Owner must provide fair and respectful treatment of employees

Scope

The Owner shall treat their full-time, part-time, and contract employees well by providing good working conditions, treating everyone with respect, promoting equal opportunities, and preventing any discrimination or harassment to create a respectful and fair workplace.

Requirements

Act to Avoid Harm

01.
An anti-discrimination policy that contains the following⁷³:
1. a.
  No employee shall be discriminated against because of race, ethnicity, color, religious beliefs, sex (including pregnancy and related conditions, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, economic background, or cognitive differences.
02.
An anti-harassment policy regarding bullying and harassment which includes⁷⁴:
1. a.
  Protection against violence and harassment for workers and other persons in the world of work, including employees as defined by national law and practice, as well as persons working irrespective of their contractual status, persons in training, including interns and apprentices, workers whose employment has been terminated, volunteers, job seekers and job applicants, and individuals exercising the authority, duties, or responsibilities of an employer.
03.
Integration of the policies into project operations through the following⁷⁵:
1. a.
  Actively communicate the policy to employees and store or post in a manner so that all employees have access to it and provide education and training in accessible formats.
2. b.
  Reference or incorporate the policy into recruitment and training practices, employee performance evaluations, promotion or advancement decisions, and compensation guidelines.
3. c.
  Owner shall provide for sanctions and ensure effective means of inspection and investigation.
4. d.
  Owner shall create a mechanism to document feedback submitted through the grievance mechanism established in Activity HRa3.2 for internal reference, along with the steps taken by the company to investigate and address the issues raised.
04.

Assessment of the effectiveness of anti-discrimination controls at regular intervals and adjust when necessary.

Benefit Impacted Parties

05.

Flexible working conditions to employees to help them deal effectively with work-life conflicts, including flexibility in timing and location of work⁷⁶.

Contribute to Solutions

06.

Provide access to informational guidance or supporting resources (e.g., counseling services) to help address primary sources of stress at work, such as workload demands, lack of control/empowerment, lack of support from colleagues, inadequate resources, conflict relationships, unclear roles, and change fatigue⁷⁷.

Indicators

The performance indicator is the percentage of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees according to the requirements. The first context indicator is the total number of Owner employees working on the project. The second context indicator is the total number of Owner employees for which the progress score is 100%, which will be used to assess the impact of this Activity.

The fair and respectful treatment of people is scored against the requirements as follows:

0%: No requirements are satisfied, or any employee not covered by both anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
20%: Adoption of an anti-discrimination + anti-harassment policy is only requirement satisfied.
40%: Addition of requirements from #3 is satisfied.
60%: Addition of #4 requirement is satisfied.
80%: Addition of #5 is satisfied.
100%: All requirements are satisfied.

To calculate the performance indicator:

Determine total number of employees working on the project.
Calculate progress as the weighted average of the project’s fair and respectful treatment program across all employees working on the project.

This is expressed mathematically as:

P = (0(E0%) + 0.2(E20%) + 0.4(E40%) + 0.6(E60%) + 0.8(E80%) + 1(E100%)) / N x 100

P =: percentage of fair and respectful treatment of people
Ex% =: number of employees for which the progress score is x%
N =: total number of employees on the project

Scoring

Outcome threshold

The outcome threshold for this Activity is 60% progress according to the requirements. This represents ‘acting to avoid harm’.

Points assignment

Points	Percentage of Fair and Respectful Treatment of Owner Employees
2 points	20% of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees
4 points	40% of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees
6 points	60% of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees
8 points	80% of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees
10 points	100% of fair and respectful treatment of Owner employees

Documentation

01.

List of financial, human, and material resources utilized for this activity.
02.

Document the specific method(s) used to determine the number of employees working on the project, such as headcount reports or time-tracking systems.
03.

Provide a copy of the company’s policies for anti-discrimination and anti-harassment.
04.

Record the steps taken to communicate the project’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies to employees, including the ways the policies have been integrated into recruitment, training, or performance evaluation processes or materials.
05.

Document the feedback procedures or grievance mechanisms in place which facilitate employees’ ability to report cases of discrimination and harassment in the workplace and retain any notes and evidence of actions taken based on employee submissions.
06.

Letter of Assurance and documentation that the project’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment controls are working as intended. Reviewers may check these controls to determine whether the project is able to identify and address any problems with the concern-reporting mechanism within a reasonable timeframe. If not, there is a risk that instances of discrimination could go undetected by the company.
07.

Documentation outlining the flexible working conditions provided to employees, including how flexibility in timing and location of work is accommodated.
08.

Evidence of the availability of informational guidance or supporting resources for addressing workplace stress, such as brochures, website links, or service contracts with external support providers like counseling services.

Guidance

Additional Resources

Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code - founded on the conventions of the ILO and is an internationally recognized code of labor practice.
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - provide recommendations covering responsible business conduct, including employment and industrial relations.

Referenced Source

International Labor Organization, Violence and harassment in the world of work, Convention 190, June 2019