Five-Year Overview + General Overview of Company Efforts to Implement the Principles
Company Human Rights Policies Prior to Implementing the Voluntary Principles
Most companies had general social responsibility policies in place prior to implementing the Voluntary Principles, but few had specific extant human rights policies: Only a few companies had adopted a specific human rights policy prior to implementing the Voluntary Principles. However, most had already adopted general social responsibility policies or had existing business principles that included a human rights component.
Many of companies' existing policies, whether pertaining to human rights specifically or more generally to social responsibility, endorse or reference provisions of international human rights covenants and broad, voluntary corporate responsibility principles, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organisation guidelines and the Global Sullivan Principles. Additionally, a number of companies consider their participation in the UN Global Compact a de facto human rights policy.
Some companies have specifically incorporated the Voluntary Principles into their policies and commitments, or plan to do so in the near future. A few companies have also adopted a security standard to provide specific guidance on their approach to managing security issues.
Timeline to Adopt and Implement the Voluntary Principles
Most companies did not develop a specific timeline for general implementation of the Voluntary Principles, but rather focused efforts on high risk regions: While a few companies outlined a set of goals for implementing the Principles, even fewer established firm deadlines for achieving full implementation across their operations. One company created a two-year timeline to guide development of a framework for rolling out implementation in seven high-risk areas and instructed its operations in each of those areas to develop targeted implementation plans. Another company adopted a similar approach, choosing to implement the Voluntary Principles in key countries before implementing them on a company-wide scale.
Incorporation into Company Practice
The majority of companies have begun including the Voluntary Principles in at least some of their contracts, particularly with private security providers: A limited few have also included them in government agreements. Many companies have not yet incorporated the Voluntary Principles into joint-venture contracts; however, a majority plan to do so in the near future and many already actively communicate their support of the Voluntary Principles to joint-venture partners. (For some companies, many of their joint-venture partners are already members of the Voluntary Principles process; thus, the Principles are already embedded within their operations.) One company noted that they require construction contractors to incorporate the principles into their operating procedures as well.
Other companies have contract language that draws on existing business principles addressing human rights: One company that does not yet incorporate the Voluntary Principles into contracts reported that its business principles, which include components on human rights, are embedded in all contracts with private security providers and joint-venture partners. In the case of joint-venture contracts, policies and practices are reviewed jointly on an annual basis with the joint-venture partner’s safety and security departments. However, the company noted that the ability to influence implementation is more limited in ventures where the company is not the operator.
Incorporating into Management Systems
Several companies are already incorporating the Voluntary Principles in overarching management frameworks: At least one company has adopted the Voluntary Principles company-wide, incorporating the Principles as part of the formal management framework of the company that every senior executive is required to follow. Another company intends to incorporate the Voluntary Principles into its overarching management system, a system that broadly addresses issues ranging from safety and cost to environmental and human rights issues.
One company is currently developing a program to further operationalize its anti-corruption and human rights commitments-which includes the Voluntary Principles—by providing background information, tools and guidelines to employees. Yet another company employs an overarching social responsibility policy from which cascade 18 management systems standards and 13 standards relating to social issues, including security and human rights.
While not all companies have incorporated the Voluntary Principles into management frameworks, a number have already made great strides in working toward this goal: A significant number of companies have already incorporated the Voluntary Principles into internal auditing systems. One company official reported that during annual assessments, auditors scan human rights networks for any human rights allegations and review these allegations with the operation in question. Another company also utilizes regular self-assessments to assist employees in maintaining compliance with policies and keeping on track with implementation goals.
Some companies have embedded the Voluntary Principles in annual performance reviews: One company plans to incorporate the Voluntary Principles into the list of issues that business unit CEOs are required to address when providing their annual letter of assurance demonstrating compliance with the company’s business principles. Another company has also included human rights and security issues in their annual assurance letters and face-to-face meetings between the regional Executive Director (board member) and the Country Chair. This particular company also employs an internal security self-assessment questionnaire to identify issues related to the Voluntary Principles that need to be addressed and recommended courses of action.
One company has developed a Voluntary Principles implementation manual and delivers introductory briefings and implementation workshops at various operations worldwide: The comprehensive implementation manual contains a wealth of information and resources, including guidance on identifying key stakeholders and issues on which to engage. The manual also provides step-by-step guidelines for risk assessment, including a tool that provides assessment criteria, suggested sources of information and techniques for successful auditing. Furthermore, the manual offers guidelines for interactions with public and private security, including advice on expectations, training, a process for selecting private security providers and language to be incorporated in contracts. It also includes a detailed section on procedures for reporting and responding to human rights abuses. Every business unit is required to nominate a lead manager to ensure awareness of the Voluntary Principles and to support implementation, as appropriate.
Similarly, another company has developed a Voluntary Principles check-list which highlights the key issues related to the Voluntary Principles and provides a starting point for developing an action plan for implementation. One company developed a series of guidance documents with input from operations staff to ensure buy-in, rather than handing down a set of implementation documents that may or may not be used.
Another company, meanwhile, is focusing its implementation efforts on raising awareness of the Voluntary Principles and ensuring that its internal guidance is consistent by reviewing and revising its existing policies. The company believes more must be done to promote the Voluntary Principles through, for example, enhanced training.
Training is a significant area of interest for many companies, with a few companies already conducting trainings and others planning to do so in the future: Some training programs have focused specifically on security personnel, while at least one company focuses its training efforts on making operations managers more sensitive to security and human rights issues. The company notes that many of the personnel it has trained considered security and human rights issues of paramount importance even prior to the training.
Another company commissioned the development of a modular human rights training program with several modules on security and the Voluntary Principles, which is used throughout the company and not just for security personnel. In addition to using the modular training approach in a classroom environment, this company also provides ongoing, pre-shift briefings for security personnel. Moreover, attached to each security personnel's ID badge is a card that outlines the company’s five basic steps of Voluntary Principles compliance, which serves as a quick reference and a constant reminder hanging around their neck.
Two companies noted that they have added a virtual component to their training efforts by developing on-line training programs, with one company using modules that each consist of a tutorial and a quiz of ten questions, all of which must be answered correctly to successfully complete the module. One of these companies also uses a robust face-to-face, human rights training program that has trained 1,071 company employees and 767 contractors, resulting in all foreign production operations where the company is the operator having been covered. Additionally, the company requires all new contractors to receive human rights training and an annual refresher course for current contractors.
Trainings need to be conducted frequently to ensure employees and non-employees are well versed in the Voluntary Principles: One member indicated that the company has been conducting Voluntary Principles trainings for employees over the last 18 months, with security personnel receiving approximately 12 hours of training, and non-employees approximately 6 hours. The company also noted that trainings have included junior and senior police officers, as a means of promoting the Voluntary Principles outside of the company. Unfortunately, the company does not believe that training efforts have fully achieved the desired results; rather, there remains a need to raise awareness and to promote human rights issues as a top priority. To address this, the company intends to offer training courses more frequently. Other challenges identified include: the need to continually offer training courses — due to the rotation of police and military personnel — and the difficulty of training in a culturally diverse setting, where it may be challenging to explain the Voluntary Principles and how they should be applied.