Commit
Make a strong public commitment to human and labor rights
It is better to learn, improve, or even fail than not to commit at all. Worker agency should be central to company commitments.
ACTION
01
Develop a transparent and time-bound commitment aligned with international standards and recognized best practices
Align
- Align with international frameworks for human rights and seafood, including the:
- United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
- International Labor Organisation’s (ILO) Decent Work Agenda, Core Conventions, and the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 C. 188.
- ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 P029.
- ILO General principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment and definition of recruitment fees and related costs.
Place workers at the center
- As you develop a commitment to human rights due diligence, place workers and worker experience at the center of what you do.
- Traditionally, corporate commitments (such as ESG commitments) have taken a lens of supply chain and/or reputational risk. While these business considerations are important, thinking about the worker experience and risk to workers is paramount. Moreover, by respecting the rights of workers, companies will build more resilient supply chains, in the short and long term
Use
- Use existing models and resources. For example:
- Global Compact Network Netherlands, Oxfam and Shift’s Examples of Policy Commitments.
- Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions’ Business Commitments to Social Responsibility.
Identify
- Identify and address issues that may be found in your company’s seafood supply chains. Consider aligning with credible NGO recommendations and advocacy campaigns, such as:
- Greenpeace Sustainability, Labour & Human Rights, and Chain of Custody Asks for Retailers, Brand Owners and Seafood Companies.
- International Labor Rights Forum’s Taking Stock Report, “Essential Elements of Effective Social Responsibility in the Seafood Sector.”
- Oxfam’s Ripe for Change Reports and Behind the Barcodes Supermarket Scorecard.
- KnowTheChain Food and Beverage Benchmarks.
- Issara Institute’s Assessing Five Years of Impact and Trends in Worker Voice and Responsible Sourcing.
Investigate and Remediate
- Include processes to investigate and remediate any violations of your company’s corporate human rights commitment, including credible grievances raised by workers.
- Achieving remediation and recruitment goals may require sector- or issue-wide collaborations between companies.
- For more information about remediation, see Remediate.
- To learn more about collaborating within your company’s supply chain, see Build Capacity.
- For more information about collaborating with organizations outside your company’s supply chains, see Collaborate.
- Achieving remediation and recruitment goals may require sector- or issue-wide collaborations between companies.
- Ensure commitments apply to your company’s entire seafood supply chain (i.e., beyond direct suppliers).
RISE
Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions
ACTION
02
Measure progress and share your company's impact
Create a Plan
- Create a plan to measure progress and develop time-bound goals where appropriate.
- Identify the activities required to achieve the commitment (e.g., communicating with supply chains, gathering data, and supporting suppliers).
- Determine data collection, validation, and verification needs (see Assess, Build Capacity, and Iterate).
- Develop and support supply chain traceability efforts to enable data collection and supply chain improvements.
- Design time-bound, specific goals for improvement.
- Start with the most salient risks and fundamental operations needs (e.g., receive signed codes of conduct from all suppliers within one year, validate responsible recruitment processes in all land-based seafood supply chains within two years).
Communicate
- Identify and communicate the company’s commitment with key stakeholders, including:
- Workers, associations of workers such as trade unions, and other civil society organizations.
- Business partners (e.g., first- and second-tier suppliers) through supplier expectations letters, codes of conduct, or other communications.
- Organizations that may respond to the commitment (e.g., buyers, investors, and advocacy groups).
- Government agencies that may support critical human rights goals (e.g., Departments of Labor, Migration, Fisheries or Customs).
- Those with a vested interest in the company (e.g., shareholders).
- Consultants and collaborating organizations that may support the company in meeting its commitment.
UN Sustainable Development
Shift
Michelle Langlois, Shift, and Mazars LLP
Consumer Goods Forum Global Social Compliance Programme
RISE
- Identifying social responsibility commitment priorities (“What mechanisms, actions, and activities are needed to fulfill a commitment?”, page 2).
ACTION
03
Share the commitment publicly
Provide information
- Share the commitment through the company website and other relevant outlets (e.g., media releases, annual reports, conferences, and blogs).
- Specify the scope of the commitment and its implementation or verification plan (e.g., “The commitment applies to all sourcing and supply chains;” “Data collection with direct suppliers is used to verify the commitment”).
- Include information about time-bound aspects of the commitment, as well as planned public follow-up regarding progress.
Shift and Mazars LLP
Walk Free Foundation
CORE
- CORE with contributions from Anti-Slavery International, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), and Unicef UK:
Optimize Your Company's Path
Discover how companies can apply the RISE Roadmap to improve their social responsibility practices.
Retailers/Brands
- Work directly with suppliers to understand exactly what is needed to achieve the commitments.
- Notify suppliers of new commitments and expectations with adequate time to meet the requirements of the commitment.
- See Build Capacity for more information and ideas.
- Inform consumers of commitments and progress
Suppliers
- Align commitments and improvements with those of key buyers (i.e., high volume, long-term buyers).
- Provide suppliers (including producers and processors) with adequate time to meet the requirements outlined in the commitment.
Processors
- Provide operations staff and suppliers with adequate time to meet the requirements outlined in the commitment.
- Align commitments and improvements with those of key buyers (i.e., high volume, long-term buyers).
- Act in good faith to meet commitments and, when challenges arise, clearly and proactively communicate those challenges to key buyers.
Producers
- Align commitments and improvements with those of key buying companies (i.e., high volume, long-term buyers).
- Act in good faith to meet commitments and, when challenges arise, clearly and proactively communicate those challenges to key buyers.
- Provide staff (e.g., planning and operations managers, captains, and other relevant crew, contractors, and labor recruiters) with adequate time to meet requirements outlined in the commitment
- Provide at-sea operations, especially distant water fisheries such as tuna, with additional time and support to implement and verify requirements as needed. See also Decent Work at Sea Foundation page for more guidance.
- Until robust verification can occur at sea, continue to utilize port visits to engage workers, iterate best practices for conducting port interviews with workers, and confirm commitments are met to the fullest extent possible.
Build the Foundation
Responsible Recruitment
- Commit to implementing responsible recruitment practices, including:
- Employer Pays Principles.
- Disclosure to workers of all fees and related costs prior to accepting the job.
- Reimbursement of recruitment fees and related costs previously paid by workers.
- Remediation of recruitment-related issues.
- Inform suppliers of recruitment-related commitments through expectations letters or other communications.
Worker Engagement
- Commit to implementing effective grievance mechanisms.
- Commit to upholding ILO core labor rights, including the ability of workers to collectively bargain and freely associate.
- If the right to free association is legally limited, commit to other forms of worker engagement, such as worker committees.
- Align commitments throughout the supply chain to achieve the long-term sustainability of worker engagement.
- Incorporate commitments to effective grievance and worker engagement in supplier expectations.
Decent Work at Sea
- Align company commitments to international guidelines for improving safety and work at sea, including the:
- ILO: Work in Fishing Convention C188.
- Food and Agriculture Organization: Port State Measures Agreement.
- International Maritime Organization (IMO): Cape Town Agreement.
- IMO: Standards for Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel.