Germany

1. The State Duty to Protect

1.2 Basic rule of economic policy

The current situation

Germany has ratified major strategic international instruments codifying the protection of human rights, including labour rights, thereby incorporating them into national law. The same applies to the particularly important ILO instruments known as the Core Labour Standards. The instruments that are now binding in Germany include, for example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, most of the conventions of the International Labour Organization and major European agreements such as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter.

People in vulnerable situations pose a particular challenge in Germany as elsewhere. These include migrants and, in general, employees in precarious work. These groups of people are exposed to a high risk of labour exploitation. The introduction of a general statutory minimum wage in Germany has established an effective instrument against excessively low wages. Since 1 January 2015, a minimum hourly wage of €8.50 has been payable, and its rate is to be adjusted every two years by an independent commission. The minimum wage has increased the earnings of four million people, whose income has risen by an average of 18%.

People who are affected by or at risk of labour exploitation need information about their rights and assistance in enforcing them. In recent years, advice and contact centres have been created in various parts of Germany, some with national and some with regional funding. With support from the Federal Government and the European Social Fund (ESF), for example, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), through a project called “Faire Mobilität” (fair mobility), provides such advice to employees, especially those from the EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. There is no permanent nationwide advisory structure yet for employees from all geographical origins and occupational sectors. In the fight against human trafficking and exploitative employment, Germany is also bound by EU Directive 2011/36/EU and has ratified both the Council of Europe Convention of 2005 on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. To coordinate the diverse activities designed to combat human trafficking, the Federal Government established the Federal Working Group on Trafficking in Human Beings in 1997, whose members include representatives of non-governmental organisations.

The protection of whistleblowers is a highly valuable accompanying measure in the detection of exploitative employment. General provisions in the field of labour law (sections 612a and 626 of the German Civil Code and section 1 of the Protection against Unfair Dismissal Act) and in constitutional law (Articles 2(1), 5 and 20(3) of the Basic Law) provide the legal basis for such protection.

There are also numerous provisions of special legislation which supplement the protection of whistleblowers guaranteed by the aforementioned provisions in particular areas of activity, examples being section 13 of the Money Laundering Act and section 17(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Federal Government is currently preparing for the incorporation of numerous international legal instruments into German law. These include the Protocol to the ILO Forced Labour Convention (No 29). The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is planning the examination prior to ratification of the ILO Minimum Wage Fixing Convention (No 131) and Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No 169) as well as of the Optional Protocol of 2008 to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the revised Social Charter.

Measures

• To supplement the existing structures, the Federal Government has shifted the focal point of its efforts towards the fight against human trafficking for the purpose of exploitative employment. A joint federal level-state level working group is currently developing a strategic approach designed to reinforce prevention, establish advisory structures and improve criminal prosecution and the data situation.
• The Federal Government has reached agreement on a bill designed to combat abuses of temporary agency work and work and services contracts. This means that there will be clear rules in future to prevent abuses and the circumvention of employment standards.
• As part of the transposition of European Directive 2016/943/EU on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets), the protection of whistleblowers in German law is being further developed. The purpose of this legislation is to make it clear that the disclosure of trade secrets is lawful if its purpose is to expose professional or other misconduct or illegal activity in order to protect the general public interest.

The precept of equal rights for men and women is constitutionally enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 3(2) of the Basic Law. Participation by men and women on an equal footing at all levels is a top priority of the Federal Government. Since 1 May 2015, for example, the Act on the Equal Participation of Women and Men in Leadership Positions in the Private and the Public Sector has been in force. The aim of the Act is to increase significantly the percentage of women in executive positions in the medium term with a view to ultimately achieving parity with men. The principle of equal pay for equal work has also been firmly enshrined in the European treaties since the adoption of the Treaty of Rome.

In Germany there remains a substantial pay gap between women and men. Career choices based on role stereotypes, women in marginal part-time employment and disparities in career prospects because of structural conditions, the effects of material incentives and discrimination – mainly indirect – against women regarding remuneration are still preventing the realisation of equal pay for equal work. Even where men and women have the same formal qualifications and meet other criteria to the same extent, there is still a measurable pay gap of 7%. These pay differentials are a problem throughout the economy, a problem for which all relevant stakeholders must face up to their responsibility. The Federal Government has initiated a dialogue between employers’ and employees’ organisations on this issue and has introduced numerous non-legislative measures such as the Equal Pay Day and a new computer-assisted assessment procedure for the identification of corporate pay discrimination.

Development policy [page 19-20]

German development policy is value-based and is guided by the principle of human rights, because every individual worldwide must have fair development opportunities. Respecting, protecting and guaranteeing human rights are binding requirements and form a key component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which, in 2015, the international community resolved to implement. With its globally and universally applicable Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda serves as a compass and reference framework and has been in force since 1 January 2016. The 2030 Agenda underlines the aspiration of the Federal Government to combine economic development with sustainability, with the basic principles of social and green market economics and with decent working conditions.

Through its development policy, Germany works proactively at all levels – globally, in partnership with other countries and nationally – to ensure that human rights are upheld by fostering the creation of requisite legal and institutional conditions, pertinent state regulation, and the monitoring of corporate activity. To this end, assistance is given to governments of developing countries as well as to international and multilateral organisations, for example, in aligning their economic and social policies more closely with human rights and sustainability standards.

German development policy actively supports dialogue between governments and enterprises (and their associations), trade unions and civil society on subjects such as vocational training, health and safety at work and minimum wage rates in partner countries.

In addition, the Federal Government, directly or together with these partners, implements development projects or programmes that target greater respect for human rights and the reduction of risks to human rights. Other aims of German development policy are to strengthen the rule of law and to improve access to justice, especially for marginalised sections of the population in partner countries.

The current situation

Activities in the fields of development cooperation with the private sector and promotion of economic development are governed by the UN Guiding Principles. Back in 2011, the Principles were incorporated into the strategy paper of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development on human rights in German development policy. This strategy is binding on the organisations that implement public development policy on behalf of the Federal Government. Contractual obligations to this effect have also been incorporated into agreements on development partnerships with the German and European private sector under the develoPPP.de programme.

With their environmental and social standards, international financial institutions such as the World Bank and regional development banks set benchmarks for environmental and social regulation. The Federal Government will continue to track the reform processes in international financial institutions with a view to ensuring that their operations are even more sharply focused on human rights.

Seeking to identify practical approaches to development which will boost corporate responsibility for human rights, the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) has implemented, on behalf of the Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry, a research programme entitled “Human Rights, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development”. A research project sponsored by the same ministry at the German Institute for Human Rights, moreover, supports national human rights institutions in partner countries in the field of human rights and business.

In addition, the Federal Government has undertaken to implement the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests and has initiated a number of development cooperation projects to assist governments of developing countries in enforcing the land-tenure rights of marginalised groups, in strengthening stakeholders in civil society and in raising awareness among companies, for example those investing in agriculture, and gaining their support for the application of these guidelines with a view to preventing illegal actions such as land-grabbing.

Measures

• The instruments of development policy relating to cooperation with business will be reviewed for compliance with the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles. In particular, the contractual clauses of the develoPPP.de programme are to be fleshed out to include the due diligence requirements with regard to human rights.
• It is important to the Federal Government that National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights should be drawn up in developing and newly industrialised countries. The Federal Government will use the means at its disposal to promote such processes, for example by supporting national human rights institutions.
• The Federal Government will also take specific action to step up its wideranging commitment to the protection of human rights defenders when applying the UN Guiding Principles. In the field of business and human rights, as elsewhere, development policy is about standing up for the rights of vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples or children and youth or persons with disabilities.
• The requirements set out in the UN Guiding Principles and in the National Action Plan, inparticular in its chapter III, on due diligence with regard to human rights, also apply to the organisations that implement development policy, including bodies that provide financing for development. They also serve as a basis for further assessment and monitoring and, where appropriate, further development of the grievance procedures that state implementing organisations, including financing bodies, have already established.
• In addition, the Federal Government will continue to track the reform processes in international financial institutions with a view to ensuring that their operations are more sharply focused on human rights.

2. Challenges in corporate practice 

2.1 Ensuring the protection of human rights in supply and value chains [pages 28-31]

The Federal Government has long been supporting multi-stakeholder initiatives that have been launched in various sectors for the purpose of devising strategies and monitoring procedures.

• These include, for example, the Sustainable Cocoa Forum, founded jointly by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the business community and civil society. In the Forum, the Federal Government, together with representatives of civil society, the confectionery industry and the food trade and in cooperation with partner countries, presses for improved production conditions and living standards in cocoagrowing areas and for sustainable cocoa farming.
• The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, which was initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, has established an obligation to comply with sustainability standards and to guarantee corporate due diligence in the textile and clothing sector. All members of the Partnership are required to pursue its social and environmental objectives. They submit to a review process, which is conducted by an independent third party and is designed to bring about continuous improvement. Individual schedules of measures (road maps) are compiled annually by all members; the first of these is to be produced by the end of January 2017. A robust sanctions regime and regular reporting on the implementation of the road maps will ensure credibility and transparency. The Textile Partnership creates a reference framework and an independent review system of international scope.
• With support from the Federal Government-funded German Global Compact Network, the “Round Table on Human Rights in Tourism” was launched in 2012. Its aim is to specify the precise requirements of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for the tourism industry and to develop, in a multi-stakeholder format, solutions to human rights challenges that are specific to tourism.

Measures

• The Federal Government will support the systematic inclusion of sustainability chapters in free-trade agreements, which will prescribe, among other things, compliance with the ILO Core Labour Standards.
• The Federal Government will publish a study identifying high-risk sectors and regions of particular relevance to the supply and value chains of German business. On the basis of this study, with the Federal Government in a moderating role, sector-specific guides to the exercise of human rights due diligence and examples of best practice will be drawn up in cooperation with the relevant business associations and with the aid of dedicated multi-stakeholder forums.
• The Federal Government will continue to promote the Vision Zero Fund, which was initiated on the basis of a G7 decision. The Fund is to be administered by the International Labour Organization and will serve to prevent and reduce work-related deaths and serious work-related accidents in global supply chains.
• Through its development cooperation programme, Germany supports the application of sustainability standards in host countries, for example through the regional project entitled “Social and labour standards in the textile and garment sector in Asia”, which covers three countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan.
• By means of the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, the Federal Government supports a multi-stakeholder initiative combining voluntary and compulsory elements. The Textile Partnership is designed to comply with the UN Guiding Principles. The aim is to have 75% of the German textile and clothing market signed up to the Textile Partnership by 2018. The Partnership should serve as a model for the definition of due diligence requirements in other industries.
• The “Round Table on Human Rights in Tourism”, a model initiative for the development of a specific sectoral understanding of due diligence with regard to human rights, will receive increased financial support from the Federal Government.

 

2.2 Transparency and communication regarding corporate impacts on human rights

The number of enterprises that already present regular sustainability reports on a voluntary basis is steadily increasing. For example, the participants in the Global Compact, more than 300 in number, have committed themselves to presenting annual reports. The reports from German enterprises, and particularly from the large enterprises, are mostly based on the voluntary standards of the Global Reporting Initiative

(GRI). The Federal Government has also supported the development of a German reporting standard in the German Sustainability Code (DNK). Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Institute for Ecological Economy

Research (IÖW) assesses the quality of sustainability reports from large enterprises and SMEs and draws up a league table for each of these categories. This ranking is intended to stimulate corporate competition in the realm of sustainability reporting and to highlight and propagate benchmarks for high-quality reporting.

Through their purchasing decisions, consumers influence the supply of sustainably produced and delivered goods and services. Instruments such as the information platform www.siegelklarheit.de (sustainability standards comparison tool), initiated by the Federal Government, create transparency and help consumers to adopt sustainable purchasing habits.

Measures

• On 21 September 2016, the Federal Cabinet adopted the law transposing into German law Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial information by certain large undertakings and groups (the CSR Directive).
• The Federal Government is considering the introduction of a certification mark into German law. The relevant EU legislation already provides for the introduction of a European certification mark and gives Member States the option of introducing a national certification mark in addition. Such a mark could be used, for example, to certify compliance with certain human rights standards in supply and value chains. Responsibility for verification would rest with the certifying body. The mark can contribute to greater transparency for consumers and create positive incentives for enterprises in the form of a competitive edge derived from this means of communicating their compliance with human rights standards in the marketplace.

3. Available means of practical implementation support

The current situation

Numerous measures and services are already available for this purpose. A selection of existing and planned measures is described in some detail below:

• The National CSR Forum, which was launched by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in 2009, consists of currently 41 members – high-ranking experts from business, trade unions, non-governmental organisations and research bodies as well as representatives of the participating federal ministries. Among the main tasks of the National CSR Forum are the provision of advice to the Federal Government on the continuing development of the national CSR strategy and Page 34 the formulation of recommendations on specific issues. In 2010, the National CSR Forum, with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in the lead role, discussed and developed a National CSR Action Plan. The measures and activities that have been carried out in the framework of the Action Plan have reached numerous enterprises. In a decision taken on 30 August 2012, the National CSR Forum expressed its support for “a smart mix of voluntary policy measures and, where necessary, complementary regulation” (2012, p. 11). Through the ESF promotion scheme for “social responsibility in SMEs”, more than 3,000 SMEs received advice and training in social responsibility, and regional CSR networks have been made permanent. Numerous specialised events have been staged in the framework of the CSR Forum to advise enterprises on the exercise of due diligence.
• The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development makes information and guidance available to enterprises of various sizes from various sectors, particularly by funding the work of the German Global Compact Network. Ever since 2004, the Ministry has been promoting the Network in close consultation with the Federal Foreign Office. The Network unites the German signatories of the UN Global Compact, whose core principles include respect for fundamental human rights and labour standards. As a business-driven multi-stakeholder forum, the Network has been providing training courses for management staff in the exercise of corporate responsibility for human rights ever since 2008.
• The Agency for Business and Economic Development of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development was expanded in 2015/2016 and provides advice on development-related support opportunities and information services for enterprises operating in developing and newly industrialised countries. In addition, ever since 2009 the ILO has been offering the services of a help desk to assist multinational companies in the practices of applying international labour standards and to advise them on the current legal situation in individual countries.
• Ever since 2012, the Federal Government has been supporting the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre information platform. In 2014, it succeeded in having a German-language version of the platform made available. The website provides information on human rights challenges by region, issue and risk group and even by enterprise.
• The Chambers of Industry and Commerce are already very active in providing enterprises with guidance. German Chambers of Commerce Abroad can inform enterprises of the current legal and de facto situation in foreign countries. In some countries, the Chambers, in cooperation with German development cooperation agencies, provide facilities known as “CSR centres of excellence”, which provide advice on CSR measures.

Measures

I. Helpdesk and initial consultation

• The Federal Government will significantly increase the reporting and consultation output of German diplomatic and consular missions in collaboration with the other pillars of external-trade promotion, namely the Chambers of Commerce Abroad and Germany Trade and Invest. To this end, basic and continuing training will also be focused more sharply on advisory skills in the field of business and human rights.
• Within the Agency for Business and Economic Development of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which operates as a one-stop business advisory centre on development-related support opportunities in developing and newly industrialised countries, a helpdesk on business and human rights will be created. The core task of the helpdesk will be to provide initial consultation on request or referral and to raise awareness of the issues involved. The Agency serves enterprises and business organisations as a first stop, informing them of existing services, contacts and networks. The services of the Agency are broadened and underpinned by the provision of advice in the framework of existing networks operating at the interface between business and development cooperation, such as “EZ-Scouts” and “ExperTS”.

II.Information services and best practices

• The Federal Government CSR Award recognises exemplary enterprises for their contributions to sustainability. It also promotes a learning process, since each enterprise is scored on the basis of its individual contribution to sustainability. An additional special prize is to be awarded in future for responsible supply chain management.
• The website www.csr-in-deutschland.de is currently being developed into the central Federal Government gateway to content on corporate social responsibility. Information on the main activities and measures of the Federal Government is to be posted there in a coherent whole-of-government format.
• Continued efforts will be made to increase the availability of information in German through the production of guides and through support for the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.

III. Opportunities for training and dialogue

• The range of advisory and training services offered by the German Global Compact Network will be expanded and supplemented by services such as a graduated range of webinars and other formats relating to specific elements of human rights due diligence just like practical questions and answers.
• As the third-largest contributor to the International Labour Organization, the Federal Government is a major sponsor of the support services offered by the ILO. The ILO Helpdesk for Business on International Labour Standards assists enterprises in applying international labour and social standards correctly. Besides an informative website, the Helpdesk also provides prompt replies to individual queries on a confidential basis as well as training courses.
• In cooperation with business networks, ‘practice days’ for SMEs are offered nationwide. These sessions provide support, information and exchanges with other enterprises on responsible supply chain management and high-quality sustainability reporting.

IV. Creating a global playing field 

• In multilateral forums such as the G20, the EU and ASEM and in close cooperation with international organisations such as the ILO, the OECD and the UN, the Federal Government will press for the creation of a global level playing field with regard to terms of competition. To this end, the G7 leaders decision on sustainable supply chains will be further fleshed out with a view to arriving at a common global understanding of due diligence and of sustainable supply chain management.