Background

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As the Asia region moves towards the creation of new corporate accountability legal instruments and explores corporate mandatory due diligence measures, there is an opportunity to take stock of how these could practically support supply chain workers to achieve remedy for rights violations.

Drawing on casework by the independent monitoring organisation, Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and its partners, this practical workshop will examine how innovative accountability strategies in contexts of lax labor law enforcement have not only delivered justice in cases of severe rights violations but have also contributed to scaling the impact of remedy, strengthened institutions, and pushed back against shrinking civic space. This approach has enabled the WRC to recover over $150 million for workers in unpaid wage and severance dues alone.

The practical benefit of new laws for workers depends on the strength of such laws and the ability for such laws to be enforced, and much can be learned from decades of work in the apparel sector that has focused on utilising national legislation and corporate due diligence commitments. 

In this interactive workshop, participants will learn from apparel sector case studies and be guided in reflecting on opportunities and challenges in their own sectors and countries of focus in relation to how to leverage existing corporate commitments, national legislation, and due diligence requirements. Participants will also identify elements necessary for inclusion in forthcoming corporate accountability policies to help ensure those will be effective at uncovering violations, protecting workers, and remedying abuses.

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Key Objectives

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Participants will gain:

• Insights into how to utilise existing laws, what the gaps are in ensuring remedy for rights violations, and a concrete understanding of how these gaps could be filled through new human rights due diligence laws

• A clear understanding of how to apply practical advocacy tools to ensure enforcement and adherence with legal instruments that enable worker-focused remedy for rights violations

• Replicable case studies for engaging companies by leveraging national-level labour laws in Asia that have been effectively used to secure remedy and strengthen corporate accountability in unprecedented ways

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Guiding Questions

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• What must future human rights due diligence laws in Asia include to ensure they are a practical pathway for remediating labour rights abuses (that goes beyond existing legal instruments)?

• What can be achieved to secure remedy for workers utilising existing laws in the Asia region?

• What kinds of advocacy strategies can be effective to support remedy through corporate accountability legislation?

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Session Partners