Seminar on Good Working Conditions in Pune, 25.11.2019

Good working conditions and human rights due diligence are not only duties of employers but also positively effecting the bond between companies and their stakeholders. While employees directly benefit from good practices, standards and regulations in safety, roster and workplace environment, customers increasingly ask for such commitments and honour it with loyalty. This is one of the main outcomes of the “Seminar on Ensuring Good Working Conditions in your Company and your Supply Chains” organised by IGCC SustainMarkets in cooperation with the Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) on 25th November in Pune.

Markus Loening, former German Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance and founder of Loening - Human Rights & Responsible Business, highlighted the increasing expectations of all stakeholder groups - politics, the public, employees and their communities as well as investors. With the introduction of the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and their subsequent national adaptations in the German National Action Plan (NAP) and the zero draft of an Indian NAP, human rights due diligence of companies already gained a semi-legal obligation. Mr Loening presented a four-step model for companies: Identifying human rights risks, addressing adverse impacts, monitoring the effectiveness of these measures, and implementing grievance mechanisms. He emphasised that “the pressure on the economy to comply with the established human rights standards is not going to go away, but good performance will surely be a competitive advantage.”

Rijit Sengupta, Central Executive Officer at CRB, underlined that three Indians - two of them women - were involved in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and pointed towards the early Indian influence in what is today a globally recognised framework. Consequently, these rights are well reflected in the Constitution of India, and with the introduction of the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business in 2011, which became the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct in 2019, the Indian Government clearly expressed the obligations of companies. Mr Sengupta also stressed the benefits of these regulations and the Indian NAP for businesses: “Compliance is profitable when it comes to reputation, legal wrangles and the expectations of investors,” he said.

The participants, representing about 30 Indian and German small- and medium-sized companies, expressed the need for practical guidelines and support in the implementation of these regulations. IGCC SustainMarkets, in cooperation with FNF and CRB, is planning to offer specialised trainings in the next year.