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.

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ACTION

01

Develop a transparent and time-bound commitment aligned with international standards and recognized best practices

Align

Use

Identify

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.
  • 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.

RISE

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.

Walk Free Foundation

CORE

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

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