Kesko completes a human rights assessment and publishes a human rights commitment
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
KESKO PRESS RELEASE 23.9.2016 AT 11.00 1(2)
Kesko has completed a human rights impact assessment in compliance with UN's
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The extensive survey involved
listening to the views of customers, personnel and high-risk country factory
workers on human rights and on the implementation of human rights in the K-
Group's operations.
In 2014, Kesko initiated a human rights impact assessment in compliance with the
UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The principles obligate
business enterprises to respect human rights in all their operations. Business
enterprises shall survey the human rights impacts and risks of their operations,
create systems to avoid the risks and lay out processes for any corrective
actions.
During the work, identified salient human rights impacts were investigated,
risks related to them were assessed, and monitoring, indicators and corrective
actions were agreed on.Human rights assessment is a continuous process for Kesko
that will be reviewed every three years and updated on the website.
Non-discrimination, accessibility and availability important for customers
During the autumn of 2015 and spring of 2016, the views of stakeholders on human
rights and their implementation in the operations of the K-Group were surveyed.
"We heard our stakeholders in order to investigate how different customer groups
saw human rights implemented in various situations in stores. District
coordinators of SASK interviewed factory workers in factories manufacturing
Kesko's branded goods in four high-risk countries: China, India, Bangladesh and
the Philippines. For our own personnel, we utilised Kesko's personnel survey and
surveyed chief shop stewards", says Matti Kalervo, Kesko's Vice President for
Corporate Responsibility.
Customer hearings reinforced Kesko's view that the right to health, children's
right to special protection and the prohibition of discrimination are seen by
customers as the most central human rights that Kesko has to take care of.
Special attention has to be paid to the zero tolerance of discrimination, the
development and maintenance of grievance mechanisms for discrimination as well
as the development and maintenance of accessibility and availability.
The results from the assessments of high-risk country factories in China, India,
Bangladesh and the Philippines were largely consistent with BSCI and SA8000
reports. Employment relationships were found to be fragile, and there were
omissions in working hours and overtime pay, among other things. Employee
organisations were found to be practically prohibited. Kesko has forwarded the
information to the BSCI organisation for future development of auditing
procedures.
Kesko published its statement of commitment on human rights
In compliance with the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the
management of a responsible company shall make a public statement of commitment
on human rights.
Kesko has published the following statement of commitment on its website:
· Kesko respects all internationally recognised human rights.
· In compliance with the due diligence obligation, Kesko has, and will,
establish its procedures and practices in ways which respect human rights in all
of Kesko's operations.
· Kesko's operations have a salient impact on the human rights of four groups:
customers, personnel, purchasing chains and communities in which we operate.
· Kesko listens to its stakeholders' views on human rights and takes them into
account in the development of its operations.
· Kesko expects its business partners to respect all internationally recognised
human rights.
See Kesko's entire human rights assessment at
www.kesko.fi/humanrightscommitment.
Further information:
Matti Kalervo, Kesko Corporation, Vice President for Corporate Responsibility,
tel. +358 50 306 4081, matti.kalervo(at)kesko.fi
Kesko is a Finnish listed trading sector company. Kesko operates in the grocery
trade, the building and technical trade and the car trade. Its divisions and
chains act in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners.
In 2015, Kesko's net sales totalled ?8.7 billion and it employed more than
20,000 people. Kesko operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Poland. Kesko's shares are listed on Nasdaq
Helsinki. The company's domicile and main premises are in Helsinki. www.kesko.fi
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Kesko Oyj via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 23.09.2016 - 10:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 496605
Anzahl Zeichen: 5355
contact information:
Town:
Kesko
Kategorie:
Business News
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"Kesko completes a human rights assessment and publishes a human rights commitment"
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