HRW for legally binding rules to stop labour abuse

31 May '16

4 min read

Companies have a responsibility to carry out effective human rights due diligence, which includes an objective assessment of a company's human rights risks coupled with effective steps to mitigate or avoid those risks. Companies also have a responsibility to help ensure that people who suffer abuses that occur in spite of those preventative steps are able to access appropriate remedies. In countries that have made human rights due diligence mandatory through law and regulation, it has spurred companies into positive action.

“Voluntary standards on human rights and business are not enough,” Kippenberg said. “Some companies embrace them, but others don't care and ignore their human rights responsibilities. The International Labour Conference is a unique opportunity to change this ineffective laissez-faire system.”

In many respects, the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, establish a useful framework to guide the conduct of responsible businesses – one whose legitimacy is widely accepted by governments, businesses, and trade unions. However, the standard's voluntary nature means that there is no penalty for noncompliance.

A new, international, legally binding standard on human rights due diligence in global supply chains could help address that problem and should draw on UN Guiding Principles, it said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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