Business and Human Rights Due Diligence Training Course

Introduction

Business and human rights due diligence training on the UNGPs, salient issues and grievance mechanisms, held over 5 days for sustainability, legal, procurement and HR leads of large employers and contractors, ending with a Human Rights Due Diligence Plan and Salient Issues Register. Many organisations publish a human rights policy yet cannot show whom their operations and business relationships could harm, how those harms are ranked, or how affected workers obtain remedy. Nominees already own policy, contract or workforce decisions and work through case files of impact data and complaints. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this due diligence course.

Course Objectives

• Translate the UN Guiding Principles corporate responsibility to respect into a policy commitment, governance roles and escalation routes
• Identify and prioritise salient human rights issues across own operations and business relationships using severity and likelihood criteria
• Scope and conduct a human rights impact assessment informed by rightsholder and stakeholder engagement
• Select cease, prevent, mitigate or leverage responses to adverse impacts, including recruitment fee repayment for migrant workers
• Design an operational grievance mechanism against the UNGP effectiveness criteria together with remediation procedures
• Track due diligence effectiveness and prepare human rights disclosure aligned with the UNGP Reporting Framework

Target Audience

• Leads responsible for sustainability strategy, human rights policy and non-financial disclosure
• Leads responsible for legal risk, contract terms and responsible business conduct advice
• Leads responsible for procurement decisions, contractor selection and business relationship terms
• Leads responsible for workforce policy, labour agency arrangements and worker accommodation standards
• Leads responsible for ethics, speak-up and complaint handling channels

Course Outline

Day 1: Business and Human Rights Foundations and Current-State Review

• UNGP Three Pillars of Protect, Respect and Remedy
• Corporate Responsibility to Respect Versus Legal Compliance Duties
• Cause, Contribute and Directly Linked Impact Attribution Test
• Rightsholder Group Mapping Across Workers, Communities and Customers
• Human Rights Due Diligence Maturity Gap Assessment

Day 2: UNGP and OECD Due Diligence Frameworks and Saliency

• OECD Due Diligence Guidance Six-Step Cycle Walkthrough
• UNGP Policy Commitment Drafting and Senior Approval Route
• Embedding Due Diligence Into Risk, Procurement and HR Procedures
• Salient Human Rights Issues Definition and Prioritisation Logic
• Severity Scoring by Scale, Scope and Irremediability

Day 3: Assessing Human Rights Impacts and Acting on Findings

• Human Rights Impact Assessment Scoping and Evidence Sources
• Meaningful Rightsholder Engagement Methods and Safeguards for Vulnerable Groups
• Salient Issues Register Build With Likelihood Ratings
• Leverage Analysis Matrix for Contractors and Business Partners
• Cease, Prevent and Mitigate Action Plan With Owners

Day 4: Migrant Workers, Remedy and Grievance Mechanisms

• Employer Pays Principle and Recruitment Fee Repayment Methods
• Migrant Worker Journey Mapping From Recruitment to Return
• UNGP Effectiveness Criteria Applied to Operational Grievance Channels
• Remediation Pathways, Remedy Options and Rightsholder Satisfaction Tracking
• Heightened Due Diligence Triggers in Conflict-Affected Contexts

Day 5: Case Study and Human Rights Due Diligence Plan

• Case Organisation Operations and Contractor Base Review
• Case Salient Issues Register and Severity Ranking
• Case Grievance Mechanism Blueprint and Remediation Protocol
• UNGP Reporting Framework Disclosure Draft for the Case
• Human Rights Due Diligence Plan Completion and Peer Defence

Skills You Will Gain

• Salient Issue Prioritisation
• Human Rights Impact Assessment
• Rightsholder Engagement
• Leverage Analysis
• Recruitment Fee Remediation
• Grievance Mechanism Design
• Remedy Case Management
• Human Rights Disclosure Writing

Why Attend This Course

• Deliver a Human Rights Due Diligence Plan and Salient Issues Register for a case organisation to the executive committee and the board sustainability or risk committee
• Decide whether the organisation caused, contributed to or is directly linked to an impact, and which response and leverage that requires
• Avoid unrepaid recruitment fee debts, complaint channels workers do not trust and human rights disclosures that cannot be evidenced
• Brief procurement, HR and site management colleagues on the severity scoring method, leverage matrix and grievance case procedure

Conclusion

Back at work, the participant presents the Human Rights Due Diligence Plan and Salient Issues Register to the executive committee, the legal head and the sustainability or risk committee. They use it to approve the policy commitment, the order in which salient issues are addressed, the leverage steps with contractors and labour agencies, and the budget for recruitment fee repayment and grievance handling. After the first reporting cycle, the unit should review grievance case volumes and outcomes, remediation completed, rightsholder feedback and whether the severity ranking still reflects what engagement revealed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What should participants know before the business and human rights due diligence course?

Participants should already hold responsibility for policy, contract, sourcing, workforce or complaint handling decisions in a large employer or contractor. No prior human rights qualification is needed; familiarity with the organisation's risk register and contractor arrangements helps with the case work.

How does business and human rights due diligence differ from supplier social compliance auditing?

Due diligence is the management process: policy, salient issue prioritisation, impact assessment, leverage, remedy and reporting across own operations and business relationships. Social auditing courses teach on-site verification techniques such as worker interviews and payroll checks, which are only one input to due diligence.

Why are salient issues central to business and human rights due diligence?

Salient issues are the human rights at risk of the most severe negative impact through the organisation's activities and relationships. Ranking them by severity and likelihood, rather than by business risk alone, directs resources, engagement and disclosure to the people most exposed to harm.

What do participants take back from the business and human rights due diligence course?

Participants take back a Human Rights Due Diligence Plan and Salient Issues Register for a case organisation, with a severity scoring method, leverage matrix, grievance mechanism blueprint, remediation protocol and a disclosure draft aligned with the UNGP Reporting Framework.