There were criticisms regarding the DIFE’s complaint mechanism. A worker must enter his or her name, position, and identity number in the complaint form. Once the complaint is received, the DIFE issues a letter to factory management with reference to the complaint form, which identifies the complainant. This mechanism provided inadequate protections to workers and raised doubts on efficacy. In fiscal year 2021-22, the DIFE received 3,185 complaints and claimed it resolved 99.3 percent. In 2021, BEPZA launched a helpline telephone number for EPZ workers. Through June, the helpline received 2,340 complaints from eight EPZs and resolved 2,286. DIFE’s resources were inadequate to inspect and remediate problems effectively. The factory inspection department has only 311 inspectors and 23 district inspectorate offices to look after safety matters in more than 530,000 production units and shops. In August the Labor Ministry approved 192 new posts and eight new inspectorate offices for the department. Although increased focus on the garment industry improved safety compliance in some garment factories, resources, inspections, and remediation were not adequate across other sectors. Even many garment employers failed to meet legal requirements, including adequately training workers on safety and hazardous materials, providing required equipment, or setting up functioning safety committees. Legal limits on hours of work were routinely violated and a labor rights NGO found 95 percent of factories did not comply with overtime limits. Employers often required workers, including pregnant women, to work 12 hours a day or more to meet quotas and export deadlines, but they did not always properly compensate workers for their overtime. Employers in many cases delayed workers’ pay or denied full leave benefits. Informal Sector: Few reliable labor statistics were available on the large informal sector that employed most workers in the country. Labor laws do not cover informal employment. According to the Labour Force Survey 2016-2017, of a total of 61 million employed persons, 85 percent worked in the informal sector. Nearly 92 percent of women and 82 percent of men were involved in informal work activities. In both urban and rural areas, women and youth were more likely to be in informal employment. Nearly half the workers in the informal sector had received no schooling. Informal sector workers are not covered by the same wage, Page 60