NCP accepts submission, offers good offices

The submission from four trade unions concerns allegations of gender-based violence and harassment in McDonald’s and related due diligence by two institutional investors: APG Asset Management (APG) and Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). The Norwegian NCP is handling the issues raised concerning NBIM.

The Initial Assessment by the Norwegian NCP and other documents in the specific instance are published here.

The submitters are the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT-IUF), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and União Geral dos Trabalhadores (UGT).

The trade unions allege that NBIM has failed to exercise due diligence and leverage in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. According to the OECD Guidelines, enterprises are expected to exercise due diligence to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts on human rights and account for how these impacts are addressed. These expectations concern the enterprises’ own operations, business relationships and supply chains. The OECD guidance from 2017, Responsible business conduct for institutional investors, clarifies the expectations of institutional investors when it comes to due diligence in line with the OECD Guidelines.

The initial assessment of whether the submission relating to NBIM merits further consideration is based on the six criteria in the Procedural Guidelines of the OECD Guidelines and the Procedural guidelines for handling specific instances. The NCP is of the view that an offer of dialogue between the trade unions and NBIM may contribute to the purposes of the OECD Guidelines. The NCP has at this stage made no assessment as to whether NCIM has operated in accordance with the Guidelines or not.

The US NCP is handling the complaint concerning McDonald’s. The Dutch NCP is handling the complaint relating to the Dutch investor APG (see the initial assessment of the Dutch NCP).