Access to Remedy Practical Guidance for Companies
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ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 1 Access to remedy Practical guidance for companies A guide for companies to establish and participate in effective UNGP-informed remedy mechanisms for workers who may be adversely impacted by business operations, products, services or relationships in the entirety of their supply chains Supported by Lead authors: Cindy Berman, Ben Rutledge (ETI), and Samir Goswani. Editing: Katharine Earley Research contributors: Michele Law (Cerno Solutions Ltd), Laura Curtze and Steve Gibbons (Ergon), Dr Aidan McQuade, Jesse Hudson, Mark Winters Photos: ILO, World Bank, Claudia Janke ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 1 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Overall Guidance 5 3. Ensuring access to remedy in supply chains 6 STEP 1: Take responsibility 6 STEP 2: Provide remedy 9 STEP 3: Assess state-based and other remedy options 14 STEP 4: Develop a corporate remedy strategy 17 4. Developing Operational Grievance Mechanisms (OGMs) 22 A. Considering gender equality in designing OGMs 22 B. Guidance from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 22 C. Key factors for consideration 31 5. Country Factors 36 A. Roles and responsibilities of states and companies 36 B. Understanding the local context 36 C. Supporting state justice systems 36 D. Committing to sourcing countries 37 6. ANNEX: Additional Resources 40 ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 2 1. Executive summary Modern supply chains are complex, multi-tiered and span the globe. Production typically occurs in developing countries, where labour rights policy may not be sufficiently evolved or enforced, and workers may not be able to freely negotiate improved working conditions with their employers. Workers face numerous rights infringements, including severe human rights violations such as modern slavery, sexual and verbal assaults, workplace accidents, and gender or ethnicity-based discrimination. Establishing clear, effective and transparent systems to provide remedy will help to ensure that companies meet their responsibility to protect workers’ rights. This guidance is intended to help throughout their supply grievance mechanisms, such businesses better understand how chain. This includes the duty as those within the workplace, to both prevent and respond to to avoid infringing on the should complement state- labour rights abuses. It may also rights of others, to address based mechanisms. be a helpful resource for trade adverse impacts linked to The UNGPs require companies unions and other labour rights business operations, products to take steps to respect workers’ entities, worker-led organisations, or services, and to provide human rights, particularly NGOs and civil society actors. effective remedy in cases through policies, mitigation of In particular, the guidance where workers have suffered risks and due diligence. While provides practical advice, tools adverse impacts. it is the state’s responsibility and examples to help businesses III. States and businesses have to uphold human rights develop effective remediation a collective responsibility within its jurisdictions, both strategies in line with the to ensure that workers SMEs and multi-national UNGPs, and establish systems to have access to effective companies operating in complex address labour rights abuses in a remedy in relation to rights environments benefit from constructive manner. This includes infringements or abuses of robust grievance and remediation developing and supporting a judicial and non-judicial strategies to promote employee mechanisms that enable workers nature. Non-state-based wellbeing and productivity. to report concerns and rights abuses, known as Operational Grievance Mechanisms (OGM). Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs): I. The state has a duty to protect workers from human rights abuses by third parties, including business enterprises. They must also take the necessary steps to ensure that when abuses do occur, victims have access to effective judicial and non-judicial state- based grievance mechanisms. II. Businesses have a fundamental responsibility to ensure respect for human rights ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 3 This guidance provides an overview of the background Advantages of enhancing access to remedy in and context, and explains key supply chains: components of the mechanisms z Demonstrating corporate responsibility for the welfare of workers in that allow workers to submit supply chains complaints and enable businesses z Early identification and monitoring of human rights risks (both brands and retailers and z Early resolution of disputes suppliers) to provide remedy. It z Meet growing expectations from diverse stakeholders covers the following stages: z Building trust and providing suppliers with certainty around how you will respond. Taking responsibility: Ensuring senior level buy- in within the company; committing to provide remedy Understanding human rights risks in the supply chain within the supply chain and Human rights due diligence ETI Base Code establishing a remediation refers to the actions taken by z Employment is freely chosen policy and strategy. a company to identify and act z Freedom of association on actual and potential human and the right to collective Providing remedy in supply rights risks and negative impacts bargaining are respected chain settings where labour for workers within its operations z Working conditions are safe rights abuses have already and supply chains. and hygienic occurred. z Child labour shall not be used When analysing the impact Conducting due diligence on z Living wages are paid of a business with a human labour rights risks and remedy: z Working hours are not rights lens, we recommend Identifying and understanding excessive understanding the level of risk the nature of human rights risks z No discrimination is practised posed by suppliers’ practices and in the supply chain; determining z Regular employment is likelihood of risks occurring, and strengths and weaknesses of the provided creating a priority list of severe state and other mechanisms that z No harsh or inhumane human rights impacts. Assess workers can access that could treatment is allowed risks to environmental, health be complemented, supported or and community rights. developed. ILO Indicators of Forced For further information, see Developing a corporate Labour ETI’s Guidance on Human remedy strategy and z Abuse of vulnerability Rights Due Diligence and the supporting effective z Deception guide to “Doing Business with operational grievance z Restriction of movement Respect for Human Rights”. z mechanisms: Isolation z Detailing and implementing Human rights due diligence Physical and sexual violence z Intimidation and threats key components to ensure requires worker grievances z Retention of identity transparency, efficiency and to be addressed early and documents fairness. remediated directly. Companies z should establish explicit and Withholding of wages Evaluation and continuous z Debt bondage progressive policies that address improvement: z Abusive working and living the following risks, and allow Establishing and committing to conditions workers to make complaints evaluating processes, impacts z Excessive overtime relating to infringements of their and outcomes with workers; rights, as identified in the two implementing improvements following codes: as needed. ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 4 A. Definitions Remedy: When a brand or use to raise concerns about negative law violations and criminal retailer’s operations have caused impacts they may have suffered and civil offences. The role of or contributed to human rights as a result of certain business trade unions is first and foremost abuses, however unintentionally, practices. Workers should be made as advocates and representatives. the company is responsible aware of effective and accessible When representing workers in their for immediately providing or grievance mechanisms at their own workplace, unions will likely contributing to remedy. Remedy disposal. These mechanisms may be have the best understanding of can cover a range of actions administered by businesses, trade what is involved in the grievance including: acknowledgement unions or multiple stakeholders and how to resolve the issue at a and apology; restitution and working collectively, through local level. rehabilitation; management-level trusted, independent third parties changes; financial compensation; or the state. According to the and, the implementation of UNGPs, OGMs perform two key measures that prevent future functions: they help companies to UNGP 29: To make it possible occurrences. Remedy can take better identify potential human for grievances to be addressed place either through judicial or rights risks, and enable companies early and remediated directly, non-judicial processes. Additionally, and their suppliers to address business enterprises should companies should respect state- and remediate grievances, while establish or participate in based justice systems. ensuring that workers do not effective operational-level become subject to multiple rights grievance mechanisms for Operational grievance abuses. individuals and communities mechanism (OGM): An OGM is a The role of the state in OGMs is that may be adversely impacted. complaint process that workers can primarily to address cases of labour ACCESS TO REMEDY: PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR COMPANIES 5 2. Overall guidance TAKE