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:
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They help identify adverse impacts by providing affected parties with a channel to report issues.
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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.
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Instructions describing how you enable complaints in your own operations and supply chains.
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Links to or screenshots of digital notification mechanisms.
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Screenshots containing information about email addresses or phone numbers serving as notification mechanisms.
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Codes of conduct with links to digital notification mechanisms or information about email addresses or phone numbers serving as notification mechanisms.
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Photos of posters with QR codes linking to notification mechanisms, displayed in and around your own operations.
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Photos of posters with QR codes linking to notification mechanisms, displayed in sub-suppliers' facilities.
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Links to complaints procedures provided by multi-stakeholder initiatives.
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.
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Instructions describing how you address complaints in your own operations and supply chains.
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Documented addressed complaints, for sample products.
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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.