Publication
The relationship between business and human rights
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
It is crucial to engage with stakeholders in meaningful dialogue throughout this process (in the context of human rights, stakeholders refer to potentially impacted people, whether individuals, workers, communities etc.). An important aspect of a company’s responsibility to protect human rights relates to human rights defenders, i.e. any person or group of persons working to promote human rights locally, regionally, or internationally. Business enterprises need to ensure to not inhibit the lawful actions of a human rights defender or restrict their freedom of expression, freedom of association, or right to peaceful assembly (see, e.g., the policy on human rights defenders by Adidas).
Focusing on human rights is very different to the traditional concept of corporate social responsibility that focuses on voluntary actions to ‘give back’ to communities, and that pivots around philanthropic activities. Focusing on human rights requires that businesses examine the ways that their core activities, partnerships and business relationships (in other words, the business model) may impact negatively on people and their human rights. Businesses are then expected to take the appropriate steps to prevent those impacts from occurring, and to mitigate the impacts when they do occur. Most company CSR activities, on the other hand, focus on providing additional positive contributions that the business can make, usually to specific communities and groups of people. While these contributions have a role to play, businesses are expected to first prevent and manage human rights impacts across their value chain.
In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out, for the first time at the international level, those fundamental rights that every person should enjoy, and which are to be universally protected.
The United Nations defines human rights as follows:
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.
Labour rights are a subset of human rights. The United Nations defines labour rights as follows:
Labour rights are the rights of workers, as enshrined in international labour standards drawn up by the International Labour Organization (ILO). In particular, its Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work commits all its member States to four categories of principles and rights: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of forced labour; the abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. These rights are covered by its eight core conventions.
The United Nations addresses this question in a key publication that answers a range of FAQs on the UNGPs on Business and Human Rights. It notes:
It has long been recognized that business can have a profound impact on human rights. This impact can be positive, for example by delivering innovation and services that can improve living standards for people across the globe. It can also be negative, for example where business activities destroy people’s livelihoods, exploit workers or displace communities. Business enterprises can also be complicit in human rights abuses committed by others, including States—for example, if they collude with security forces in violently suppressing protests or provide information on their customers to States that then use it to track down and punish dissidents. … The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were developed to clarify the different roles and responsibilities that States and business enterprises have to address business impact on human rights.
The UN’s Interpretive Guide to the Corporate Responsibility to Protect Human Rights provides clear explanations of the terms used in the UNGPs, explains key concepts and operational principles, and provides clear examples and guidance to business enterprises .
While business enterprises are in general a force for good around the world, we regularly see media headlines highlighting the ways that businesses have harmed people.
A business enterprise can impact on a person’s human rights through its direct activities or through its business relationships - in other words, through its operations and value chain.
It is important that businesses understand the potential human rights impact of company activity and take steps to protect human rights.
Negative impacts may include, for example, discrimination, bonded labour, industrial pollution and accidents, poverty wages, excessive overtime, to name but a few. Business enterprises can impact negatively on people irrespective of nationality, language, religion, but the impacts tend to have a more detrimental effect on people who are already vulnerable, for example, people living in poverty, migrants, the disabled, children, the LGBTI+ community, unskilled workers, or workers from countries with inadequate social protections.
Some examples of corporate practices that can have a negative impact on human rights:
| Practice | Human Rights Negatively Affected | |
| A company may be involved in the transportation of people or goods that facilitates the trafficking of individuals | The right not to be subjected to slavery or servitude (forced labour) | |
| Failing to protect the confidentiality of personal data held about employees or contract workers, customers or other individuals | The right to privacy | |
| Using cleaning staff that are employed by a third-party company who are denied paid sick leave or necessary safety gear and equipment | The right to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work | |
| The presence of child labour in a business or its supply chain, where those children are unable to attend school | The right to education | |
| Purchasing garments from a company that dismisses staff who are members of a trade union | The right to freedom of association | |
| Practices impacting Human Rights Defenders (HRDs): criminalisation of HRDs that oppose a business development, investing in a project that has been linked to killings of HRDs, complicity in attacks and sometimes killings of HRDs who expose negative human rights impacts of business ventures | The right to life, liberty and security, the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, the right to work |