- Our Work / Handshake Worker’s HotlineIndependent programme · since 2007Worker voice · grievance · remedy
Handshake Worker’s Hotline
Worker voice that can reach remedy.
Global supply chains cross borders, but every labour right is lived in a local workplace. Handshake combines an independent channel with local teams, languages, tools and resource networks to carry what workers report through consent, verification and responsibility towards remedy.
工资 扣款 工资与工时 工伤 报复风险 离职限制 请假不批 主管羞辱 强迫签字 Forced Labour Inhumane Treatment Social Insurance 劳动合同 加班费 招聘费 中介费 培训费 派遣 / 外包 工时记录 职业安全 医疗延误 内部申诉无效 高温 / 通风 社保记录 联系方式被删除 化学品 合同到期不续签 集体表达受压 证件 / 护照 最低工资 无薪等待 劳动关系 防护用品 债务 不敢说 计件工资 机器防护 押金 试用期 歧视 休息日 宿舍安全 减班 工资条 黑名单 招聘承诺不符 临时工 威胁 证件被扣 调岗 养老保险 离职扣薪 债务束缚 工伤保险 饮水 / 洗手间 夜班津贴 违约金Not a one-off projectA standing channel, case after case.Not a brand audit toolIndependent of any single factory or brand.Not only an intake serviceLong-term capacity that carries voice to remedy.01 · where rights are livedA global supply chain is always a local workplace.
From a corporate headquarters, a supply chain can appear as suppliers, tiers, standards and audit results. For a worker, it is a particular supervisor, recruitment route, language, pay system, production line, dormitory, boat, mine or community. Rights succeed or fail inside that local reality.
A policy may exist, a complaints box may be installed and an audit may be completed while a worker still cannot safely report a supervisor, recover a deduction or identify who is responsible across a subcontracting chain.
Handshake works in the distance between a mechanism that exists and a right that can be used.Seen from headquartersLived in the workplaceSupplier mapA particular production line and supervisorRecruitment policyThe agency, fee and promise that brought someone to workWage standardA calculation, deduction and pay record the worker can questionGrievance channelWhether speaking changes shifts, status or safetyAudit findingWhether the harm stops after the visit endsCorrective actionWhether the right becomes usable again02 · locally rooted capacityLocalisation is not translation.
A translated phone number is not yet a local mechanism. The channel has to recognise what a worker is trying to say, how power and employment work in that place, what retaliation may look like, which evidence can realistically be obtained and who can move the case forward.
Field view · people + accessWorker communication session A channel becomes local through who is listening.People Local people
Teams and practitioners who understand the workplace and community context rather than interpreting it remotely.
Access Local language and access
Channels adapted to the languages workers use, literacy, migration status, disability and digital access.
Field view · judgement + toolsRights practice The script is never enough.Judgement Local judgement
Reading indirect speech, fear, hierarchy and employment practice without forcing every case into a script.
Tools Local tools
Intake, consent, risk classification, documentation, escalation and referral adjusted through practice.
Field view · network + leverageShared facts and responsibility A case needs somewhere real to go.Network Local resource networks
Community, legal, medical and specialist relationships able to support what a hotline cannot provide alone.
Leverage Supply-chain connection
Moving between worker, workplace, supplier, buyer and other actors without making the worker navigate the structure alone.
The tools matter because the team is local; the team matters because it is connected; and the connections matter because a case needs somewhere real to go.
Where the line is already listening.8 current programme locationsService since · 2007ChinaService since · 2018IndiaService since · 2019ThailandService since · 2019MyanmarService since · 2019Viet NamService since · 2019CambodiaService since · 2026MadagascarService since · 2026BangladeshLanguage signal · “Workers’ rights” Pause a line to read · local scripts remain visible工人权利China · Mandarin Chinese श्रमिक अधिकारIndia · Hindi Workers’ rightsIndia · English สิทธิแรงงานThailand · Thai အလုပ်သမားအခွင့်အရေးMyanmar · Burmese Quyền của người lao độngViet Nam · Vietnamese សិទ្ធិកម្មករCambodia · Khmer Zon’ny mpiasaMadagascar · Malagasy Droits des travailleursMadagascar · French শ্রমিকদের অধিকারBangladesh · Bangla工人权利Mandarin Chinese Workers’ rightsEnglish श्रमिक अधिकारHindi শ্রমিকদের অধিকারBangla कामगार हक्कMarathi కార్మికుల హక్కులుTelugu தொழிலாளர் உரிமைகள்Tamil สิทธิแรงงานThai အလုပ်သမားအခွင့်အရေးBurmese Quyền của người lao độngVietnamese សិទ្ធិកម្មករKhmer Zon’ny mpiasaMalagasy Droits des travailleursFrench Karapatan ng mga manggagawaFilipino · Tagalog کارکنوں کے حقوقUrdu勞工權益China · written Cantonese ངལ་རྩོལ་པའི་ཐོབ་ཐང་།China · Tibetan ئىشچى-خىزمەتچىلەرنىڭ ھوقۇقىChina · Uyghur Ажилчдын эрхChina · Mongolian ਕਾਮਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਅਧਿਕਾਰIndia · Punjabi કામદારોના અધિકારોIndia · Gujarati ಕಾರ್ಮಿಕರ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳುIndia · Kannada തൊഴിലാളികളുടെ അവകാശങ്ങൾIndia · Malayalam ଶ୍ରମିକ ଅଧିକାରIndia · Odia শ্ৰমিকৰ অধিকাৰIndia · Assamese श्रमिक अधिकारIndia · Nepali ᱠᱟᱹᱢᱤᱭᱟᱹ ᱠᱚᱣᱟᱜ ᱟᱹᱭᱫᱟᱹᱨIndia / Bangladesh · Santali ꯁꯤꯟꯃꯤꯁꯤꯡꯒꯤ ꯍꯀꯁꯤꯡ꯫India / Bangladesh · Meitei Hnathawkte dikna chanvoIndia · Mizo मजदूर अधिकारIndia · Maithili मजदूरें दे अधिकारIndia · Dogri कामगारांचे हक्कIndia · Konkani مزدورن جا حقIndia · Sindhi ສິດແຮງງານThailand region · Lao / Isan continuum Hak pekerjaThailand · Pattani Malay သုၼ်ႇလႆႈႁႅင်းၵၢၼ်Myanmar · Shan Bungli galaw masha ni a ahkaw ahkangMyanmar · Jingpho / Kachin Riantuantu covoMyanmar · Hakha Chin Cov neeg ua haujlwm txoj caiViet Nam / Thailand · Hmong សិទ្ធិកម្មករViet Nam / Thailand · Khmer Quyền của người lao độngCambodia · Vietnamese 工人權利Cambodia / Viet Nam · Chinese communities Zon’ny mpiasaMadagascar · Plateau MalagasyDisplay scope Official, programme and representative regional language forms · service availability is listed belowAccess notePer-location accounts and operating hours are being prepared for publication. Handshake is not an emergency service, court, medical provider or psychotherapy service. For a current access enquiry, contact inno@theinno.org.03 · how a case movesA worker should not have to navigate the whole system alone.
Handshake begins with the worker’s experience and requested outcome, then carries the case through risk, consent, evidence, responsibility and remedy. A legal diagnosis or complete evidence file is not required at intake.
Hold the worker’s first ask.
The case begins with what the worker experienced and what they want to happen. Handshake does not require the worker to arrive with the correct legal category, a complete timeline or a finished evidence file.
GuardrailListening is not automatic permission to identify the worker or share their information.
How a case moves is ours to carry, not the worker’s to navigate alone.
04 · safety across the routeSafety is not a confidentiality notice.
Safety is designed across the whole case route. A worker may revise or withdraw consent; information use is limited to what the next agreed step needs; and risk is reviewed again when the case changes.
01Informed consent with clear disclosure boundaries02Minimum-necessary information, not automatic full disclosure03Anonymous and named handling as case strategies04Ongoing contact with the worker as circumstances change05Retaliation review beyond formal dismissal05 · what remedy looks likeA reply is not the same as a restored right.
The appropriate remedy depends on the harm and the worker’s own decision. The same case can require both an individual outcome and a correction to the mechanism that failed.
01Repayment of wages or deductions02Corrected insurance, contract or employment records03Reinstatement, safe exit, compensation or an end to retaliation04A referral the worker can actually reach05Changes to templates, calculations, procedures and responsibility chainsA case is handled when someone replies. A right is restored when the worker can actually use it again.
06 · case evidenceOne question can expose a mechanism.
These cases illustrate how Handshake moves from an individual concern to a verifiable outcome or system correction. They are not prevalence estimates. Public versions preserve anonymity and distinguish a worker’s report, confirmed findings and Inno’s analysis.
From one document to a corrected contract system
A question about one contract led the factory to replace an incomplete template and re-sign contracts with workers.
Open evidence noteA document titled as a labour contract contained clauses describing a labour-service arrangement. During follow-up, factory HR acknowledged that it had not understood the distinction and that the contract was incomplete. The factory agreed to use a corrected template and re-sign contracts with new and existing workers.
Confirmed through follow-up · used to illustrate mechanism correction
When an order shortage became an income crisis
The employment relationship was confirmed, suspension-period payment was negotiated and the worker verified receipt.
Open evidence noteA worker reported almost three months without work or income after orders fell. The factory confirmed the suspension and absence of payment. After Handshake and the brand engaged, payment was negotiated and received.
Factory finding and payment outcome confirmed · worker experience remains attributed
Making social protection portable at exit
De-registration was completed, the final contribution was confirmed and the worker verified payment.
Open evidence noteA long-serving worker was trying to leave and continue insurance elsewhere. The relevant factory had already left the brand supply chain, making accountability less direct. Follow-up established the route needed to complete the records and contribution.
Outcome confirmed · commercial exit did not erase the worker’s right
01 · personA worker seeks an answer02 · caseThe harm and remedy route are documented03 · patternRepeated failure becomes visible04 · correctionWorkplace or supply-chain practice changes05 · returnThe route improves for the next worker07 · from cases to capabilityWhat years of listening build.
Policies and channels matter when workers can use them safely, responsible actors respond, remedy reaches the person affected and the mechanism learns from where it failed. Handshake works with partners to build that capability through repeated cases and changes that can be checked in practice.
2007Standing worker-voice and remedy programme since8Current programme locations15Languages in current programme capacity2Levels of remedy: individual and mechanism01Locally designed worker-access channels02Consent, confidentiality, escalation and anti-retaliation protocols03Cross-language and cross-border case capacity04Clear responsibilities across workplace, agency, supplier and buyer05Case follow-up that verifies remedy with workers06Pattern reporting that informs prevention and management decisions07Workplace learning and mechanism correction08Evidence that separates reach, response, remedy and longer-term changeIndependence boundaryThis partnership does not purchase a clean bill of health. Handshake remains independent in how worker voice, consent, risk and remedy are handled. Partners contribute access, timely response, evidence, non-retaliation commitments and the leverage needed to correct harm. Collaboration and accountability travel together.
Programme questionsWhat people need to know.
What is the Handshake Worker’s Hotline?
Handshake is a locally rooted, independent third-party grievance and remedy programme run by Inno Community Development Organisation in labour-intensive and hard-to-reach supply chains. It helps workers raise concerns, agrees safety and consent boundaries, verifies available evidence, engages responsible actors and follows cases towards individual remedy and mechanism change.
Who can contact Handshake?
Where the programme is locally available, current and former workers, including migrant, dispatched or outsourced workers, can contact the line about work-related harms. A person does not need to identify the correct legal category before reaching out.
What issues can workers raise?
Questions, early-warning signals and grievances may concern wages, working time, contracts, social protection, recruitment, forced labour, discrimination, violence and harassment, retaliation, occupational health and safety, child-labour risks and other workplace harms.
Can a worker contact Handshake anonymously?
Anonymous and named handling are both possible case strategies, depending on the concern, risk, evidence and remedy sought. Handshake agrees disclosure boundaries with the worker. Permission to listen is not treated as automatic permission to identify the worker.
Does Handshake replace an internal grievance mechanism?
No. Internal mechanisms are necessary, but one internal route cannot safely or effectively handle every concern. Handshake provides an independent additional channel and helps reveal where internal reporting and remedy chains need to improve.
How is Handshake different from an audit hotline?
Handshake is not designed merely to record complaints or provide compliance assurance. It stays with the case: assessing risk and consent, distinguishing reports from confirmed facts, locating responsibility, engaging actors and returning to the worker to establish whether an agreed remedy became real.
How can a brand, workplace or NGO work with Handshake?
Partners can work with Inno to establish locally appropriate access channels, case and referral protocols, cross-border capacity, remedy follow-up and pattern learning. Partnership requires timely response, non-retaliation, access to relevant evidence and willingness to use organisational or supply-chain leverage to correct harm.
For workersStart with what happened and what you need.
You do not need to know the correct legal category or prepare a complete evidence file before checking whether Handshake is available where you are.
Check current accessPer-location accounts and operating hours are being prepared for publication.
For partnersBuild locally rooted worker voice and remedy infrastructure.
Talk with Inno about worker access, independent case handling, referral capacity, cross-border response, remedy verification and mechanism learning.
Contact InnoProgramme partnership enquiry · inno@theinno.org