Requirements & responsibilities for Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains

welcome to an informational video on fighting against forced labor and child labor in Supply chains the contents of this video are pulled from pdc's resources on driving responsible exploration as well as publicly available guidance from Public Safety Canada in this video we will be going through what are human rights the background of reporting under Bill s211 and best practice for your company please pause here to utilize these different timestamps and Skip to any point within the video so what are human rights human rights are basic standards they apply to all individuals regardless of nationality gender ethnicity or any other status these rights which include the right to an education the right to favorable work conditions and freedom of expression should never be taken away or ranked in importance in short human rights are inherent Universal inalienable indivisible and interdependent upholding human rights is crucial as they serve as the Bedrock of a just Society ensuring that every individual has autonomy and is treated with fairness and respect around the world transparency on human rights is facing a spotlight and you may be required to report under multiple regimes such as the United Kingdom's modern slavery Act of 2015 Australia's modern slavery Act of 2018 California's transparency and Supply chains act and relevant to this video Canada's Bill s211 Bill s211 titled fighting against forced labor and child labor in Supply chains was enacted to ensure Canadian companies protect human rights wherever and however they operate this act received Royal Ascent in May 2023 Public Safety Canada released online guidance and Reporting questionnaires for this act in December 2023 and the first reports are due May 31st 2024 and must be submitted annually the minister of Public Safety must table an annual report in the house of parliament on or before September 30th of each year and every 5 years a comprehensive review of this act must must be undertaken by the government of Canada the government is mandating reporting on Supply chains due to their significant impact on human rights Supply chains often span across borders and involve numerous stakeholders making it challenging to Monitor and regulate labor practices effectively by focusing on supply chain sustainability organizations can increase accountability shedding light on potential human rights violations such as forced labor child labor and and unsafe working conditions let's go through this flowchart to see if your company is required to report the first step will be to determine whether or not you are an entity start at the bottom left corner an entity is a corporation trust partnership or other unincorporated organization that is either listed on the stock exchange in Canada such as the TSX or t sxv or has a place of business in Canada does business in Canada or has Assets in Canada that meets at least two of the following thresholds having 20 million in assets generating at least 40 million in revenue employing on average at least 250 employees again if you're either listed on our Stock Exchange or you meet two of these thresholds you are an entity if you are an entity or you control such an entity you may have to report the next step of determining if you must report is considering whether you produce Goods in Canada or anywhere in the world the production of goods includes the manufacturing growing extraction and processing of goods if you are a non-producing company but you import goods from outside of Canada such as drills or Camp materials you will have to report purchasing goods from a third party where the third party is considered the reporter does not count as importing Goods again if either of these two filters is yes you are reporting entity and you must annually report once an entity has determined it is required to submit a report it must complete the following five steps of the reporting process ahead of the May 31st deadline the generation of the report itself will likely take the most time and is recommended to start while in advance the report is to be a PDF document and is recommended to be no longer than 10 pages there is no set template for this report however if you follow the questionnaire which we will be seeing later then you will meet all of the report requirements the report must be endorsed by appropriate governing bodies within your company and this attestation must be included in the final pdf version of this report submitted once you have generated your PDF report you must complete an online questionnaire that includes questions that address each of the requirements under the act at the end of the questionnaire you will be asked to upload your PDF report that you created it will not automatically generate a report from your questionnaire so you will have to already create this report separately the questionnaire and Report must be submitted by May 31st of each calendar year you must then publish your PDF report to your website at the earliest convenience following submission pdac has copied the questionnaire into a fillable PDF form to support our members in generating their reports however creating an effective report requires ongoing effort and preparation well in advance it is essential for companies to have responsible best practices in place and pdc's driving responsible exploration Dr offers valuable resources for understanding understanding and implementing these practices this comprehensive road map includes eight principles for responsible exploration along with guidance notes toolkits and guide books covering various aspects of sustainability and ethical exploration practices one of the key principles emphasized in pdc's principles in guidance notes is the respect and promotion of human rights for all stakeholders involved in Exploration activities the guidance notes for this principle underscore the importance of creating policies that reflect the company's commitment to upholding human rights standards these policies should be developed with input from area experts and relevant Civil Society actors they should be communicated both internally and publicly available with clear expectations of lines and systems of accountability due diligence processes should include an assessment of the human rights context at at the project Regional and National levels before the activity begins and repeat the assessment at regular intervals to account for changing human rights situations remediation processes play a vital role in ensuring the accountability and addressing any adverse impacts on human rights monitoring the impacts of the company's operations including those of its employees and contractors and taking Swift and effective action to remediate any negative impacts allows companies to demonstrate their commitment to upholding human rights standards and fostering sustainable business practices keeping records of this work will ensure that the mandatory reporting requirements are completed smoothly pdc's social responsibility toolkit has sections specifically for addressing forced labor forc labor manifest in many forms including debt induced coercion human trafficking State impose compulsory work and exploitive labor contracts to mitigate the risk of forced labor within your company it is crucial to establish robust policies that unequivocally condemn all forms of forced labor these policies should Encompass standards related to work conditions such as wages benefits holidays and working hours while National laws May dictate certain standards it is essential to rise to International Labor Standard standards to ensure comprehensive protection for workers moreover these companies should extend beyond the company's direct employees to Encompass agreements with contractors and subcontractors implementing mechanisms to review the performance of all involved is vital to ensure compliance with established policies direct engagement with workers can provide valuable insight into their work situations and help identify any instances of force labor however it is crucial to protect the confidentiality of these interviews to prevent possible reprisals against the workers by fostering open communication channels and creating a safe environment for workers to voice their concerns companies can effectively address issues related to forced labor and uphold their commitment to Human Rights standards child labor is a complex issue that intersects with fundamental rights to education and dignity and is harmful to physical and mental development it is crucial to adhere to standards which often stipulate a minimum age for employment with preference given to the older age in cases of disparity between National laws and international standards while vocational training or technical education programs can provide valuable opportunities for children under the age of 18 it is essential to ensure these programs are not exploited as a means to pay lower wages or provide inadequate educational benefits to address this organizations should take reasonable steps to verify the age of job candidates and Implement mechanisms for remediation if underage employment is discovered it's imperative to Define job roles that are suitable only for individuals aged 18 or older and to provide training for managers to recognize and respect the limitations of workers under the age of 18 ensuring their safety and well-being in the workplace if you have these policies review procedures and training programs in place you may be ready to complete your report the report has minimum components defined in section 11 of the ACT 11.1 requires entities to describe all the steps it has taken during the previous Financial year to prevent and reduce the risk of forced or child labor at any step into production or procurement of goods subsection 11.3 has an additional seven subsections 11.3 a is to include all information about your structure activity and Supply chains even if you believe they carry no risk of forced or child labor B describes how entities have been included their policies and due diligence processes on forc and child labor in their ESG initiative or broader organizational responsible business conduct strategies section c mandates entities to assess the risk of forced or child labor in their activities and Supply chains for D remedy this can refer to both the process of providing a solution for adverse impact and the solution itself that can counteract the impact for subsection e if no risk of forced or child labor is found in activities and Supply chains stating this would satisfy this requirement sub section f is around training on forced and child labor which can take various forms from courses to awareness raising activities finally G entities should report on their efforts to assess their effectiveness in preventing forced labor and child labor instead of sharing the actual assessment results it is recommended that you provide additional information about the actions you have taken this in includes details such as whether the actions are applied to specific parts or more broad which groups or stakeholders the actions are directed towards such as supply chain partners and any additional details about the actions taken as a wrap up please be sure to include the attestation complete the questionnaire and submit your report by May 31st to Public Safety Canada I would encourage you to utilize driving responsible exploration and improve your human rights due diligence which can be found on pdc's website other resources that pdac recommends you look towards for guidance include oecd's guidelines for Multinational Enterprises as well as the un's international labor organization for more information on reporting requirements and timelines as well as to submit your report please visit Public Safety can thank you

Channel: PDAC

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Id: XGoQ9853ves

Length: 14min 11sec (851 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2024