Human Rights

Treating people with dignity and respect

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Human Rights

Every day our business faces new challenges and risks. Human rights are fundamental to how we run our day-to-day business and the communities in which we operate. Our goal is to protect people’s inherent rights and freedoms. Our Human Rights Policy is guided by international human rights principles encompassed in the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations’ Global Compact.

In October 2018 we conducted our first internal human rights workshop with participation from senior managers across our business, including support and engagement from our leadership team. Following this, we conducted interviews with some of our senior leaders and we also sought input and advice from key external stakeholders, including UN OHCHR, Institute of Employers, Know The Chain and many industry peers.

We identified nine key areas as posing the greatest risk to people in our own operations and across our value chain. We will initially focus on the first four priority issues below and develop actions for the remaining issues in 2020:

Health, safety & security – we will roll out a new anti-harassment policy including a toolkit for managers and continue to embed our code of conduct training into on-boarding procedures
Equality & non-discrimination – we will deliver a new inclusion and diversity charter through manager training, that is targeted to reducing discrimination and promoting an inclusive culture
Working hours – we will map out working hours across all the countries where we operate and roll out a flexible working programme with guidance for managers on supporting this in their teams
Migrant & temporary workers – we will work with external suppliers, procurement and recruitment colleagues to identify key issues and challenges in relation to recruitment of temporary workers
Freedom of association
Product safety/quality
Right to privacy
Data protection
Corruption / anti-bribery

Damian Gammell, Chief Executive Officer

“We’ve made a very clear commitment to the highest standards in ethics and human rights at Coca-Cola European Partners – this includes our employees and all of our suppliers who help us to deliver our products every day.”

Nick Wall, Chief People & Culture Officer

"Governments may set legislation, but it’s the role of business to create and maintain an inclusive environment. I want to ensure we are fostering a culture where everyone is treated equally, with dignity and respect.”

Danielle Guiho, VP, Labour Relations & Employee Practices

“I take my role in our corporate responsibility very seriously – to protect the human rights of all of our employees and to hold our suppliers to the same high standards.”