Recruitment and Labor Intermediaries
Contract Substitution
A change in contract terms after recruitment or arrival that leaves the worker with worse wages, role, hours, fees, or conditions than originally promised.
Definition
Contract substitution usually means the worker agreed to one set of conditions during recruitment and then faced another in practice. The differences often show up in wages, deductions, job role, working hours, accommodation, or the legal entity that employs the worker.
This matters because the problem is not only a paperwork inconsistency. It often signals weak labor-agent oversight, deceptive recruitment, and a high risk of fee abuse or coercion.
How this source informs this section
H&M Group Guideline on Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers
H&M's recruitment guideline is directly relevant because it covers recruitment integrity, migrant-worker contracts, and controls intended to prevent deceptive changes in employment terms.
Why it matters
Contract substitution undermines worker trust and can turn a recruitment process that looked compliant on paper into a severe labor-rights issue in practice.
Teams should care because the issue is easy to miss unless they compare pre-departure promises, arrival documents, payroll, and worker testimony together.
How this source informs this section
OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
OECD due-diligence guidance supports treating deceptive or coercive recruitment outcomes as serious human-rights and supply-chain risks, not as minor admin errors.
Nuance
Not every contract update is abusive. The key question is whether the change was transparent, voluntary, and at least as protective as the original terms.
Where the substitution is hidden or disadvantageous, the case should usually be reviewed together with recruitment fees, labor-agent controls, and possible forced-labor indicators.
How this source informs this section
H&M Group Guideline on Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers
The H&M guideline is useful for distinguishing a transparent contract update from a hidden change that shifts cost or risk onto the worker.
Sources
H&M Group Guideline on Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers
H&M Group · recruitment guideline PDF
H&M guideline on fee prevention, labor-agent control, migrant-worker protection, and contract integrity during recruitment.
OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
OECD · guidance
OECD's core guidance on how companies identify risk, prioritize, respond, track follow-up, and communicate what changed.
