France

III. Access to Remedy

Non – judicial mechanisms

At the National Level

2.6. Grievance mechanisms in Companies [page 58]

Pursuant to UN Guiding Principle 29, “To make it possible for grievances to be addressed early and remediated directly, business enterprises should establish or participate in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted”, companies establish their own grievance mechanisms Their goal is to enable any affected stakeholder to question or lodge a complaint about the business’s operations. As stated in Principle 31, in order to ensure their effectiveness, these mechanisms should be:

– Legitimate

– Accessible

– Predictable

– Equitable

Transparent

– Rights-compatible

– A source of continuous learning

– Based on engagement and dialogue at the operational level.

In practice, grievance mechanisms in companies are generally:

– Formal group-level mechanisms: whistleblower hotline/whistleblower procedures, mediators, etc.;

– Mechanisms dealing with specific issues: harassment, discrimination, specific activities or specific countries;

– Operations-level mechanisms for specific projects;

– Institutional or voluntary bodies supporting social dialogue: works councils, international framework agreements, workplace health and safety committees, etc.