Poland

Pillar II. The Corporate responsibility to respect human rights

4. Investment strategy and an ideal investor’s profile [page 31-33]

The development of the objectives of the Investment Strategy and investment support tools, including the amendment of the Programme for Supporting Investments of Significant Importance for the Polish Economy in 2011-2023, constitutes one of the measures implementing the Responsible Development Plan and the Strategy for Responsible Development. 

Defining the criteria for obtaining government assistance by selected investors who meet certain criteria (the so-called good practice catalogue) that, at the same time, are consistent with the concept of corporate responsibility, is an important element of the investment strategy from the perspective of respecting human rights. Apart from the elements of a purely economic nature, assistance should be granted to investors who not only contribute to the economic development of the country, but who also affect its development in the social, environmental, and work culture areas.

Special assistance will be offered to investors who provide or plan to provide specialised workplaces under employment contracts. This requirement is consistent, e.g., with the content of the International Labour Organization’s Philadelphia Declaration, whose signatories commit to conducting programmes to implement policies on pay and earnings, working hours, and other working conditions designed to ensure equitable distribution of progress for everyone and minimum remuneration for all employees, or whenever this kind of protection is necessary. This is a particularly important condition for ensuring the personal development of employees and realizing their full potential, which directly translates into the social and economic progress of the country.

From the perspective of the right to decent work, the level of remuneration of employees is also important. At the same time, special importance in this context is given to entrepreneurial investors who declare their willingness to support their employees in improving their qualifications.

Such activities contribute to increasing the potential of employees and their development, not only in the professional field. They make employees feel greater satisfaction and motivation in all fields of their activities and thus shape their pro-social attitudes.

The ideal investor should engage in broad employee care activities (e.g., by offering additional healthcare programmes or the ability to use in-company preschools and crèches). This contributes greatly to building responsible entrepreneurship and to recognising the role of entrepreneurs as actors of particular importance in the process of building civil society.

In addition, of special importance will be those investors who provide employees with tools that enable or facilitate saving. Investors should act in accordance with the UN principles for responsible investment and positively affect the regional communities and their immediate economic environment.

5. Corporate social responsibility in companies with State Treasury shareholding 

All businesses share the same responsibility for respecting human rights regardless of the title of ownership. State-owned companies should serve as a model for socially responsible business practices and should conduct business based on ethical, pro-social, and environmentally friendly principles across the board. These entities should promote a modern model of operations based on social responsibility and sustainable development in order to ensure their long-term economic viability. With that in mind, the Ministry of Treasury published the document Good Practices in the Scope of Corporate Social Responsibility in Companies with State Treasury Shareholding, which:

– groups the expectations of the Minister of Treasury regarding actions in the field of corporate social responsibility, in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles;

– specifies the guidelines for corporate social responsibility in companies with State Treasury shareholding;

– presents recommendations for the managing bodies (management and supervisory boards) of companies with State Treasury shareholding and detailed recommendations for companies with State Treasury shareholding.

As Poland ratified the Protocol of 2014 to Forced Labour Convention No 29 of 1930, it is necessary to initiate measures that will require employers in the public and private sectors to provide information under their reporting procedures on implemented procedures, processes, and standards for counteracting forced labour.

6. UN Guiding Principles in the operations of the Export Credit Insurance Corporation 

The Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE) draws upon the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the course of the environmental procedure related to credit insurance and export contracts guaranteed by the State Treasury. The procedure following the current OECD Recommendation published as TAD/ECG(2012)5 of 28 June 2012 and adapted to Resolution No 2/2013 of the Export Insurance Policy Committee of 6 February 2013 takes into account broader human rights issues, including the UN Guiding Principles. 

The issue of respecting human rights in the operations of export credit agencies was raised both in the work on the 2012 Recommendation (modification of the 2007 document) and during several years of its revision, culminating in the adoption of the current version by the OECD Council on 6 April 2016. The current version of the Recommendation, officially published on 3 April 2016 (TAD/ECG (2016) 3) takes greater account of the requirements for respecting human rights in a procedure known as due diligence in the social and environmental aspects, e.g., in the classification of export undertakings and risk assessment.

The implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in light of the Recommendation is based on the Corporation’s growing experience in the application of appropriate methods of assessment of human rights observance in individual importing countries. The exchange of experience with the cooperating institutions and as part of the Export Credit Group is a great help.