PRESS RELEASE: RRT launches a Labour Supply Chain Due Diligence Checklist

Today, the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit (RRT) launches a Labour Supply Chain Due Diligence Checklist. It is a free-to-access, business-friendly practical guide to conduct due diligence in the organisation’s labour supply chain.

Since the launch of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, companies are obligated to respect human rights within their direct operations and to prevent or mitigate any violations in the supply chain, including with labour providers, recruiters and intermediaries.

Today, mandatory human rights due diligence laws exist in France, Germany, and Norway, and are under consideration in numerous countries. In the UK, businesses and investors are actively calling on government to introduce a Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) law

Furthermore, in the context of labour shortages and new immigration routes, companies will increasingly need to work strategically with labour supply chain partners to prevent exploitation during the recruitment process.

The Checklist, published by RRT, provides practical steps to adopt responsible procuring practices when appointing new labour providers, recruiters or recruitment intermediaries, and to assess and mitigate any labour rights risks through the recruitment process.

It also provides straightforward and clear steps to improve labour sourcing, retention, reputation and increase companies’ accountability.

The Checklist is free and available to download by subscribing to the RRT online tool at any level.  

The Checklist is complemented by a range of practical tools and resources to implement effective labour supply chain due diligence including template Service Level Agreements for use at different tiers in the labour supply chain, and an ‘Authorised Partners Register’ which supports businesses to track due diligence progress for each labour recruiter/provider/intermediary in the labour supply chain, and lists the verified businesses that relevant staff can use to recruit and/or supply workers. These complementary resources are available to ‘Full’ subscribers to the RRT online tool. 

Organisations are welcomed and invited to submit a comment on contents and areas for development to info@responsiblerecruitmenttoolkit.org