The impact of workplace harassment and domestic violence on work outcomes in the developing world

Abstract

Workers’ mistreatment is a serious problem, particularly for disadvantaged populations in the global garment supply chain who are often subjected to human and labor rights violations. Workplace abuses are believed to originate from human resource management practices, which aim to reduce production costs and achieve inflated production targets. Improvements in worker well-being are often perceived as costs rather than investments. Family life might be an equally important contributor to workers’ well-being and factory outcomes, yet its impact often remains completely beyond the scope of interest of local factory management and the leadership of companies at the top of the supply chain. This study addressed the prevalence of workplace harassment (WH) and domestic violence (DV) in the garment industry in Mexico, Sri Lanka, China and Cambodia and the impacts of WH and DV on outcomes related to withdrawal from work (intentions to leave, quitting, and limited abilities to perform usual tasks), work attitudes (work engagement and job satisfaction) and self-reported work quality. Survey data from 5328 garment industry workers from four countries and information from personnel files are used. The relationships are modelled using linear, logistic or Cox proportional hazard regressions. The results from the longitudinal subsample substantiate the robustness of the findings. WH and DV are found to be significant stressors and affect withdrawal from work, work attitudes and work quality. Contrary to common belief, the findings do not reveal that WH and DV contribute to decisions to quit; however, they were found to impact intentions to leave. The results from the longitudinal sample corroborate the influence of WH and DV on work outcomes. The results of this study convey a message to global brands and factory managers to foster worker well-being, which may improve factory performance.