16 September | 14:00-15:30 ICT

Leading by Example: Effective Grievance Mechanisms Centering Rights Holders in Asia

Organized by:

Fair Labor Association
Article One

Background

Our session, Leading by Example: Effective Grievance Mechanisms Centering Rightsholders in Asia, directly contributes to the Forum’s Inclusion, Protection, and Participation track by showcasing how rights holders can shape and strengthen the Business and Human Rights (BHR) agenda, particularly in contexts where civic space is shrinking and accountability gaps persist. It also aligns with the Forum’s theme, Anchoring Progress and Strengthening Regional Leadership on Human Rights through Crisis, by presenting positive, rights holder-centric interventions from the Asian region.

Recent mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (mHREDD) legislation requires companies to implement effective grievance mechanisms (GMs) in their supply chains. These mechanisms are vital for detecting and addressing risks before violations occur and for ensuring remediation in line with the UN Guiding Principles. However, many existing GMs are seen by workers as inaccessible, ineffective, or lacking in trust—often because rights holders are excluded from their design and evaluation.

The objective of this workshop is to highlight examples of two successful GMs that go beyond “check the box” solutions and that are grounded in the lived experiences of rights holders in Asia. We will focus on the Fair Labor Association’s (FLA) grievance process and the GM that is part of the Dindigul Agreement (an Enforceable Brand Agreement with three apparel brands and the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union-TTCU- as signatories).

FLA embeds GMs into its accreditation framework and membership commitments. FLA’s members and affiliates are subject to a third party complaint (TPC) mechanism that allows anyone to file a complaint alleging a member or affiliate is sourcing from a supplier in serious breach of FLA’s Workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Benchmarks. This TPC process has yielded positive changes for workers, including: reinstatement of unfairly dismissed workers with back pay; recognition of unions; and improved industrial relations at factories. A 2024 paper analyzing FLA’s TPC mechanism reported that approximately 85% of interviewed complainants said that they would use FLA’s TPC process again.

Another report finds that in interviews with workers in the factories covered by the Dindigul Agreement, there is a high level of trust in the GM. Workers express no hesitation in raising their grievances and believe that their grievances will be handled confidentially and without negative consequences.

Through these case studies, participants will learn how trust, accessibility, and meaningful participation from rights holders are built into the DNA of these mechanisms, leading to genuine improvements in working conditions. The session will also explore the applicability of these principles to other industries and contexts.

Key Objectives

Identify key elements that make grievance mechanisms effective and trusted.
Understand strategies for scaling these models across industries and geographies while reflecting on both challenges and opportunities in rights holder-centered approaches.
Develop an action plan of next steps for the participants tailored to their contexts.

Guiding Questions

What makes a grievance mechanism successful? Are there particular issues that must be considered in the Asian context?
What are the best tools to establish a rights holder’s trust when developing a grievance mechanism?
What outcomes do you expect from an effective grievance mechanism?

Format