Former employees of DRC company vs. anonymous UK company

Allegations

On 9 August 2021, several former employees of an anonymous company (‘Company A’, a natural resource supplier operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo) filed a complaint to the UK NCP against the respondent company (an anonymous UK-based company) due to its business relationship with Company A. The complainants alleged that the respondent had not met various expectations in the OECD Guidelines regarding carrying out risk-based due diligence on suppliers, specifically Company A, including in relation to human rights, labour rights (including workers’ rights to engage in constructive negotiations on terms and conditions of employment), and environmental impacts.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

• Chapter I
• Chapter I Paragraph 1
• Chapter II
• Chapter II Paragraph A1
• Chapter II Paragraph A10
• Chapter II Paragraph A15
• Chapter II Paragraph A2
• Chapter IV
• Chapter IV Paragraph 1
• Chapter IV Paragraph 2
• Chapter IV Paragraph 5
• Chapter V
• Chapter V Paragraph 1 b
• Chapter V Paragraph 4 b
• Chapter VI
• Chapter VI Paragraph 1 a
• Chapter VI Paragraph 1 c
• Chapter VI Paragraph 3
• Chapter VI Paragraph 4
• Chapter VI Paragraph 6
• Chapter VI Paragraph 8
• Chapter VII
• Chapter VII Paragraph 5
• Chapter VII Paragraph 7

Outcome

In the respondent’s reply to the UK NCP, they confirmed that Company A was one of their suppliers but because they did not own any shares in Company A their ability to influence management decisions did not extend beyond the normal scope of a customer-supplier relationship. The respondent stated that following an internal investigation conducted by senior-level staff, they found “no evidence of any breaches of human rights in its business, including as part of these allegations.”

The UK NCP rejected the majority of the complainant’s allegations and decided that only those related to the company’s due diligence concerning minimum wage and trade union issues of the supplier merited further examination. The NCP offered its good offices to both parties, which they accepted on 22 June 2022. Mediation achieved a successful outcome on 22 June 2023, with both parties agreeing to anonymity of the complaint parties and details of the agreement reached. The NCP published its final statement on 19 April 2024, which it said also incorporated its initial assessment.

Later, on 26 November 2023, the complainant requested to be named in the final statement. The UK NCP requested further information, which the complainants provided, but the NCP decided that the information did not adequately support their reasoning to be named and the NCP concluded that naming the complainants in the final statement would breach the terms of reference for mediation. The complainants accepted the NCP’s decision.

The NCP will not follow-up on the agreement reached.

More details

Documents

• UK NCP's final statement

  19 April 2024

  Final statement

  UK NCP