Danish companies' documentation of their human rights work

All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights. That responsibility also applies to companies that work or trade in countries where the state does not live up to its human rights obligations.

A new study from the Danish Institute of Human Rights has examined how 20 of the largest companies in Denmark document their work with human rights.

Overall, the study shows that none of the 20 companies are currently able to demonstrate full compliance with the corporate responsibility respect for human rights, as defined by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Key findings

The Danish Financial Statements Act requires Danish companies to report on their policies and activities for social responsibility, including their respect for human rights.

The study shows that the companies have the weakest performance across the human rights due diligence indicators, with an average score of three out of the maximum 12 points. The companies generally fail to communicate their human rights risk and impact management approaches or disclose their impacts.

None of the companies are currently demonstrating full alignment with the responsibility to respect human rights. And over half of the companies have not committed publicly to provide remedy to victims of human rights abuses.

Only seven companies demonstrate how they engage with potentially affected stakeholders. At the same time, only three companies communicate how they involve affected stakeholders in their human rights risk and impact identification and assessment process.

The study

This study provides an analysis of the human rights policies and self-reported human rights due diligence practices of 20 of the largest Danish companies. The companies represent different sectors, are headquartered in Denmark and all have global operations, value and supply chains.

The study only measures Danish companies’ current and publicly available documentation of alignment with the UN Guiding principles on Business and Human Rights. 

The study uses the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark’s Core Indicator Assessment methodology in relation to the UN principles that includes 13 indicators. The companies score between zero and two points across the 13 cores indicators. A score of one point means that a company meets the most basic criteria for that specific indicator. 

This list of core indicators is designed to create a brief overview of the companies approach to human rights and their ability to demonstrate compliance with the standards stated in the UN principles.  

The 13 indicators cover three thematic areas: 
1.    Governance and Policy Commitments (four indicators)
2.    Embedding Respect and Human Rights Due Diligence (six indicators)
3.    Remedies and Grievance Mechanisms (three indicators)