Case study: How HPCL protects employees’ human rights
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is one of the largest public-sector enterprises under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, with a pipeline network of more than 3,370 km for transporting petroleum products. HPCL adheres to the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), is an equal opportunity employer, practices zero tolerance towards any kind of discrimination and is firmly committed to upholding internationally proclaimed human rights.
This case study is based on the 2018-19 Sustainability Report by HPCL published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
HPCL is committed to making sure that there is strict adherence to human rights principles and the relevant laws across its operations Tweet This!, and embraces diversity and inclusion so as to create a culture of empowerment for all. In order to protect employees’ human rights HPCL took action to:
- protect freedom of association and collective bargaining
- implement a grievance redressal system
- prevent sexual harassment
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) HPCL has identified;
- How HPCL proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by HPCL to protect employees’ human rights
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2018-19 Sustainability Report HPCL identified a range of material issues, such as business integrity, product safety, customer relationship experience and satisfaction, water management, safety and security of critical assets, reducing carbon emissions. Among these, protecting employees’ human rights stands out as a key material issue for HPCL.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups HPCL engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Management and Non-Management Employees
| · Annual performance reviews and appraisal system · Education Growth Plan (EGP) · Monthly/quarterly safety committee meetings · Regular interactions · E-platforms · Regular in-house technical and behavioural trainings · Nomination to external trainings, conferences and seminars · Annual/biannual recognitions schemes · Regular interactions · Employee-connect forums |
| LPG Distributors
| · One-on-one meetings · Regular distributor meets · Regular visits and inspections · Training programmes on safety · Regular inspections and safety audits |
| Retail Dealers
| · Regular meetings with vendors and dealers · One-on-one discussions · Regular dealer meets |
| Supplier and Vendors
| · Complaints redressal mechanism · Training programmes on safety · Regular health check-ups · Regular meetings · Trainings · Tank truck health check-up · Regular meets and discussions · One-on-one interactions · Regular supplier meets at operating level · One-on-one meetings · Panel meetings · Pre-bid meetings · Email communications · Online platforms · Need-based communications · Vendor trainings |
| Delivery Men
| · Regular training sessions · Regular interactions · Training sessions on safety |
| Contract Workers
| · Annual health check-ups · Regular wellness sessions · Regular interaction · Need-based communication · Regular trainings |
| Regulators | · Regular interaction with the community through CSR initiatives · Regular interactions with the Government departments and statutory bodies · Training on safety issues and mock drills for emergency preparedness · Mutual-aid meetings · Meetings with local authorities |
| Communities | · Meetings with local administration, NGOs and implementing agencies · Regular meetings with communities |
| Shareholders and Investors
| · Annual Report · Periodic press releases · Annual General Meeting · Analyst meet · Regular meetings · Online platform |
| Customers | · Periodic campaigns on safety and resource conservation · Periodic customer satisfaction surveys and customer meets · One-on-one meetings · Need-based communication · Online complaint management system |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics HPCL undertook workshops covering a representative sample of 278 internal and external stakeholders, receiving 244 sample survey responses.
What actions were taken by HPCL to protect employees’ human rights?
In its 2018-19 Sustainability Report HPCL reports that it took the following actions for protecting employees’ human rights:
- Protecting freedom of association and collective bargaining
- HPCL strongly upholds freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, and has cordial and productive relations with unions for more than two decades. HPCL has formal agreements with trade unions to deal with issues related to labour laws, health and safety of its employees, training and education and grievance redressal. The effective grievance management system, fairness and emphasis on transparency have aligned unions and employees to HPCL’s In 2018-19, HPCL Trust for Promoting Industrial Harmony awarded ‘Shri Raja Kulkarni Samman’ to six senior union leaders, for their outstanding contribution to industrial relations. At present, more than 94% of HPCL’s non-management employees are a part of unions, which enables them to voice their concerns. Additionally, before implementing any management initiatives that impact or concern non-management employees HPCL discusses them with trade unions, to understand their perspectives and arrive at a mutual agreement.
- Implementing a grievance redressal system
- To make sure that human rights of every individual are upheld, HPCL has a robust grievance mechanism to deal with any cases of human rights violation. HPCL believes that the effective grievance redressal system ensures employee satisfaction and creates a fair, productive and safe work environment. Accordingly, HPCL employees have access to the grievance redressal system to settle their individual grievances and the process for grievance handling, through the Management Employee Relations Committee (MERC), ensures effective and prompt handling of grievances. HPCL has established detailed guidelines for timely grievance redressal, through a decentralised mechanism for process implementation and online workflow application for effective implementation. Through the MERC channel, employees can log in grievances in any of the following matters:
- Grievances arising out of Performance Management (PM) related matters.
- Grievances arising out of non-receipt of eligible C&B (compensation and benefits) under the Corporation Policy.
- Grievances arising out of any other Employee Relations (ER) related matters at the workplace.
- Preventing sexual harassment
- In 2018-19, HPCL organised Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) workshops to inculcate appropriate workplace behaviour and promote gender sensitisation, covering provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. HPCL also reconstituted Internal Complaint Committees (ICC) for marketing zones and refineries in view of the reassignment, superannuation, separation or completion of three years of ICC member. To empower women employees, HPCL carried out self-defence training programmes called ‘Kavach’.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 402-1 Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes
Disclosure 402-1 Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Labor/management relations
Disclosure 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Freedom of association and collective bargaining
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by HPCL, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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