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GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 2016

EFFECTIVE DATE: 1 JULY 2018

Introduction​

GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 2016 contains disclosures for organizations to report information about their impacts related to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and how they manage these impacts.

The Standard is structured as follows:

  • Section 1 contains a requirement, which provides information about how the organization manages its impacts related to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
  • Section 2 contains one disclosure, which provides information about the organization’s impacts related to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
  • The Glossary contains defined terms with a specific meaning when used in the GRI Standards. The terms are underlined in the text of the GRI Standards and linked to the definitions.
  • The Biblogrpahy lists authoritative intergovernmental instruments used in developing this Standard.

Background on the topic​

This Standard addresses the topic of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Freedom of association is a human right as defined by international declarations and conventions. In this context, freedom of association refers to the right of employers and workers to form, to join and to run their own organizations without prior authorization or interference by the state or any other entity.

The right of workers to collectively bargain the terms and conditions of work is also an internationally recognized human right. Collective bargaining refers to all negotiations that take place between one or more employers or employers' organizations, on the one hand, and one or more workers' organizations (e.g., trade unions), on the other, for determining working conditions and terms of employment or for regulating relations between employers and workers.

These concepts are covered in key instruments of the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations: see the Bibliography.

1. Topic management disclosures​

An organization reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards is required to report how it manages each of its material topics.

An organization that has determined freedom of association and collective bargaining to be a material topic is required to report how it manages the topic using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 (see clause 1.1 in this section).

This section is therefore designed to supplement – and not replace – Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3.

REQUIREMENTS​

  • 1.1 The reporting organization shall report how it manages freedom of association and collective bargaining using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021.

RECOMMENDATIONS​

  • 1.2 The reporting organization should describe any policy or policies considered likely to affect workers’ decisions to form or join a trade union, to bargain collectively or to engage in trade union activities.

2. Topic disclosures​

Disclosure 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk​

REQUIREMENTS​

The reporting organization shall report the following information:

  • a. Operations and suppliers in which workers’ rights to exercise freedom of association or collective bargaining may be violated or at significant risk either in terms of:
    • i. type of operation (such as manufacturing plant) and supplier;
    • ii. countries or geographic areas with operations and suppliers considered at risk.
  • b. Measures taken by the organization in the reporting period intended to support rights to exercise freedom of association and collective bargaining.

GUIDANCE​

Guidance for Disclosure 407-1
The process for identifying operations and suppliers, as specified in Disclosure 407-1, can reflect the reporting organization’s approach to risk assessment on this issue. It can also draw from recognized international data sources, such as the various outcomes of the ILO Supervisory bodies and the recommendations of the ILO Committee of Freedom of Association (see reference [4] in the Bibliography).

When reporting the measures taken, the organization can refer to the ILO ‘Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy’ and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for further guidance.

Background
This disclosure concerns an organization’s due diligence with respect to any negative impacts its activities have had on the human rights of workers to form or join trade unions and to bargain collectively. This can include policies and processes with respect to the organization's business relationships, including its suppliers. It can also include the due diligence process to identify operations and suppliers where these rights are at risk.

It also aims to reveal actions that have been taken to support these rights across an organization’s range of operations. This disclosure does not require the organization to express a specific opinion on the quality of national legal systems.

Collective agreements can be made at the level of the organization, at the level of a particular site, at the industry level, and at the national level in countries where this is the practice. Collective agreements can cover specific groups of workers, for example, those performing a specific activity or working at a specific location.

An organization is expected to respect the rights of workers to exercise freedom of association and collective bargaining. It is also expected to not benefit from or contribute to such violations through its business relationships (e.g., suppliers).

Bibliography​

This section lists authoritative intergovernmental instruments used in developing this Standard.

    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 87, ‘Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention’, 1948.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 98, ‘Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention’, 1949.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 154, ‘Collective Bargaining Convention’, 1981.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO), NORMLEX, Freedom of association cases, http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:20060:0::NO:::, accessed on 1 September 2016.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation 163, ‘Collective Bargaining Recommendation’, 1981.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy’, 2006.
    1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 2011.
    1. United Nations (UN), ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework’, 2011.
    1. United Nations (UN) International Bill of Rights:
    • 9.1 United Nations (UN) Declaration, 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights', 1948.
    • 9.2 United Nations (UN) Convention, 'International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights', 1966.
    • 9.3 United Nations (UN) Convention, 'International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights', 1966.
    1. United Nations (UN), Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights, 2008.
    1. United Nations (UN), Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, John Ruggie, 2011.