2. The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
The responsibility to respect is a global standard of expected conduct. It
is a baseline expectation of all businesses in all situations which states:
3. The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
Businesses must respect Human
Rights.They must avoid causing or contributing to
The responsibility to respect is a global standard of expected conduct. It
is a baseline expectation of all businesses in all situations which states:
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Pillar II: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
infringements of human rights, and they must address
adverse human rights impacts they may be
causing.
4. The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
Businesses must respect Human
Rights.
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Pillar II: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
This means all businesses,
regardless of their size, sector,
ownership, operational context
or structure.
5. The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
Businesses must respect Human
Rights.
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Pillar II: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect
This means all businesses,
regardless of their size,
sector, ownership,
operational context or
This means all internationally recognised
human rights. It is not enough to just follow
the law where they operate, they must adhere
to the International Bill of Human Rights and
International Labour Organization.
7. What are companies expected to do?
To implement respect for human rights, companies must put into place
appropriate policies and processes.
This includes:
• a human rights policy,
• a due diligence process; and
• a remediation process.
8. Pillar II provides 8 guiding points which offer practical steps towards
implementing these policies and processes. These steps are divided
into three stages: policy, due diligence, and remediation…
What are companies expected to do?
To implement respect for human rights, companies must put into place
the appropriate policies and processes.
This includes:
• a human rights policy,
• a due diligence process; and
• a remediation process.
9. 1. Commitment: “setting the tone” by making a public
statement
2. Embedding: make respect part of the company
culture by “getting it into the company’s DNA”
10. 1. Commitment: “setting the tone” by making a public
statement
2. Embedding: make respect part of the company
culture by “getting it into the company’s DNA”
3. Assessment: moving from reactive to proactive
4. Action: implementing what has been
committed “walking the talk”
5. Tracking: “knowing” if it worked
6. Communication: “showing”; explaining the
company’s commitments
11. 1. Commitment: “setting the tone” by making a public
statement
2. Embedding: make respect part of the company
culture by “getting it into the company’s DNA”
3. Assessment: moving from reactive to proactive
4. Action: implementing what has been
committed “walking the talk”
5. Tracking: “knowing” if it worked
6. Communication: “showing”; explaining the
company’s commitments
7. Engagement: conducting meaningful dialogue
8. Remediate: ensuring “early warning, effective
solutions”
12. A company’s commitment to respect human rights
generally starts with a statement of a policy. This
policy is likely to involve planning and consultation
and it creates an opportunity to build internal
understanding of the company’s responsibility across
the company’s own workforce, its suppliers and other
business partners. It should be approved at the
highest levels of the organization to signal the
seriousness of the commitment.
POLICY:
1. Commitment to respect human rights
13. POLICY:
2. Embedding
In order for a company to implement its commitment
respect for human rights needs to become part of
the company's culture or 'DNA' – it needs to be an
integral part of how it operates.
Embedding is about creating the right “macro-level”
environment for a policy to be effective. It includes training,
performance and accountability structures, “tone at the top”
from senior management and the board, and a sense of
shared responsibility for meeting the company’s human rights
commitments.
14. Identify the negative human rights impacts that the company’s
current or planned activities and business relationships could have
on individuals and communities.
• Through value chains: contractors, suppliers, joint venture
partners
• Actual impacts and potential impacts “human rights risks”.
• Salient human rights issues
DUE DILIGENCE:
3. Assessment
15. After identifying human rights risks, companies need to take action
to tackle them.
Prevention and mitigation efforts focused on attempting to stop
potential impacts from becoming actual impacts.
Where this involves impacts caused by third parties, a company’s
leverage over those third parties becomes crucial to prevent impacts
from occurring.
DUE DILIGENCE:
4. Acting
16. Tracking performance enables a company to know whether its
human rights due diligence has been effective and is central to
any future continuous improvements. For many companies, in
addition to their own operations, tracking performance will
include monitoring the performance of suppliers, customers and
other business partners.
DUE DILIGENCE:
5. Tracking
17. Communicating about the company’s efforts to prevent and
address human rights risks involves the company demonstrating
the effectiveness of its efforts in practice. The audience can
include:
• Affected stakeholders
• Shareholders
• Investors
• Human rights experts
• Governments
DUE DILIGENCE:
6. Communication
18. Stakeholder engagement is essential to a business’s efforts to
respect human rights – and it needs to be meaningful if it’s going to
fulfill that role. This will involve listening to affected stakeholders
and taking account of their perspectives in internal decision-
making.
Failure to address stakeholder concerns early and effectively can
mean that they escalate into more serious impacts. Meaningful
stakeholder engagement however can help prevent human rights
impacts in the first place.
REMEDIATION:
7. Engagement
19. Companies need to think systemically about how affected people
can raise complaints, and what processes the company has to
provide remedy where it has caused or contributed to a negative
impact.
Operational-level grievance mechanisms can be one important
means of providing remedy. They can also be effective early
warning systems for companies and can feed into broader
human rights due diligence processes.
REMEDIATION:
8. Remedy
Originally ‘Foundational Principles’
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
Originally ‘Foundational Principles’
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
Originally ‘Foundational Principles’
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
Originally ‘Foundational Principles’
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
What are companies expected to do
Foundational principles are broken down into following categories: “Policy commitment, knowing and showing that they respect human rights through human rights due diligence, remediation and issues of context”
