U.N. Special Representative's Final Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Policy Implications for Employers
On March 24, 2011, United Nations Special Representative John Ruggie released the final Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a highly anticipated step towards setting authoritative global standards for addressing the human rights impacts of business activities. Littler has been actively monitoring the development of these Guiding Principles, as they will likely have a significant impact on the global operations of business.
The Guiding Principles are organized under the U.N.'s "Protect, Respect and Remedy" framework for addressing business and human rights issues: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the need for greater access to remedy for victims of business-related abuse. Special Representative Ruggie and his team formulated the Guiding Principles through six years of research and consultation. The most recent round of consultation followed the release of the draft Guiding Principles in November 2010, which Littler participated in by assisting in the submission of comments to Special Representative Ruggie.
There are a number of recommendations contained in the Guiding Principles that are likely to impact businesses in the coming years. Examples of such recommendations include: the development of a comprehensive human rights policy by the enterprise; the establishment of a mechanism to conduct due diligence; and the creation of an effective grievance mechanism to address situations where a business might impact human rights. Companies should ensure that they understand these Guiding Principles and how they might impact their business.
We also believe these Guiding Principles, if not addressed proactively by companies, may create an opportunity for advocacy organizations (such as issue-specific non-governmental organizations and labor unions) to seek to define the parameters of the Guiding Principles on their own terms. Therefore, in the coming months, Littler will be offering workshops and other tools to help companies understand these Guiding Principles and develop internal mechanisms to account for them.
Photo credit: Sumners Graphics Inc.
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