Respecting Human Rights: A Business Imperative - Coca-Colaassets.coca-colacompany.com/c5/48/1adbaf0f4813875e6647647b0f4c/... · Respecting Human Rights: A Business Imperative

Respecting Human Rights: Why It Matters and What You Can Do1

Respecting Human Rights:A Business ImperativeWhy It Matters and What You Can Do

Tools and Resources to Help You Make a Difference


The Coca‑Cola Company is committed to making a positive difference everywhere we do business, and this includes respecting the fundamental principles of human and workplace rights everywhere we operate.

The Company shares the view that all people should enjoy fundamental human rights to life, liberty, dignity, respect, equality under the law — and more. Our commitment to making this a reality guides the way we conduct business. It governs all aspects of our work, from the suppliers we work with, to our bottling partners, to how we engage each other in the workplace, to our interaction with customers, consumers and the communities we serve.

Upholding this commitment begins with each of us. One of the great things about working in our business is being able to connect with people all around the world and inspire them, in our own small way, to make a difference.

Please use this brochure, Respecting Human Rights, as your guide to making a difference — for our business and for the world.

I was blessed to learn at an early age that everyone has a role to play in making the world a better place.

Muhtar KentChairman and CEO


A central ethic of The Coca‑Cola Company and its bottling partners is to do the right thing — every day. Imagine the power if, every year, the more than 700,000 associates in our system took one action that mitigated a human rights impact of our business, or improved the lives of the people in the communities in which they live.

We all have had “human rights moments,” both inside and outside the system. When was your first human rights moment? When was your most recent Coca‑Cola human rights moment?

When I was 10 years old, I had a human rights moment, but didn’t realize it at the time. I was visiting my cousin’s vineyard to help him harvest grapes. He needed seasonal, migrant labor to help during harvest season. After a day’s work, the migrants and their families cooked by campfire and slept on the ground or in their cars.

Even as a boy, this felt wrong to me. With money I earned over the next three years from a paper route, mowing lawns, shoveling snow — and a loan from my dad — my family built bunk houses and latrines that stand to this day for the migrant labor families.

Of course, at age 10, I was unaware of “human rights.” And I had never heard of the “Right to Housing” in Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What I intuitively understood is that we have a responsibility to speak up — and to act — when something is not right.

This brochure, Respecting Human Rights, should make it easier for you to take the right actions if you’re faced with a human rights moment of your own.

Respecting the basic human rights of all people around the world is a principle that’s easy to believe in, but often harder to make a reality. Yet, it is essential to sustaining the communities we serve and to our Company’s future.

Since I joined The Coca‑Cola Company in 2005, I’ve experienced many human rights moments. In business, as in life, doing the right thing is often not convenient or easy. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.

In fact, it’s what we — and our great Company — stand for.

Imagine 700,000 Coca‑Cola Human Rights Moments Every Year

Ed PotterDirectorGlobal Workplace Rights



This brochure is intended to give you:

4 An understanding of The Coca‑Cola Company’s commitment to respecting human rights

4 Access to human rights tools and resources you can use in your day‑to‑day work

4 An update on the Company’s progress in the area of human rights

What’s Inside4 Why It Matters 4 What We Do

1. Stand Up 2. Know Better 3. Make It Right 4. Engage Stakeholders

4 Tools You Can Use


WHY IT MATTERS

Respecting human rights is a business imperative.What was your first human rights moment?


Rememberthe kid

who didn’t fit in?

WHY IT MATTERS

Most of us remember a kid like that.

The one who didn’t have the power to stand up for himself. The one who

was different.

Maybe she lacked social standing or a stable home. Maybe he was from

another country or had a different ethnic background. For whatever reason,

these kids were singled out and often harassed — victims of discrimination or

lack of respect simply because they were different.

This might have been your first “human rights moment.”

Human rights issues can be as big as the world, and as close and personal as your childhood.

Whether you stood up to those childhood tormentors back then or stayed in the background, recognizing a human rights moment now, and acting on it, is essential to respecting human rights.

It matters. And as citizens of the world and ambassadors of our brands, it is not optional for us.


WHY IT MATTERS

Doing good is good for business.Treat people with respect on a personal level and respect human rights at the Company level. It’s the right thing to do, every day.


WHY IT MATTERS

To achieve our 2020 Vision, we must always strive to do the right thing for people. It’s one of the ways we can make a difference and create value, because it helps sustain communities and the people who buy our beverages. Doing the right thing helps us authentically inspire moments of optimism and happiness. And because authenticity is the lifeblood of our brands, we must be able to answer “yes” when consumers, customers, investors and stakeholders ask, “Are you what you say you are?”

Striving to do the right thing doesn’t mean we’re perfect, and it doesn’t mean always being right. Sometimes it means admitting when you’re wrong and doing something about it. This kind of authenticity fosters trust and enhances our reputation.

4 Our progress on respect for human

rights led to our inclusion within

the Calvert Social Index. The index

is a benchmark for measuring the

performance of large, U.S.‑based

companies that follow sustainable and

responsible policies — and serves as

a litmus test that socially‑responsible

investors use when deciding which

companies to invest in.

4 Our human rights practices were cited

as a “unique best people practice” by

the Great Place to Work Institute in 2011,

when it included the Company on

the World’s Best Multinational

Workplaces list. (We made this list again

in 2013.)

Doing the Right Thing Builds Brand Value


WHY IT MATTERS

Why It Matters

to Me

Why It Matters to McDonald’s Javier C. GoizuetaPresident, The McDonald’s Division Worldwide VP, The Coca‑Cola Company

Doing the right thing is as important to McDonald’s as it is to The Coca‑Cola Company. Throughout our 58‑year business relationship, we have established a deep understanding of each other’s programs that has resulted in mutual trust, openness and sharing of our best practices. While McDonald’s does this with other key suppliers, we feel it has become a differentiator for us with McDonald’s. Today, we are just one of a few companies that McDonald’s allows to self‑manage its Supplier Workplace Accountability Program, resulting in significant cost reduction for The Coca‑Cola Company. Being a leader in this area is valued by our customer, and it adds value to our bottom line.

Doing the right thing makes financial sense. Consider these costs that would have directly hit our bottom line in 2012, but didn’t:

4 More than $40 million in costs avoided because our strict social compliance self‑audits fulfilled the audit requirements of our customers, and they decided it was unnecessary to audit us

4 More than $1 million in costs saved by agreeing to “mutually recognize” certain suppliers’ self‑audits, avoiding duplicate audits

Doing the Right Thing Builds Economic Value: Over $100 Million in 2012

4 More than $6 million in net overtime expenses saved when “excess work hour” issues were resolved

4 More than $100 million of our supply chain protected without the need to change suppliers


Standing Up for Those Who Can’t Stand Up for ThemselvesElizabeth Finn JohnsonSenior Counsel, Employee RelationsThe Coca‑Cola Company

I went to law school to become a civil rights lawyer. Standing up for the rights of the “underrepresented” is really important to me. Doing the human rights due diligence work is one way for me to connect my passion for defending the rights of those who can’t stand up for themselves with work the Company is doing to make sure that we aren’t trampling on those rights. It makes it more than a job. It’s very important to me that the Company is trying to make the world a better place. I’m proud to work at a company that understands and supports human rights in all its facets.

I have a particular passion for helping women and children. One way I do this is through our Legal division’s pro bono efforts; I work with GAIN [Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network] to represent local victims of trafficking. In one case, my client had given up a promising career in the Pacific for an arranged marriage and promises of furthering her career and education in the U.S. Instead, she lived with her husband and his parents, and basically became their slave. She was drugged, isolated, physically and verbally abused…powerless.

She managed to escape, and I represented her to get her U visa*. She now has a successful career at a national non‑profit. She would tell you that her life has been changed, and she has blossomed. To have the opportunity to help women who are powerless get out of awful situations — like forced prostitution — and have the Company support me in that … that’s what keeps me going.

*The U visa gives victims of certain crimes temporary legal status and work eligibility in the U.S. for up to four years.

WHY IT MATTERS

Why It Matters

to Me


WHAT WE DO

Stand Up.Know Better.Make It Right.Engage Stakeholders.This is what we do.


WHAT WE DO

They define what the corporate responsibility to respect human rights means.

Our entire human and workplace rights strategy — and all related efforts — are aligned with these principles. To make it easier to understand what we do, we’ve simplified the 27 pages of principles into the four areas on the next page.

The United Nation’s Guiding

Principles on Business and Human

Rightswere accepted and

supported by global business in 2011.


4 The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its 30 “Articles” set out the basic rights and personal freedoms every person is entitled to, regardless of home country and personal characteristics.

4 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This is the political commitment of governments, and employers’ and workers’ organizations, to uphold basic workplace rights.

4 The UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This provides the guidelines for businesses to demonstrate respect for human rights.

WHAT WE DO

A policy commitment that businesses should have in place to meet their responsibility to respect human rights;

A human rights due‑diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights;

Processes to enable the remediation of any adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute;

Drawing on internal and/or independent external human rights expertise and engaging in meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders.

The UN calls it… We call it…

UNIVERSALDECLARATION

OF HUMANRIGHTS

60

Stand Up

Know Better

Make It Right

Engage Stakeholders

1

2

3

4

What Are Human Rights?Many organizations are focused on human rights, which are addressed in a myriad of statements, guidelines and declarations. However, there are three main documents that you should understand. They are:

All of the Company’s human rights efforts, policies, programs and tools fit into these four areas. This is what we, as a Company, do.

Respecting Human Rights: Why It Matters and What You Can Do15 Respecting Human Rights: Why It Matters and What You Can Do15

STAND UP

STAND UP


HowDoes the Company

‘Take aStand’?

Our human and workplace rights policies clearly define what we stand for.

When you follow our policies and processes, when you use the tools, when you act on a “human rights moment” and use Company resources to do the right thing — you’re helping the Company take a stand.

Our policies say what we believe in — what we’re committed to. But it’s up to all of us to bring our commitments to life in what we do.

STAND UP



STAND UP

What We Say We establish the Policy foundation for managing our global business in a way that respects all human rights. We also set out our human rights expectations for independent bottlers in the Coca‑Cola system.

Our policy documents set out our expectations related to human rights and issues such as child labor, forced labor, freedom of association, discrimination, health and safety, hours of work, speech, community engagement, mutual respect and more.

What We Say...

About Human RightsWhat We Do Every year, employees are expected to “stand up” by certifying that they understand our Human and Workplace Rights Policy and Code of Business Conduct — and that they will report any human rights issues they may see. We offer a third‑party service, EthicsLine, for employees (and vendors) to report violations 24 hours a day.

Managers must “stand up,” as well. We update our Human Rights Statement and Workplace Rights Policy Manager’s Guide annually, adding guidance on numerous human rights issues including hate speech, indigenous peoples and human and migrant labor. Our updated Human and Workplace Rights Policy Toolkit also helps us raise the bar and better equip managers.

How does what we say become real? Here are a few examples of how we “walk our talk.”

What We Do...


What We Say Our Policy provides a consistent approach to workplace rights in our Company worldwide and embeds it as an integral part of our culture, strategy and day‑to‑day operations.

What We Say Our Policy describes how the Company expects employees to treat each other and everyone they interact with.

What We Say Our Supplier Guiding Principles (SGP) state our expectations of bottlers and suppliers, emphasizing practices that respect human and workplace rights and comply, at a minimum, with applicable national laws and ratified international standards.

STAND UP

What We Do We conduct independent third‑party assessments of our operations to validate compliance with our Human and Workplace Rights Policy. In 2012, thousands of employees received Human and Workplace Rights training; it’s now standard training for all employees.

What We Do We foster an environment of respect in many ways, including through Global Mutual Respect training, which is provided to employees worldwide. We also survey employees to gather insights and measure employee engagement, which is a key metric in tracking whether or not employees feel respected.

What We Do Our Supplier Guiding Principles are part of all agreements with direct and authorized suppliers globally. To assess suppliers’ compliance, we use independent third parties, who may conduct confidential interviews with employees and on‑site contract workers. Suppliers that fail to uphold any aspect of our SGP must take corrective actions. We reserve the right to terminate an agreement with any supplier that can’t comply.

In 2012, we upgraded our SGP assessments by including 26 Human Rights Good Practices, and we’re extending the reach of these assessments throughout our major suppliers’ supply chains. Learn more.


About Workplace Rights

About Mutual Respect

About Supplier Expectations


STAND UP

Founding Member of the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBIHR)

In 2009, The Coca‑Cola Company, General Electric, ABB and Hewlett Packard founded the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBIHR) to bring respect for human rights principles to the global community and as a means of extending our human rights standards throughout our global supply chain.

Founding Member of Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking (gBCAT)

Human trafficking is a global problem that needs a global solution. That is why the Company has taken a stand on this issue. We conduct more than 2,300 audits each year of our Company, franchise bottlers and supply chain to ensure compliance with our Human and Workplace Rights Policy, which prohibits human trafficking. In 2012, The Coca‑Cola Company joined global corporations — such as ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Delta Air Lines, Carlson, ManpowerGroup, LexisNexis, NXP and Travelport — as a founding member of gBCAT. This coalition of companies recognizes the critical role business can play in ending all forms of modern‑day slavery and will help to develop and share best practices for addressing the vulnerability of businesses to human trafficking in their operations.

As a member of gBCAT, we’re committed to supporting the development of training modules for employees, building awareness among consumers, suppliers and partners, and collaborating with governments, NGOs and civil society to develop cross‑sector solutions.

Other Ways We Stand Up

Human Trafficking: What You Can DoKnow the 7 Signs:

1. Unable to leave their job 2. Don’t control their own earnings 3. Unable to move freely or are being watched

or followed 4. Are afraid to speak in the presence of others 5. Show signs of being assaulted or otherwise

harmed (denial of food, water, sleep, medical care)

6. Passports and other documents have been taken

7. Have been cheated into paying debt

Report It (U.S.):

4 U.S. Trafficking hotline: 888‑373‑7888

4 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hotline: 866‑347‑2423

4 www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking


STAND UP


Giving Communities and Families HopeStuart Kyle Director, Workplace AccountabilityThe Coca‑Cola Company

When we first talk to mothers about the importance of their children being in school instead of working, they don’t always take it well — because their families depend on the income. The NGOs help. I met the mother of a boy we had helped get out of the summer harvest so he could go to school. She was making pink purses that the NGO helps her sell to replace her son’s harvest income.

Once the mothers see their kids in school, it’s like a load is taken off their shoulders. One mother gave me a hug when she saw the NGO’s billboard of her son on their street. It said, “Thank you for supporting my dream to become a teacher.” Here’s a young boy who is not going to re‑live the heritage of his parents and grandparents. He’s going to be the first one to go to school. He has hope. When I’ve met families like that before, there was no hope.

There are countless situations where we make a difference. I’ve met migrant workers whose employers had seized their passports. They can’t leave the country or work for another employer, so they’re essentially hostages of that company. I’ve seen workers barefoot in a canning plant, with metal shavings all around that would slice your foot apart. Some places denied jobs to — or fired — pregnant women and people with HIV. In factories that weren’t paying overtime that we brought into compliance, the income of workers increased by an average of 53% to 65%. When we get these things corrected, it makes a huge difference in people’s lives, and it creates a more sustainable community.

Why It Matters

to Me

A mother sells purses to replace her son’s income. “Thank you for supporting my dream to become a teacher.”


KNOW BETTER

KNOW BETTER


When we know

better, we can do

better.

KNOW BETTER

The world expects us to know and be

responsible for what happens

anywhere in our value chain, from

“farm to shelf.”

Not knowing is no defense.

It isn’t easy to see all that goes on in our suppliers’ suppliers’ suppliers’ operations. However, we have a responsibility to ensure that human rights are respected in our Company, among our bottling partners and in the supply chain, end‑to‑end.

The world expects us to “know and show”—to know what’s going on and show that we address issues when we find them. That’s why the Global Workplace Rights (GWR) group’s primary job is to identify potential human rights issues — to provide easy‑to‑use due diligence tools to help the business identify human rights risks and avoid unintended missteps, and to mitigate human rights harm when it occurs.

The GWR team has developed a number of standardized tools and processes for your use — some are tried and true, some are new and improved and some are still in the pilot stage. They help us all recognize potential human rights moments and take the right actions.

3 Ways to ‘Know Better’

4 Learning from Stakeholders

4 Conducting Assessments and Building Capability

4 Using Tools that Raise the Bar



Extending Our Reach:

KNOW BETTER

Human and Workplace Rights Policy Assessments

Our Human and Workplace Rights Policy assessments have been expanded to cover non‑employee workers on site, increasing the percentage of non‑employee workers covered by assessments from 20% to 100%. We also identified an opportunity to strengthen our Grievance Mechanisms in 2012 and are expanding their reach and effectiveness. Additionally, with Verite and The McDonald’s Corporation, we’re assessing the conditions of migrant workers in our combined supply chain.

Supplier Guiding Principles

We have upgraded our Supplier Guiding Principles (SGP) assessments to include a set of 26 Human Rights Good Practices (see page 44 of the Workplace Rights Implementation Guide). Aside from measuring the presence of good practices, the assessments focus on capacity building to increase adoption of good practices over time. That means we’re helping more people recognize potential human rights moments, and teaching them how to take preventive or corrective action.

‘Pass it Back’ Drives Best Practices, Assessments Down Supply Chain

We can’t be responsible for auditing the world. So how do we connect our human and workplace rights vision from customers all the way back through our supply chain to the origin of raw materials? Our “Pass It Back” pilot program is one way. Through Pass It Back, we’re helping three of our major suppliers implement our assessments throughout their own supply chains. This extends our best practices exponentially, and helps us assess the indirect affect our business may be having on human rights.

Building System Capability

Every other year since 2008, Global Workplace Rights has assembled a meeting of human and workplace rights experts from our largest bottling partners to exchange best practices and to help educate the system about what we mean by “Stand Up,” “Know Better” and “Make it Right.” These meetings are supplemented by several human and workplace rights skills development programs available on Coca‑Cola University. Our 2012 meeting in Shanghai included sharing a new contract labor risk mitigation tool.

Engaging Our Employees

The Company is able to “stand up” for what’s right through our employees’ engagement. To encourage employees’ continued engagement, we:

4 Offer nearly 25 online human and workplace rights training and development sessions, many of which feature recorded sessions with human rights guest speakers.

4 Solicit and publish compelling blogs by external human rights leaders on our external website, Coca‑Cola Journey, and maintain a steady stream of human and workplace rights‑related stories on our intranet, myKO.

Assessment and Capability Building



KNOW BETTER

Value Chain Analysis for Human Rights Risk Tool

This tool makes it easier for our business system to anticipate human rights risks, take advantage of the human rights tools and to mitigate the risk before there is human rights harm. In 2012, Global Workplace Rights used the tool to analyze each aspect of our global system value chain. This analysis relied on input from stakeholders, our bottlers and data from over 14,000 workplace assessments covering over 2.5 million workers in our supply chain. From this, GWR has identified actual and potential human rights risks in each aspect of our value chain — from raw materials to end use.

Human Rights Due Diligence Checklists

Available policies, tools and practices provide a simple way to help mitigate many risk areas. For example, we’ve developed easy‑to‑use, two‑page human rights due diligence checklists that cover topics such as migrant labor, child labor, plant siting, procurement and more. These offer clear steps that managers can take immediately to integrate respect for human and workplace rights into daily operations that align with our policies.

Raising the Due Diligence Bar in Myanmar

Any U.S. investor in Myanmar is expected to conduct thorough human rights due diligence of its potential impact, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and submit a report to the U.S. Department of State. The report is published on the State Department’s website for public comment. As a first‑mover investor in Myanmar, our initial report will be submitted at the end of 2013 (and on an annual basis thereafter on July 1). Socially‑responsible investors (and others) are expecting that all companies will do comparable due diligence in other high‑risk countries and make their due diligence reports available publicly. Our Myanmar due diligence process involved a thorough assessment of human rights, finance and environmental issues (among others) and included assessments of production and distribution operations, land leases and complicity issues. There will be ongoing due diligence as we build our supply chain and bottling plants in Myanmar.

Using Tools that Raise the Bar, Reduce the Risk


KNOW BETTER

Why It Matters

to Me

‘Pass It Back’ Helps MWV Make a Bigger DifferenceBette ClarkVice President, Supply Chain Risk and Enablement MWV (MeadWestvaco)

MWV’s participation in The Coca‑Cola Company’s ‘Pass It Back’ program provides an opportunity for us to gain a greater understanding of potential human rights risks in our supply chain and in our own customers’ supply chain. By using tools and assessments that are aligned to The Coca‑Cola Company’s, we provide our plants and our contract manufacturers a better understanding of their role in achieving our shared commitment to sustainable improvement. We might make a small difference in our own supply chain, but it has an impact in the world. And Pass It Back gives MWV an opportunity to use its leverage to make an even bigger difference in the world.


MAKE IT RIGHT


MAKE IT RIGHT


We take that responsibility seriously.

MAKE IT RIGHT

When we find a problem, we take corrective action. For example, our 14,000 supply chain audits uncovered the need for changes, and we’ve already made essential improvements that have benefitted over 1 million people. For many, this has meant:

4 Getting a day off from work that they

otherwise would not have had

4 Working in a safer environment

4 No longer experiencing gender

discrimination

4 Getting a 50% to 60% increase in

income once their employer complied

with the law

Making it right can’t be a one‑time thing. So, we look for opportunities to create global policies and tools that help associates prevent or handle issues in a consistent, compassionate way. See the next page for a few examples of how we’re making things right.

Doing the right thing

is in our DNA.

Sometimes, doing the right thing means

admitting that we can do better and

making it right.


MAKE IT RIGHT

Migrant Labor in the Business System and Supply Chain

Middle Eastern Migrant Workers’ Passports No Longer Seized

In 2008, our Supplier Guiding Principles audits found Middle Eastern bottling plants were seizing and holding migrant workers’ passports. Without passports, migrant workers can’t leave the country or work for another employer, which violates our SGP prohibition of forced labor. To help make this right, we provided bottlers with our research regarding local legal requirements, which conflicted with the commonly‑held view that passport holding was legally required. We also provided training that helped bottlers change the policies of certain insurers that required this type of practice.

Child Labor in the Agriculture Supply Chain

Stakeholder Engagement Leads to Expanding Focus on Child Labor in Agriculture

As a major buyer of sugar and other agricultural ingredients, we are using our influence to help end hazardous child labor in agriculture. Our efforts to end hazardous child labor in our agriculture supply chain began in the sugarcane harvesting industry and have since expanded to include our entire agricultural supply chain. While there is still much to do, we’ve had some successes. (See more detail about our efforts to prevent hazardous child labor.)

Contract Labor in the Business System

Contract workers within our system might be doing the same job as full‑time employees, but may earn substantially less and have fewer benefits — even if they have more tenure. Through our work in India, the Philippines, and Pakistan, we’ve learned more about how to help ensure contract laborers are treated fairly throughout our system. And we’ve turned this learning into a new tool to help managers identify and assess common potential risks throughout the overall cycle of an employer’s relationship with a contract worker. As result, we’ve reduced the use of “non‑seasonal” contract labor in India, the Philippines and Pakistan.

Leadership Safety Engagement Program in Morocco

When an external stakeholder raised concerns about safety and health issues in our bottling system, the Global Workplace Rights and Safety teams collaborated to conduct a comprehensive safety summit. The best practice‑focused session provided practical tools and advice that could be implemented right away. Programs like this can help improve our safety record because they clarify our safety expectations, drive accountability and help build capability in our system.


How We Make It Right:A Few Examples


MAKE IT RIGHT

Clearing Machetes from ClassroomsCindy SawyerWork Environment & Workplace Rights Director The Coca‑Cola Company

The opportunity to play a role in addressing child labor in sugarcane harvesting has been both challenging and humbling. This is especially true working from the Center, because you tend to think, “How can we have a direct impact…from here?”

But with our Global/Local strategy, we are. I see it in the work of our multi‑stakeholder initiatives and in my personal experience. I remember long ago explaining to some sugarcane plantation owners why child labor isn’t acceptable anywhere in our supply chain. They weren’t ready to hear that message at the time, because in many places, children work alongside their parents as a way to make ends meet. When I showed them pictures of children with machetes and highlighted the hazards, someone said if they don’t start cutting sugarcane as children, they won’t get calluses on their hands tough enough to be able to hold the machete when they’re older. I’m pleased to say, they don’t think like that today. The industry in several locations has come a long way.

I saw this personally, when I helped to refurbish a school in Central America. Some of the children used to work in the sugarcane fields, but now they’re in school. When I was cleaning up a classroom, I found a discarded machete. It seemed symbolic—like that “tool of the trade” had been traded for the opportunity to go to school.

During the same trip, our Company’s Sustainability team completed a project to provide water to the refurbished school. To see our Company holistically helping a community like that was really powerful. It’s one of those experiences that sticks with you, and it confirms that we really can make a difference.

Why It Matters

to Me

Cindy removes a discarded machete from a classroom when helping to refurbish a school in Central America.


MAKE IT RIGHT

Since 2003...

Since 2007...

More than 14,000 assessments completed, covering more than 2.5 million workers

Compliance with Supplier Guiding Principles

2012 closed at a record performance of 81%, versus a global goal of 80%, as measured by our Global Workplace Rights Scorecard

We show a steady track record in score performance improvement

94% of our core suppliers, or more than 4,000 locations, have been audited.

Over 150 facilities with egregious practices have been identified and addressed

Over 1 million workers in our supply chain have benefited from improved practices

Nearly 50,000 violations to local law that could draw civil or criminal sanction have been identified and have been, or are being, resolved

*All figures above are as of 2012.

Making It Right, By the Numbers*

44%2009201020112012

20152020

63%73%

81%

GOAL 91% (OVERALL)

GOAL 96% (OVERALL)

94% OR

The income of workers increased by an average of 53% to 65% in factories in China and India that overcame noncompliances related to wage and benefits payments.

$


14,000

4,000

27%

81%

2007 2012

80% 81%

2012Global Goal

150

250K

500K

750K

1 MILLION


MAKE IT RIGHT

My Dad Planted the Seed of ‘Rights’ for MeKent McVay International Labor Relations and Global Workplace Rights Director The Coca‑Cola Company

I care deeply about human rights today in large part because of my dad. I grew up in the deep south of the U.S., as the youngest kid in a large family. My dad was active in local community politics while I was growing up. He volunteered to register other voters during local, state and federal election cycles, and he worked actively on community issues, particularly in the African American community where I grew up.

I remember him saying he did not have the federally‑protected right to vote until the year I was born, and he would often tell me and my siblings how important it was to exercise our right to vote. Years later, I reflected on the fact that, as an African‑American man growing up where he did, he did not have a federally‑protected right to vote until he was 35 years old.

My dad was right; the right to vote is an invaluable right that everyone should have. And it’s not the only one. I believe all people should be treated fairly and have basic rights — irrespective of their religion, ethnicity, gender, color, etc. I’m proud that my work for the Company allows me to help ensure people working in our system are treated fairly and equitably.

Why It Matters

to Me


ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS


ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS


ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS

Partnering with stakeholders also helps us make a bigger difference in the world, because it boosts best practice sharing and benchmarking, and helps raise the human and workplace rights bar for all companies and organizations. And when we can do that, we can help to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.

To achieve these big ambitions, we continually partner with external stakeholders from the golden triangle of civil society, government and business — and with our employees. Together, we help create a rising tide that lifts all boats.

That’s why we cultivate and maintain relationships with the people who know. And

we’ve created routines to involve them, to

listen to them and to learn from them.

It would be foolish to

think we could do it

all alone.


ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS

Civil Society

Civil society includes socially responsible investors, universities and students, people in the communities we serve, labor unions and similar organizations, NGOs and more. A few examples of our engagement:

4 During the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting, Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent met with Human Rights Watch and discussed human rights issues related to the Winter Olympics and Myanmar.

4 The company responded to Oxfam’s concerns by outlining a concrete action plan to address land rights of farmers in our supply chain. It includes zero tolerance for “land grabs.”

4 When the International Union of Food and Allied Workers (IUF) our largest Stakeholder, made us aware of health and safety issues in Morocco, we took action.

Government

We regularly work with national governments and departments of labor where we operate.

4 Our engagement with ILO‑IPEC has led to effective child labor initiatives.

4 We’re working with the South African government and its fruit industry and to establish human and workplace rights standards.

4 We worked with the local ILO and British Council to focus on supply chain human rights in Myanmar, and set the transparency bar for the mandatory U.S. State Department public reporting that is required to maintain our U.S. license to operate there.

Business

Collaborating with like‑minded businesses augments our efforts worldwide and helps us learn.

Leading the Way Through AIM‑PROGRESS

Through our leadership role in AIM‑PROGRESS, we’ve helped to expand leading‑edge practices, avoided more than $1 million in costs and advanced human rights knowledge in our supply chain. AIM‑PROGRESS is a forum of more than 30 businesses in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. Learn more.

Shift Project

Twice a year, we participate with several other multinational companies in Shift’s collaborative session on implementing respect for human rights. Shift’s team, many of who were involved in the writing of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, provide us with valuable advice and benchmarking information on challenging issues such as grievance mechanisms in our supply chain.

Engaging the Golden Triangle



TOOLS YOU CAN USE

Tools You Can UseResources & Policies Human and Workplace Rights PolicyProvides a consistent approach to human and workplace rights in our Company worldwide and embeds it as an integral part of our culture, strategy and day‑to‑day operations. p.18

Supplier Guiding Principles (SGP)State our expectations of suppliers in our global supply chain, emphasizing workplace practices that respect human rights and comply, at a minimum, with applicable laws and international conventions. p.18

EthicsLine (866) 790‑5579Employees can confidentially report potential human rights or ethics issues (accessible 24 hours/day). p.17

Human and Workplace Rights Training Multiple online courses for all employees offered through Coca‑Cola University. p.18

Human Rights Statement and Workplace Rights Policy Manager’s GuideGuidance to help managers understand and implement the HRS and the WRP. p.17

Human and Workplace Rights Policy ToolkitGuidance for employees who select suppliers and manage relationships with facilities assessed under SGP or WRP. p.17

Workplace Rights Implementation Guide Describes the SGP assessment process, the steps suppliers can take to comply, and suppliers’ role and responsibilities with regard to SGP. p.23

Requirements for All SuppliersPage on Coca‑Cola Journey website providing links to our requirements for all suppliers.

Hours of Work GuidanceResource to help facility managers identify and address the root causes of overtime.

Citrus Industry Farm/Grove Resource GuideHelps Florida citrus suppliers maintain SGP objectives.

Third‑Party Sugar Studies, by CountryDescribe current state of workplace and human rights in the sugar supply chain in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Checklists & Assessments Human Rights Due Diligence Assessment Checklists Help managers identify potential human rights risks in all activities in which the Company is engaged. Each checklist includes a basic explanation and case study regarding the purpose of conducting a human rights assessment, as well as instructions for using the tool. The checklists offer easy to understand identifiers for possible human rights‑related risks.

1. Micro‑Distribution Centers (MDCs) checklist helps MDC operators support positive, safe and healthy work environments.

2. Migrant Worker checklist identifies key areas for employers to monitor when employing migrant labor.

3. Contract Labor checklist is to help facilities using large numbers of contract workers ensure human and workplace rights are being respected.

4. Child Labor in Agriculture checklist is to help facilities understand the human rights risks associated with child labor and take steps to ensure they are not employing children.

5. Plant Siting Due Diligence checklist is to identify the potential human rights‑related risk as the result of plant siting activities.

6. Non‑Trademark Activation Due Diligence checklist is a human rights risk assessment for artisans. It supports the 5by20 program’s use of artisans to develop promotional products.

7. Pre‑sourcing Human Rights Due Diligence checklist helps assess human rights risk in procurement activities.

For questions or more information, email: [email protected]

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Respecting Human Rights: A Business Imperative - Coca-Colaassets.coca-colacompany.com/c5/48/1adbaf0f4813875e6647647b0f4c/... · Respecting Human Rights: A Business Imperative