B Corp’s Human Rights Due diligence Requirements
22 December 2023
It’s fantastic to see that B Corp is expanding its human rights due diligence (HRDD) requirements, raising the benchmark for B Corps. https://lnkd.in/eV_m_gmQ Human rights risks are often overlooked, or not investigated thoroughly enough by businesses so we hope this will drive more meaningful due diligence among the B Corp community, and more broadly.
In the UK, businesses with annual total turnover over £36m have been required to report under the UK Modern Slavery Act since 2015. Smaller businesses that don’t meet this threshold haven’t yet been required to publish information on their human rights policies and processes, creating a gap in both action and reporting.
Smaller businesses often find human rights due diligence overwhelming and don’t know where to start. However, SMEs can follow a similar approach to larger corporations which starts by identifying the most salient issues for your business then focusing your efforts on addressing these and shaping your due diligence process (see below) around them.
The B Corp Human Rights requirements will go out for public consultation in January (alongside other topics) and will be open for two months. In the meantime we recommend getting up to speed with the B Lab & Fairtrade guide to People and Planet in Business Human Rights Due Diligence Guide - https://bcorp.imagerelay.com/share/b243ba701ac2406b9e6c98d26bee63a9
