Coverage: Global

Global coverage of laws and regulations, proposed, enacted & amended, as well as mandatory standards, guidance documents, and fact sheets which require companies to identify and proactively manage issues relating to their own workforce and workers in the value chain.

Own Workforce

(a) working conditions including secure employment, working time, adequate wages, and social dialogue; freedom of association, the existence of works councils and the information, consultation, and participation rights of workers; collective bargaining, including the rate of workers covered by collective agreements; work-life balance; and health and safety.

(b) equal treatment and opportunities for all, including gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value; training and skills development; employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities; measures against violence and harassment in the workplace; and diversity.

Disclosure requirements include:

Policies related to own workforce
Processes for engaging with own workers and workers' representatives about impacts
Processes to remediate negative impacts & channels for own workers to raise concerns
Taking action on material impacts and approaches to mitigating material risks and pursuing material opportunities related to own workforce, and the effectiveness of those actions and approaches
Targets related to managing material impacts, advancing positive impacts, as well as risks and opportunities
Characteristics of undertakings’ employees and non-employees in the undertaking’s own workforce
Collective bargaining coverage and social dialogue
Diversity metrics
Adequate wages
Social protection
Persons with disabilities
Training & skills development metrics
Healthy & safety metrics
Work-life balance
Remuneration metrics (pay gap and total remuneration)
Incidents, complaints, and severe human rights impacts

Workers in the Value Chain

(a) working conditions (for example, secure employment, working time, adequate wages, social dialogue, freedom of association, including the existence of work councils, collective bargaining, work-life balance, and health and safety);

(b) equal treatment and opportunities for all (for example, gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value, training and skills development, the employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities, measures against violence and harassment in the workplace, and diversity);

(c) other work-related rights (for example, child labor, forced labor, adequate housing, water and sanitation, and privacy).

Disclosure requirements include:

Policies relating to value chain workers
Processes for engaging with value chain workers about impacts
Processes to remediate negative impacts & channels for value chain workers to raise concerns
Taking action on material impacts on value chain workers, approaches to managing material risks and pursuing material opportunities related to value chain workers, and the effectiveness of those actions
Targets related to managing material negative impacts, advancing positive impacts, and managing material risks and opportunities

Sources covered include, but are not limited to:

UN: Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Guidance Document, March 2011
OECD: Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct in a Global Context, Guidance Document, June 2023
ILO: Forced Labor Convention No. 29, 1930
ILO: Child Labor Forced Labor and Youth Employment, Declaration, November 2017
Council of Europe: Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Convention, 1950
USA: Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC Ch. 8, 1938
USA: Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 USC Ch. 28, 1993
EU: Sustainability Reporting Standards, Regulation, July 2023
EU: Establishing a General Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation, Directive 2000/78/EC
India: Child Labour Act, 1986

We cover key ESG standards related to the content areas in your subscription as a part of our ESG Solution.

Connection with other Content Areas:

EH&S: Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) covers the health and safety of working conditions of a company’s own workforce.

Chemicals in EH&S: Occupational Health & Safety covers the chemical health and safety of working conditions of a company’s own workforce.

Human Trafficking and Slavery (HT&S) covers legislation that creates concrete obligations on companies in relation to forced labor, modern slavery and human trafficking. It covers situations where persons are coerced to work through the use of violence, intimidation, retention of identity papers or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities. Our Labor and Employment topic on the other hand is broader in nature and covers additional regulations regarding working conditions, equality of treatment and worker related rights. Regulations that cover forced and child labor may fall under both topics whereas regulations that cover additional issues covering other types of working conditions, equality of treatment and worker related rights will fall under Labor and Employment only.

The Human Rights-Affected Communities content area applies when material impacts on and/or material risks and opportunities related to affected communities are identified by the company. Affected communities include people who are:

living or working near the company’s factories
affected by activities at those sites (e.g., downstream water pollution),
along the company’s value chain (e.g., those affected by the operations and/or activities of suppliers’ facilities, logistics or distribution providers),
located at one or both endpoints of the value chain (e.g., at the point of extraction of metals or minerals or harvesting of commodities, or communities around waste or recycling sites) and
indigenous peoples.

The ESG Labor & Employment content area, on the other hand, covers regulations that require companies to identify and proactively manage issues relating to their own workforce and workers in their value chain only.

Data Protection - The privacy rights of a company’s own workforce or workers in the value chain are covered by our Data Protection content area. Employee data and personal data about external persons are both subject to the same legal protections.

ESG Reporting - Labor & Employment requires an explanation of the general approach the undertaking takes to identify and manage any material actual and potential impacts on its own workforce and value chain workers. ESG Reporting requires undertakings to report on their overall environmental, social, and governance risks, impacts, policies, and measures which may include an obligation to disclose information on their due diligence policies and practices. Sources requiring companies to report on their due diligence processes alongside other environmental, social, and governance matters may fall under both ESG reporting and Supply Chain Due Diligence.

Supply Chain Due Diligence - Labor & Employment overlaps with Supply Chain Due Diligence in regards to due diligence obligations for companies to protect the work-related rights of workers in their value chain. These include working conditions such as maximum working hours, breaks,

secure employment, work-life balance, adequate wages, freedom of association as well as equal treatment and opportunities irrespective of gender, religious or racial considerations. These work-related rights may also include child labor and forced labor within the workplace.

Regulations that require companies to undertake due diligence on workers in their supply chain falls under both Labor and Employment and Supply Chain Due Diligence.

Further information:

Please email sales@complianceandrisks.com or speak to your account manager.

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