Case study: How Halcyon Agri protects employees’ rights and dignity
As a leading natural rubber supply chain manager operating in 54 countries, responding to rising global mobility demands through the origination, production and distribution of natural rubber, Halcyon Agri strives to make sure its employees are treated with dignity and respect, in a work environment free from harassment and illegal discrimination.
This case study is based on the 2016 Sustainability Report by Halcyon Agri 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/ 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
Abstract
As one of the world’s largest natural rubber supply chain managers with a global distribution network, Halcyon Agri is committed to respecting the human rights of its more than 13,000 employees. Tweet This! In order to protect employees’ rights and dignity Halcyon Agri took action to:
- comply with human rights standards and principles
- make sure employees are treated with dignity and respect
- guarantee fair wages
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Halcyon Agri has identified;
- How Halcyon Agri proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Halcyon Agri to protect employees’ rights and dignity
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2016 Sustainability Report Halcyon Agri identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, premium and sustainable product offering, occupational health and safety, corporate governance, customer satisfaction. Among these, protecting employees’ rights and dignity stands out as a key material issue for Halcyon Agri.
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 s 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 Halcyon Agri engages with:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
Customers
| · Customer surveys · Sales presentations · Shipment delivery meetings · Factory site inspections or visits · One-to-one meetings · Emails/phone calls · Supplier/customer conferences · Customer portal on website |
Suppliers
| · Rubber raw material quality checks · Sales transactions and deliveries · Supplier/customer conference |
Employees
| · Face-to-face meetings · Training · Grievance procedure · Senior Management meetings · Production planning and performance reviews |
Investors/Shareholders | · Face-to-face meetings · Emails · Phone calls · Corporate website · Annual General Meeting · Regulatory announcements on SGX |
Financial institutions | · One-to-one meetings · Emails · Phone calls |
Regulators | · Briefing sessions · Factory inspections · Environmental compliance reporting |
Local Community (e.g. farmers) | · Face-to-face meetings · Council or village meetings · Social investment programmes to support the local community |
Non-government Organizations (NGOs) | · Face-to-face meetings |
Industry Associations | · Meetings · Emails · Participation in industry events |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritize material issues, taking into consideration the opinions of external stakeholders, Halcyon Agri carried out a materiality assessment workshop.
What actions were taken by Halcyon Agri to protect employees’ rights and dignity?
In its 2016 Sustainability Report Halcyon Agri reports that it took the following actions for protecting employees’ rights and dignity:
- Complying with human rights standards and principles
- Halcyon Agri adheres to fundamental human rights guiding principles, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Halcyon Agri’s support for these principles is evident in its policies and actions towards employees, suppliers, clients and communities.
- Making sure employees are treated with dignity and respect
- Halcyon Agri strives to respect human rights in the workplace, as reflected in the company’s employee handbook. Moreover, Halcyon Agri enables employees to anonymously raise ethics or discrimination concerns, questions and complaints through a whistleblowing framework, without fear of retaliation. Additionally, the company supports employees in reporting possible violations of applicable laws, regulations and policies.
- Guaranteeing fair wages
- Halcyon Agri carries out internal audits to ensure fair wages are provided to its employees. Salaries at the company’s sites are agreed locally and the ratio of standard entry-level wage compared with local minimum wage is 1:1, for both male and female employees. In addition, Halcyon Agri is in the progress of establishing a formal review system regarding labour rights at the company’s sites, starting with a fair pay review for all locations.
Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?
The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:
1) G4-HR3: Total number of incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 406-1 Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken
2) G4-HR12: Number of grievances about human rights impacts filed, addressed, and resolved through formal grievance mechanisms – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 103-2 The management approach and its components
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Halcyon Agri, 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) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page
3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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