The Compact Lens

Most workplace issues do not begin as crises. They begin as conversations that never happen. Long before challenges appear in productivity reports, attrition numbers, quality metrics, or audits, workers often see the warning signs first. The question is whether organisations have systems that allow those insights to surface. In this episode of The Compact Lens, we explore why grievance redressal i...

In this episode,  Gautham and Winonna from the Center for Social Justice  discuss an important yet often overlooked aspect of the new Labour Codes —  proof of employment . Through a worker’s lens, the conversation explores two key documents that form the foundation of formal employment:  appointment letters and pay slips . These documents are not merely administrative requirements; they play a cru...

This episode of  The Compact Lens  builds directly on our previous conversation on fair contracting. If fair contracts are the starting point, this conversation asks what happens next—when those contracts meet lived realities on the ground, and when gender begins to shape how work is experienced, sustained, and imagined. We explore how women enter informal and blue-collar work, often in moments of...

Gautham and Dipankar unpack what  good contracting  and  bad contracting  really look like on the ground — beyond paperwork and compliance. Through lived examples, they explore why worker wellbeing cannot sit with either the company or the contractor alone, but must be treated as a  shared responsibility . When contracting systems are designed with dignity at the centre, they argue, the outcomes g...

Certificates can validate systems — but they cannot validate lived experience. In this episode of  The Compact Lens , Sneha and Arshath take you beyond audit checklists and into the real stories unfolding across factories, worksites, and supply chains. Through deep field insights and firsthand conversations with workers, they reveal a powerful truth. Drawing from Social Compact’s work with 65+ com...

In this second episode of The Compact Lens, we explore the idea of thinking beyond compliance. Through the lens of Social Compact’s work, we discuss how businesses have different approaches which are reactive and proactive and how that impacts them and the workers. The episode closes by setting the stage for Episode 3, where we go beyond certification to uncover what it really takes to create last...

In the inaugural episode of  The Compact Lens , we explore the pervasive challenge of informality in India’s workforce and what it means for companies striving to ensure worker well-being. Through the lens of Social Compact’s work, we discuss how businesses can move from fragmented practices to building structures and processes that truly strengthen social sustainability for their own workers. The...