"We support companies to embed human rights due diligence"

From our experience working within companies, we are familiar with the types of questions that arise when human rights or social compliance come onto the agenda. To read our answers, click on the questions below:

Chief Procurement Officer

“How can we integrate human rights in our supplier management?”

CSR Manager

“How do we know our child labour impacts and how can we manage them?”

Chief Compliance Officer

“What does the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) mean for us as a Swiss company?”

OUR SERVICES

To know more about our solutions and completed projects, click on the links below:

• Strategy & Gap Analysis

• Risk assessment

• Impact assessment

• Implementing measures

• Grievance mechanism

• Transparency & Communication

• Connecting actors & facilitating dialogue

• Training & capacity building

Working conditions

Issues that may come up for companies:

Unpaid overtime; Unsafe working conditions; Lack of protective equipment and training for employees handling chemicals; Harassment of employees due to their ethnicity; Punitive terminations of employment for participating in strike actions; Workers aren’t allowed to take their weekly rest day.

Related human rights:

The right to health; The right to freedom from discrimination; The right to peaceful assembly; The right to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work.

Modern slavery

Issues that may come up for companies:

Women forced into prostitution; Forced labour in agriculture, domestic work and factories; Child labour in sweatshops; Entire families forced to work for nothing to pay off generational debts; Employers confiscating passports of migrant workers; Wage withholding from migrant workers to pay back recruitment fees.

Related human rights:

The right not to be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour; The right to freedom of movement.

Child rights and child labour

Issues that may come up for companies:

Aggressive marketing that exploits children’s vulnerability; Children left home alone because of parents working overtime; Hazardous working conditions for young adults; Child labour that prevents children from attending school; Producing products that are unsafe for children to use.

Related human rights:

The rights of protection for the child; The right to education.

Right to privacy

Issues that may come up for companies:

Failure to protect the confidentiality of personal data held about employees or customers; Pregnancy testing as part of job applications; Information about individuals provided to state authorities following illegal requests; Sale of equipment or technology that can be used to track individuals’ communication and movements to a state with a poor human rights record.

Related human rights:

The right to privacy.

Environmental pollution

Issues that may come up for companies:

Pollution from business operations that negatively impacts the human rights of workers and local communities: The release of toxic waste and hazardous materials into drinking water sources; Air, water, or soil contamination; Inadequate waste management and exposure to harmful chemicals. These issues can lead to long-term ecological damage, adverse health effects, and threats to food security.

Related human rights:

The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; The rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation.

Contentious land acquisitions

Issues that may come up for companies:

A company in the supply chain is associated with the forcible eviction of people from their homes or land and with other related violations; Contested land use by companies in the value chain creating large footprints on the land and the surrounding communities.

Related human rights:

The right to adequate housing; The right to freedom of movement.

Adequate standard of living

Issues that may come up for companies:

Poor-quality housing or dormitories provided to workers; Failure to pay a wage allowing for a decent living; Failing to provide adequate sanitation facilities for workers; Business activities pollute or threaten existing water resources in a way that significantly interferes with local communities’ ability to access clean drinking water.

Related human rights:

The right to an adequate standard of living.