Navigating through your supply chain
Key Standards and Legislation International labour standards on forced labour3 maintained and developed by ILO are amongst the legally binding instruments that define the obligations to States related to working life. The Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention seeks to prevent trafficking for labour exploitation and its preventative measures include due diligence by both the public and private sectors to prevent and respond to the risk of forced or compulsory labour. Also, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises4 (1976, updated version 2011) were amongst the first guidance for member states related to corporate social responsibility. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work5 adopted in 1998, particularly mentions groups with special needs, including the unemployed and migrant workers, and it commits Member States to respect and promote principles and rights in four categories: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
3 The
ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) 4 http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/ guidelines/
5 https://www.ilo. org/declaration/ lang--en/index.htm
Migrant workers are mainly protected by the applicable laws in the country they work in. As yet most European countries do not hold companies responsible for the violations of the human rights, as such, of the workers working throughout subcontracting chains and employed by other companies. International laws do not directly mandate that companies make sure that actors in their supply chains respect labour and human rights. However, during the last decade or so, several regional laws and regulations have been passed, obliging organisations to implement elements of the human rights due diligence, or at the least report on human rights due diligence processes (e.g, Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting and Conflict Minerals Regulation 2017/821). Furthermore, in 2019, the European Union established a new role of a European Labour Authority (ELA) that is due to improve cooperation between EU countries, including introducing coordinated joint inspections, as well as, analyses and risk assessments on cross-border labour mobility issues.
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