israel entered and occupied the South of Lebanon in 1982, leading to the formation of Hezbollah which was mobilized to fight the Israeli presence in Lebanon. Hezbollah continued to fight Israel after 1982 to this day. Hezbollah is seen to be fighting the common enemy to the Lebanese people – Israel. Due to this, Hezbollah has a high degree of autonomy and the areas it controls in Southern Lebanon are mainly independent. The Lebanese government also has its challenge because it is a national unity government with representation from different sectarian groups in Lebanon. Due to this, areas known to be strongholds of the various sects in Lebanon are allowed to operate with little regulation because any attempt to enforce a law in an area might be interpreted to be a direct provocation that can spark violence and war in a fragile nation (Epstein & Limage, 2008). Thus, the powerful people in Lebanon who have links with various sectarian leaders often get away with a lot of unethical practices. Child-labour in Lebanon continues to persist because of four things: 1. The Lebanon war left a large volume of orphans who did not have people to fend for them economically so they had to work to earn a living, this started the practice of employing children by employers. 2. The pressures to rebuild the shattered economy after the war made it justified to employ children below the legal age to work in industries this further institutionalized the practice. 3. The political system of Lebanon is highly fragile and areas controlled by the various sects have a high degree of independence from the laws of the country. 4. Efforts by the Higher Council for Children are difficult to implement because every sect of the country operates independently. Due to this, the work of authorities to stop child labour is more of persuasive in nature since it is very limited in terms of implementation. International Business & Child Labour in Lebanon Tayeb (2005) identifies that when a business seeks to operate in a different country, there are numerous challenges that can stand in its way in terms of human resource management. The challenges to international human resource management include culture, institutions and individualities. Clearly, any attempt by an international business to open an operation or a branch in Lebanon is likely to have some challenges that might cause the business to operate in a manner that might not be consistent with the business ethics. Culturally, the business is likely to meet the challenge of entering a nation where children and supervisors are inclined towards employing children under the legal age. This is can be attributed to the war which led to a backlog of orphans and immense pressure to rebuild the economy. Thus, technically, the children that the law seeks to protect, their parents and supervisors of businesses see absolutely nothing wrong with employing children. Rather, they see it as a positive way of ensuring that children survive and get to eat another meal. Secondly, although international pressure has caused Lebanon to criminalize child-labour, the presence of sectarianism in Lebanon has institutionalized the practice. Although it is wrong in theory and the law frowns on employing under-aged children, the presence of sectarian groups willing to protect businesses that support them which have a history of employing children makes it a common practice. It is therefore a practice which the law lacks the power to enforce, thus it continues to persist. Based on the cultural acceptance and the institutionalisation of child-labour in Lebanon, it might be seen as irrational for a business to operate without cutting down costs by employing children. This therefore makes it an acceptable practice in the country. Finally, there are individual preferences and inclination towards child labour. An international business operating in Lebanon which goes the extra mile to ensure that child labour is avoided might not be successful. This is because individual supervisors and factory managers might opt to secretly employ children and pay them off the books because it is a normal practice. Such individuals could report that they paid the standard rate and declare that they employed people of a legal age whilst they employed under-aged persons. These individuals are likely to keep the extra money that is saved in such a situation. Strategic International Human Resource Management Strategic International human Resource management involves linking domestic operations operations with international practices of an international business (Durai, 2008). It involves the translation of human resource management practices upheld by an international business with its local or national branches. In spite of the fact that in reality, child-labour is an entrenched problem in Lebanon, the use of strategic international human resource management might offer solutions to the child-labour problem in the Lebanese context. Schuler and Jackson (2007) identify a number of interesting steps in strategic human resource management that can be applied to the Lebanese child labour situation. First of all, strategic human resource management inputs can be made in selecting a business model in Lebanon. This can be done through a risk assessment system for operating in Lebanon. If the risk is moderate and there is evidence that a partner will honour anti-child labour laws, a manufacturing branch or subsidiary can be established. However, when there is no assurance that the Lebanese partners will honour child-labour laws on the basis of culture, institutionalisation and individualities, then it might be a good idea to allow the Lebanese partner to remain autonomous so that the international business will not be responsible for its child-labour lapses. Secondly, an international business will need to identify a framework for the establishment of a code of ethics for the control of human resource practices. There are some popular frameworks that comply with the United Nations conventions and NGO requirements like ISO 9000 and Social Accountability 8000 as well as UN Human Rights Conventions. In entering Lebanon, the international business should be sensitive to the problem of child labour in the region they seek to operate and do the following: 1. Draw up and review the code of ethics in relation to child labour. 2. Do a cost-benefit analysis of employee compliance and its effects on partners and identify risk areas and onerous aspects. 3. Train employees and alliance partners on the elements of the code 4. Monitor the codes when they are operational through a regular unit assigned with the job. 5. Conduct unusual audits and monitoring sessions through third parties to ensure that children are not employed in contravention to the code of ethics. Conclusion Child labour is a major issue in Lebanon and it was induced by the Lebanon war which left a large number of orphaned children and immense pressure to rebuild the nations economy. Due to this, child labour is accepted culturally, institutionally and individually in Lebanon. The government of national unity established after the war is very fragile and any attempt to enforce laws against child labour in Lebanon can trigger more violence so it is very difficult to monitor any attempts stop the practice. In establishing an international business operation in Lebanon, a business can use the concept of strategic international human resource management to reduce the risk of getting involved in the use of child labour. This can be done by doing risk analysis of the kind of business entity to form in Lebanon. This will raise issues relating to the best model that is most appropriate to the business in relation to reputational and other issues. When this is cleared, the business can adopt an appropriate strategic human resource code that is compliant with UN and other international humanitarian codes of employment and anti-child labour. This code must be taught carefully to the Lebanese partners and monitored. Also, it is necessary to use an independent system of monitoring to examine whether the Lebanese partners are honouring the code or not for further action to be taken. References Basu Kaushik & Tzannatos Zafiris (2003) “The Global Child Labour Problem: What Do We Know & What Can We Do?” The World Bank Economic Review Vol 17 No 2 2003 143 – 173 DOL (2003) Department of Labour Findings on Forms of Child Labour DIANE Publishing. Duran Singh (2008) Human Resource Management New Delhi: Pearson Education India Epstein Irvin & Limage Leslie (2008) the Greenworld Encyclopedia of Childrens Issues Worldwide Vol 4 Greenwood Publishing Group. Schuler Randall & Jackson Susan E. (2007) Strategic Human Resource Management Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Tayeb Monir, H. (2005) International Human Resource Management Oxford University Press. Taylor Steven (2009) Child Labour and Ethical Business Management Edward Elgar Publishing. Time (1991) After the War the Mop up: Available online at: http://www.cedarland.org/time.html#9 Accessed: 10th October, 2011. Read More