Processors

Stakeholder

Processors play an essential role in the seafood industry by converting raw or semi-processed material into a product significantly different than before. By implementing practices to uphold worker rights and engagement in their facilities, processors can have an outsized impact on human rights and labor conditions because of the large workforces typically employed in these facilities.

What is a processor?

A processor is a company that modifies or converts fish or other seafood into different forms (e.g. canned, smoked, breaded, filleted, headed or gutted) for additional processing or final consumption.

Roadmap Steps

Commit

Set time-bound commitments that meet or exceed the commitments of buyers. Be transparent about progress and challenges.

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.
Provide suppliers (including producers and processors) with adequate time to meet the requirements outlined in the commitment.

Learn

Continuously learn, educate, and get buy-in from staff and stakeholders on the value of social responsibility at your company and in your supply chains.

Use RISE to learn how to take a human rights due diligence approach to improving supply chains.
Participate in pre-competitive efforts and multi-stakeholder initiatives that support industry-wide adoption of aligned goals and practices, reducing the likelihood of divergent human rights objectives.
Consider hiring third-party experts to conduct training or identify due diligence improvements.
Join a growing community to support industry-wide adoption of improved social responsibility practices.

Assess

Work with sourcing and buying companies to track and share data regarding products and working conditions.

Document company processes to improve social responsibility and mitigate risks.
Align data collection with the data required by key buyers.
Develop systems to store and easily access data so that information can be readily taken in from sourcing companies and conveyed to buyers.
Track instances of worker grievances (e.g. questions to human resources, complaints through trade unions) as they may reveal risks for labor abuse and resolving grievances internally can lead to better practice and overall reduced risk.

Build Capacity

Work with peers, sourcing companies (e.g. vessel owners, harvesters), and buying companies (e.g. importers, suppliers, distributors, retailers) to implement good working conditions and human rights due diligence processes that can be sustained.

Partner with local human rights and civil society organizations to support worker engagement mechanisms.
Encourage collective bargaining and freedom of association for workers at your company, or alternative forms of engagement where not legally permissible (e.g., worker committees).
Ensure safe and legal working conditions, living conditions, and payment systems in company operations, and comply with relevant laws, codes of conduct, and seafood worker contracts.

Collaborate

Partner with experts to effectively improve working conditions.

Partner with and support civil society organizations that protect and advocate for workers’ rights in seafood and other seasonal jobs that may share a workforce.
Explore the RISE Community to learn about local civil society organizations working on improvements in your company’s regions of interest.

Remediate

Implement practices to remediate worker grievances and illustrate to buyers the true cost of producing goods responsibly.

Investigate and remediate worker grievances, including setting funds aside for corrective action plans, remediation, repatriation, remuneration, and the provision of any other necessary resources as applicable.
- Work with buyers and other companies in the supply chain to co-develop and support the grievance process.
Track remediation outcomes and settlements.
When improvement opportunities are identified, embed effective solutions into management systems to prevent reoccurrence.

Iterate

Regularly review progress and make continuous improvements over time.

Continue to review, understand, and improve the efficacy of current policies, commitments, and practices, including:
- A need to reassess salient human rights risks, taking into consideration newly available public or supply chain data, legislation on human rights, or global initiatives.
- Any additional actions your company might take given its size and resources.
- Any ineffective measures your company can cease to implement.
- Actions that your company may undertake alone versus with other stakeholders, especially if new collaborations have formed.
Create a schedule and cycles for review to ensure consistency and progress.
Use RISE to explore resources and guidance and implement best practice.

Communicate

Share information and progress with all stakeholders, particularly buyers.

Communicate regularly regarding efforts with buyers, such as distributors, suppliers, retailers, brands, food service, or restaurants.
Report on progress towards company commitments and goals annually.
Share learnings and challenges along the way.