It is Time to Build Effective Grievance Mechanisms
With COVID-19 disrupting fundamental economic activities and endangering the livelihood of many employees and communities, companies need to have a plan to ensure a speedy, low-cost, and peaceful resolution of grievances. CSR Europe can help you evaluate and strengthen your company’s management process for an effective human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. How? With our new Grievance Management Assessment.
The global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is forcing us to live in unprecedented conditions and to find rapid and effective responses to new challenges. The world economy and systems of production have been hugely affected by COVID-19 and workers all over the world are experiencing new threats: to their health, working conditions and economic security. Now more than ever, companies need to be prepared to provide an adequate and fast system to ensure that the voice of affected employees and communities is being heard.
Grievance mechanisms are a key component of the human rights-based approach that businesses should integrate within their operation systems and their adoption has been endorsed by several national and international frameworks. For instance, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) spell out eight criteria for effective grievance mechanisms: Legitimate, Accessible, Predictable, Equitable, Transparent, Right-compatible, A source of continuous learning, Based on engagement and dialogue.
How well is your company doing in these eight criteria? Having a complete picture on the status of your business conduct can be challenging but is not impossible. Since 2012, CSR Europe has worked to develop a sound methodology to assess the maturity level of a company’s grievance management processes against the eight UNGPs criteria and identify gaps and areas for improvement. Thanks to the support of internationally recognized human rights experts, we have now perfected it and are ready to support you with our new Grievance Management Assessment (GMA) service.
In a three-step process, we deliver an in-depth analysis of your company’s performance against the 8 UNGPs criteria; how well you are faring in each criterion; and present you with useful recommendations on how to improve.
As a result, your company will be able to:
Reduce the risks of and improve the response to adverse social and environmental impacts that may arise from your operations
Ensure a speedy, low-cost and peaceful resolution of grievances
Implement an effective human rights due diligence practice in line with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct