Process requirement 6
Excerpt from the contract clause
Supplier shall enable stakeholders such as rights-holders, their representatives and environmental and human rights defenders to submit complaints if they have concerns about actual or potential adverse impacts in Supplier's operations or supply chains. Supplier shall address the submitted complaints.
Enabling complaints
You shall enable stakeholders such as rights-holders, their representatives and environmental and human rights defenders to submit complaints if they have concerns about actual or potential adverse impacts in your operations or supply chains.
Complaints procedures serve two key functions:
-
They help identify adverse impacts by providing affected parties with a channel to report issues.
-
They enable swift handling and remediation, preventing further harm or escalation of complaints.
It is important to allow complaints from more than just rights-holders directly affected by your operations, such as environmental and human rights defenders. When designing your complaints procedures, ensure they are accessible to relevant stakeholders based on your specific circumstances.
-
Instructions describing how you enable complaints in your own operations and supply chains.
-
Links to or screenshots of digital notification mechanisms.
-
Screenshots containing information about email addresses or phone numbers serving as notification mechanisms.
-
Codes of conduct with links to digital notification mechanisms or information about email addresses or phone numbers serving as notification mechanisms.
-
Photos of posters with QR codes linking to notification mechanisms, displayed in and around your own operations.
-
Photos of posters with QR codes linking to notification mechanisms, displayed in sub-suppliers' facilities.
-
Links to complaints procedures provided by multi-stakeholder initiatives.
Guidance for auditor
Fulfils requirement
The company has one or more channels through which rights-holders, their representatives, human rights defenders, etc. can submit complaints, and these are available to the respective stakeholder group:
The company has established digital channels, email addresses, telephone numbers and/or physical mailboxes for internal and external stakeholders in and around its own operations.
The company enables complaints from rights-holders in the supply chains of sample products, for example by:
-
Providing a link/QR code to a digital channel (translated into relevant languages) or email addresses/phone numbers, in the Code of Conduct.
-
Including wordings about "monitoring committees" and "stakeholder representatives" in supplier agreements.
-
Putting up posters in suppliers' premises with QR codes for digital channels.
-
Participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives with available complaint mechanisms.
Note that there is no requirement that those who make complaints shall be able to remain anonymous.
Does not fulfil requirement
The company lacks channels through which rights-holders, their representatives, human rights defenders, etc. can submit complaints, or they are not available to the respective stakeholder group:
The company lacks established digital channels, email addresses, phone numbers and/or physical mailboxes for internal and external stakeholders in and around its own operations.
The company does not in any way enable complaints from rights-holders in the supply chains of sample products.
Addressing complaints
You shall address the submitted complaints.
By addressing complaints according to established processes, you can prevent adverse impact from worsening and complaints from escalating. It is also important to link these processes to your deviation management procedures.
For a complaints procedure to be effective, oversight and accountability at a high level are required. In smaller companies, this can be managed through a simple reporting line to senior management, while larger companies often need more formal control and oversight. If trust between you and affected rights-holders is low and risks are high, joint oversight can be beneficial. This can help build confidence and ensure that the complaints procedure is tailored to the needs of its users.
-
Instructions describing how you address complaints in your own operations and supply chains.
-
Documented addressed complaints, for sample products.
Guidance for auditor
Fulfils requirement
The company has instructions or equivalent documentation that describes how it addresses complaints in its own operations and supply chains, including:
-
What the division of responsibilities (e.g. investigation, feedback, supervision), time frames, etc. looks like.
-
How the complaints are linked to the company's incident or deviation management system, if it is not the same system.
There is evidence that shows how the company has addressed complaints, such as extracts from complaints systems or documented and addressed complaints.
Does not fulfil requirement
The company lacks instructions or equivalent documentation that describe how it addresses complaints in its own operations and/or supply chains, or they are incomplete:
-
It is not clear what the division of responsibilities (e.g. investigation, feedback, supervision), time frames, etc. looks like.
-
Instructions or equivalent documentation are available for complaints in the company's own operations, but not for complaints in the supply chain.
-
It is not clear how the complaints are linked to the company's incident or deviation management system, if it is the same system.
There is no evidence showing how the company has addressed complaints, such as extracts from complaints systems or documented and addressed complaints.
-
Text to include in your code of conduct for suppliers, to be displayed in local languages at sub-suppleirs' facilities:
CONTACT [COMPANY NAME]
If your employer violates any part of this code of conduct, we want to know about it. Please report the issue by contacting us at [phone number], [email address], or by filling out the form at [link/QR code].
You are welcome to write in your own language. All information provided will be treated with strict confidentiality.