Human rights indicators for business

Companies often understand why it is important for them to act in accordance with human rights. But it can be easier said than done when they work in dozens of countries, in multiple contexts and employ thousands. The question becomes: how to do it?

What do the indicators do?

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) have clarified the role of business actors in respecting human rights. A central aspect of the Guiding Principles is that businesses should know and show their respect for human rights – that is, to identify and assess their actual and potential adverse impacts, and demonstrate their efforts to address them. The Guiding Principles set out and recommend that companies carry out a human rights due diligence process, as a way to enable them to discharge their corporate responsibility to respect human rights.

The questions and indicators are designed to help identify the degree of due diligence in place in a company to ensure respect for human rights. The indicators are comprehensive in their coverage of rights, and include questions and indicators that cover all relevant human rights, based on over 80 international human rights instruments.

How do the indicators work?

The full set of indicators consists of 200 questions and 1000 indicators covering the full range of human rights.

The indicators have also been tailored to meet different company profiles and needs. This includes:

• The HRCA Quick Check, a free, condensed version of the full HRCA tool
• Customized checklists, including the Dalit Discrimination Check, covering caste discrimination in South Asia, and the Company Housing HRCA (available upon request)
• Sector-specific checklists, including HRCA for Pharmaceutical Companies and the Extractives Sector Checklist (available upon request)
• Location-specific checklists, including the South Africa HRCA, the China Business and Social Sustainability Check, and the Balkan Quick Check (available upon request)

The Danish Institute for Human Rights also develops tailored checklists for companies and industries.