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The Private Sector and Human Rights in the UK
This report is about how a number of companies understand and tackle human rights issues in the UK. Prepared for the UK'ss Ministry for Justice, it includes a foreword from Michael Wills, Minister of State.
Click here to download the report.
This report is about how a number of companies understand and tackle human rights issues in the UK. It was prepared as an input to a UK-focused dialogue on the private sector and human rights. The outreach behind this report involved 167 companies, employing around 2 million people in the UK and 4.5 million globally.
The report:
- sets out how these businesses currently perceive human rights in the UK;
- describes what these businesses are doing to integrate a respect for human rights into their policies and practices;
- reports on the advice and guidance needs that the businesses have articulated;
- identifies some challenges in moving the dialogue forward, and
- proposes some practical ways forward for the Ministry of Justice, Equality and Human Rights Commission and others to respond to its findings.
The focus of this report is on the UK. It offers a starting point that we hope will inform an on-going dialogue and actions. It is already being used as an input into further work on the subject in the UK, including work that will be taken forward by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The report highlights the diversity of UK businesses' awareness and understanding of human rights. It shows that many businesses view 'human rights' as an overseas problem and are unclear what the human rights issues in the UK are. While many UK companies do not explicitly talk about human rights, they do address many human rights topics in the workplace. However, fewer companies move beyond the workplace to address human rights impacts in their supply chains or in relation to their clients or customers. The report finds that the rationale for engaging with human rights beyond the workplace varies considerably and that inspired leadership plays a key role in this.
While there is high awareness of the UK human rights act, broadly businesses are unaware of the way in which it works. Companies who contract to provide public services are assessing its implications for their work and are keen to have clairty about what is meant by a 'human rights approach'.
The report suggests that continued focus is needed on delivering equality and employment rights within the workplace. However, the human rights issues that need addressing today are at the boundaries of the company. The new challenges relate to clients or customers, suppliers employees, or the particularly vulnerable in communities. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, UK government and the private sector all have roles to play in moving the business and human rights agenda forward. The report sets out some key questions and some practical steps to help take this dialogue forward.
Download document: The Private Sector and Human Rights in the UK