Prioritizing human rights across your business
What were once voluntary human rights standards are now top of mind for regulators, board members, investors, and the public. Our integrated, multi-disciplinary team delivers practical, informed solutions tailored to help your business thrive while prioritizing human rights across your organization.
Identifying and mitigating any adverse impact your business or investments have on human rights is essential to business planning and asset protection. As regulators, lenders, consumers, and civil society increase demands for corporate transparency and action, failure to prevent or address adverse impacts on human rights across your business and supply chain may expose you to both legal and reputational risk.
Applying a human rights lens to business operations can enhance sustainable returns in the long run while ensuring compliance with evolving international human rights frameworks. Our Business and Human Rights (BHR) team can help you understand and comply with your ethical and legal obligations while protecting your financial and labor investments.
In a world where human rights issues are simultaneously international and local, our powerful global platform combines worldwide reach and local resources in a way no other firm can – an essential tool for addressing the evolving international regulatory framework governing international investments and supply chains.
The BHR landscape is constantly changing fast and efforts to adapt your business must evolve to keep pace. Our cross-sector team is uniquely positioned to help navigate this dynamic landscape with solutions tailored to where you are now – with an eye for what’s on the horizon. We can help navigate the shift from traditional reactive compliance to developing strategies for ongoing human rights risk management, stakeholder engagement, and corrective action plans designed to proactively identify and mitigate regulatory and business risks while maintaining your competitive edge.
How we can help
From Assessment to Action to Accountability, we offer the following value to integrate human rights into your business management.
Assess your internal risk management processes/systems.
Determine human rights, laws, standards, and frameworks applicable to your business.
Advise on human rights due diligence and compliance obligations in, the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, US SEC disclosure requirements, modern slavery statements, supply chain transparency disclosure requirements, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business.
Map your human rights risks and at-risk rights holders in your investments, operations, and business relationships.
Develop a human rights strategy and preventative measures across operations, management systems, operational processes, and business relationships.
Support the implementation of Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) findings and develop effective grievance redress mechanisms.
Monitor political and legislative developments related to human rights due diligence in international supply chains.
Mitigate risks of fair-washing claims by ensuring consistency of operations with representations under applicable consumer protection laws. Design processes to provide or enable remedy to those harmed, in the event that your company causes or contributes to a negative impact.
Support shareholder and stakeholder engagement on BHR topics including proposals and relevant response measures.
Manage any risks together with any claims, enforcement action and litigation from your stakeholders, and advise on appropriate remedies.
Track and monitor human rights strategy performance through goal measurement and legal review. Support the preparation or refreshing of disclosures of the company’s human rights polices, due diligence policies and assessments, supply chain and responsible sourcing standards, and human rights and modern slavery statements.
Advise on legal implications of public commitments. Defend against regulatory enforcement actions involving detainment of imported goods for alleged forced labor claims.
