In August 2020, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) shared allegations with Nike Inc (Nike) of forced worker furloughs and other issues at Hong Seng Knitting Co., Ltd (Hong Seng) in Bangkok, a contract manufacturing facility in Thailand. In October 2020, Nike commissioned ELEVATE to conduct an unannounced assessment at Hong Seng.

Three full time senior staff were allocated for eight full time staff days and conducted an assessment including on and offsite interviews with current and former workers, with the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare (DLPW) and the Thai Foundation of Human Rights and Development (HRDF). The assessment was conducted in line with established labour and social practices.

The investigation undertaken revealed findings which were communicated to Nike, and a number of recommendations were made to ensure compliance with a), Thai Labour law and b), industry best practice expectations.

Specifically, as reflected in the statement made by Nike in Sept '23 in response to questions from the BHRRC, the investigation found that a subset of workers who did not consent to furloughs without compensation were owed backpay, and Nike instructed Hong Seng to pay these workers in accordance with local law and Nike’s Code of Conduct.

Since 2020, an additional third-party complaint about this case was submitted to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) (Nike is a FLA Accredited company) and the FLA subsequently conducted a follow up investigation. All complaints, processes and findings were publicly disclosed on the FLA website in December 2024. ELEVATE’s findings and recommendations were consistent with those disclosed by the FLA.