Grievance mechanisms
Even with strong policies and good practices in place, things sometimes go wrong. The question is whether the people affected have a clear, credible and accessible way to raise concerns – and whether those concerns lead to genuine action.
Effective grievance mechanisms are one of the most practical expressions of a company’s commitment to human rights. They are also one of the hardest things to get right. A mechanism that sits on paper but is distrusted, inaccessible or poorly resourced offers little protection to workers and limited value to the business.
Our work in this area
We have supported major organisations to develop grievance mechanisms across multi-country supply chains, and connected with the right partners to establish a hotline for a client’s warehouse operation. That breadth of experience has taught us that what works in one context will not automatically work in another. The mechanism has to fit the workforce – their language, their working patterns, their relationship with management and their sense of whether speaking up is safe.
What makes a grievance mechanism effective?
Confidentiality, accessibility, independence, follow-through – these are all necessary elements for any grievance mechanism. But translating them into something workers trust and use, localised to specific sectors, worker groups and geographies, is where the real work lies.
We bring both the rigorous understanding of international standards and the practical experience to help you close that gap.
What this involves
- Grievance mechanism design, review and gap analysis
- Stakeholder mapping and worker voice engagement strategy
- Multi-country and multi-tier supply chain grievance design
- Hotline and third-party mechanism scoping and implementation support
- Communication and awareness-raising for workers and suppliers
- Supplier capacity building on grievance handling
