{"id":12232,"date":"2024-01-03T09:06:59","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T09:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharecontrol.io\/uncategorized\/human-rights-and-decent-working-conditions\/"},"modified":"2024-09-20T05:39:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T05:39:07","slug":"human-rights-and-decent-working-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharecontrol.io\/en\/transparency-act\/human-rights-and-decent-working-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Human rights and decent working conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Transparency Act requires businesses that are covered by the legislation to carry out due diligence assessments of their suppliers<\/a>. In the due diligence assessments, the businesses must investigate potential and actual negative consequences on <\/strong>basic human rights and decent working conditions. Furthermore, an explanation of the findings<\/a> must be prepared and published on the company’s website annually, and no later than 30 June. In order to carry this out, it is important that you know the most important sections of human rights.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Basic human rights<\/h1>\n

Human rights are defined as basic rights to which we are all entitled, regardless of gender, age, orientation, outlook on life, nationality or place of residence. Human rights give citizens general rights, while it is the state’s duty to ensure that the rights are respected.<\/p>\n\n

Human rights were adopted in 1948, under the name “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>“. This consists of 30 different articles that define what constitutes a human right. It is this declaration that the Transparency Act refers to with human rights. In this article, you can read the most important things to think about in the implementation of the Transparency Act.<\/p>\n\n

In Norway, the government has adopted the Transparency Act, which is a law that will ensure a more open and proven relationship with Norwegian businesses regarding basic human rights and decent working conditions in the supply chain. This includes foreign businesses that sell goods or services in Norway and that meet the criteria in the legislation, read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Basic human rights in the Transparency Act<\/h2>\n

The Transparency Act<\/a> refers to the internationally recognized human rights that follow from the UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights<\/a> from 1966, the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights<\/a> from 1966 and the ILO’s core conventions on fundamental rights and principles in working life.<\/p>\n\n

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Decent working conditions in the Transparency Act<\/h2>\n

By decent working conditions is meant the requirements according to \u00a73, letter c of the Transparency Act<\/a> on basic human rights and health, environment and safety (HSE) in the workplace. Salary that gives the right to live on also falls under the term decent working conditions.<\/p>\n\n

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What does decent working conditions mean in the Transparency Act?<\/em><\/h3>\n

According to the Transparency Act, businesses must investigate violations of decent working conditions at their suppliers. This means that companies should investigate the HSE processes<\/a> of their suppliers and investigate potential and actual negative consequences<\/a> on wages that give employees enough to live on.<\/p>\n\n

Read our overview of countries at risk<\/strong>: Country risk of human rights violations<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n

In order to investigate health, environment and safety at the supplier, it is important to familiarize yourself with what this actually involves. In the Ethics Information Committee’s report<\/a>, it appears that decent work deals with the safety and finances of employees and can be compared to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.<\/p>\n\n

The business must therefore investigate that employees at the suppliers receive fair wages and equal pay for equal work. In addition, it is the employer’s duty to ensure healthy working conditions through rest, free time, limitation of working hours and days off.<\/p>\n\n

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Civil and political rights<\/h2>\n

Civil and political rights are one of two obligations in human rights that make the member states obliged to respect citizens’ right to basic rights such as life, personal freedom, legal certainty, freedom of expression and democratic governance. Below you can see all the principles for human rights and decent working conditions:<\/p>\n\n

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The right to life<\/h3>\n

The right to life is one of the human rights principles that describe people’s right not to be unjustly or arbitrarily killed by another human being. The principle is defined in Article 3 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>, where reference is made to “everyone has the right to life, liberty and personal security”.<\/p>\n\n

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The right not to be tortured<\/h3>\n

The right not to be tortured deals with a person’s right not to be tortured or subjected to other cruel inhuman treatment. Torture is defined as deliberate actions that give a person serious physical or psychological pain in order to obtain information, threaten or punish the person or a third person.<\/p>\n\n

The convention prohibits all forms of torture and similar acts, yet torture occurs around the world. In Amnesty’s report on torture<\/a> from 2014, it appears that torture was reported in 82% of all the countries investigated. In 2014 and 2015, Amnesty International started the “Stop Torture” campaign<\/a>, which led to several important and positive changes. The countries highlighted were Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, the Philippines and Uzbekistan. <\/p>\n\n

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The right not to be imprisoned without trial<\/h3>\n

Detention without trial is a term used to describe cases where individuals are held captive by a state apparatus, without formal charges being administered. According to statistics from the United Nations<\/a>, countries such as India (77.10), Congo (75), Saint Lucia (73.33) and Nigeria (72.40) have the highest rates of incarceration without trial.<\/p>\n\n

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Freedom of speech<\/h3>\n

Human rights give people the right to express their opinions without being punished for it. However, hateful or discriminatory opinions against other people must not be expressed. Since the 17th century, freedom of expression has stood strong, and has been protected in both national and international laws. Freedom of expression is protected in Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Despite the fact that all the world’s countries have recognized freedom of expression, the convention is violated every day. People are punished, persecuted and killed for speaking their mind. Countries such as the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have the lowest risk of violation, while countries such as Libya, South Sudan, Turkey, Ukraine and Zambia are historically most exposed to violations of freedom of expression1<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n

Read more about freedom of expression on Amnesty International’s website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Freedom of religion<\/h3>\n

Freedom of religion stands strong in civil and political rights in that people have the right to personal freedom of belief and practice the religion and belief they want. In Norway, the right is enshrined in several key pieces of legislation, including section 16 of the Norwegian Constitution<\/a>, the Human Rights Act<\/a> and section 185 of the Criminal Code<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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Freedom of organization<\/h3>\n

Freedom of association means the right to form and\/or be a member of a trade union or organisation. The right also includes the right not to be a member of a trade union. <\/p>\n\n

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Voting rights<\/h3>\n

The UN decided in 1948 that the right to vote was a human right. This is defined as the right to cast a vote in elections to a national assembly. Democracy is therefore central to handling human rights.<\/p>\n\n

In Norway, we have had an independent democracy since 1814, yet we are not going back further than 1913 before women got equal rights as men. New Zealand was first (1893), before countries such as Australia (1902) and the United States (1920) followed. At this time, Norway was one of the countries that was the earliest to introduce women’s right to vote. Countries such as Vatican City and Brunei still do not have female suffrage. We also see that countries that rank low on the UN democracy index<\/a> are countries with poor or no voting rights. Countries that rank poorly on the index are Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria.<\/p>\n\n

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Economic, social and cultural rights<\/h2>\n

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ensures that citizens have access to food, water, housing, education and basic health services.2<\/a><\/sup>. The convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force in 1976.<\/p>\n\n

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The right to work<\/h3>\n

Article 23 of the UN Universal Declaration states that every person has the right to work and a free choice of occupation. Article 23 of the UN Universal Declaration states that every person has the right to work and a free choice of occupation. This includes zero tolerance for discrimination and equal pay for equal work. Freedom of organization also stands strongly in the “right to work”.<\/p>\n\n

A major challenge on this topic is economic downturns. Global unemployment was at 6.2% in 2021, with the biggest cause being linked to Covid-19. Reports from the UN<\/a> show that countries such as South Africa (29.8%), Congo (21.8%) and Gabon (21.5%) have the highest unemployment rates.<\/p>\n\n

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The right to education<\/h3>\n

Article 26 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. The declaration states that it is a human right to have free and compulsory primary education.<\/p>\n\n

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Around 244 million children and young people today do not have the opportunity to start or complete their schooling.<\/p>\nUnited Nations<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n

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The right to a satisfactory standard of living<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to Article 11 of the Human Rights Act<\/a>, every person has the right to a satisfactory standard of living for himself and his family. This includes satisfactory food, clothing and housing. It is also written that the countries of the world must cooperate on export\/import and knowledge on the best possible extraction of food.<\/p>\n\n

The UN estimates that up to 828 million people are affected by hunger. At the same time, 2.3 billion people experience periods of food insecurity3<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n

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Human rights in the world<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The duties in the Transparency Act act as a requirement from the state, to practice and highlight the importance of basic human rights and decent working conditions. In the guidelines for human rights, it is the states that are responsible for ensuring that human rights are followed, which is the background for the Transparency Act.<\/p>\n\n

The Transparency Act entered into force in Norway in 2022 and is one of the first statutory human rights requirements of its kind. In a global context, four countries have implemented various laws regarding corporate social responsibility and human rights. This applies to France, Great Britain, Australia and the United States.<\/p>\n\n

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Laws and regulations relating to human rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Every year, Norwegian businesses buy large quantities of products that are produced in low-cost countries. In many of these countries, however, there is a high risk that the goods have been produced under poor conditions and violations of human rights. There are nevertheless a number of laws and regulations that can be important for Norwegian businesses in addition to the Norwegian Transparency Act, this applies to:<\/p>\n\n