Human Rights & Fair Labor Practices
Demonstrating our commitment to ethical principles, regulatory requirements and compliance.
Highlights
- Greif’s commitment to upholding human rights and fair labor practices is aligned with internationally recognized frameworks such as the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Principles and the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
- As a global operation, we recognize the complex nature of human rights-related risks, understanding that the unique contexts of our facilities may lead to distinct challenges across different regions and operations. To address these challenges, local teams are critical in assessing and managing localized risks, and we empower our colleagues to take part.
- By the end of 2023, 94.2 percent of professional colleagues and 81.5 percent of production colleagues completed training on our human rights policies and procedures, resulting in an overall completion rate of 83.3 percent for Greif.
Why Human Rights & Fair Labor Practices Matters
Our unwavering commitment to upholding international human rights and fair labor practices establishes a global framework for treating our workforce fairly, in alignment with the ethical business conduct expectations outlined in The Greif Way and our Build to Last Strategy’s Creating Thriving Communities mission. By prioritizing human rights and fair labor practices, we ensure an environment of respect, dignity and equality for colleagues, helping us attract top talent and increase job satisfaction and engagement. We also commit to paying fair, livable wages globally and providing safe and equitable working conditions. We extend this commitment beyond our organization, striving to collaborate with business partners and responsible supply partners who share our values, instilling customer confidence in our sourcing and labor practices.
Governance
Greif’s commitment to upholding human rights and fair labor practices is aligned with internationally recognized frameworks such as the UN Global Compact Principles and the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We recognize that the potential for impacts on human rights extends beyond our operations, and we aim to uphold these principles throughout our supply chain. Our expectations for respecting human rights and fair labor practices are integrated into several Greif policies, including our Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policy, Child Labor Policy, Code of Conduct, Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, Fair Treatment of Others Policy, Human Rights Policy, Supplier Code of Conduct and Indigenous Peoples Policy. In 2023, we updated our Child Labor Policy and Human Rights Policy to enhance clarity, ensuring a more explicit articulation of our commitments and standards for our organization and partners.
Greif’s Human Resources Director, Global Projects, oversees our Human Rights and Fair Labor Practices team with support from the human resources community members who represent each region and business unit. We maintain a comprehensive, risk-based program to identify and address human rights and labor risks across all facilities, aligning with our commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UN Global Compact, ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This ensures consistent risk mitigation and the implementation of best-practice measures.
Our local Human Resources teams aim to protect human rights by conducting risk assessments, verification of age and legal working status and human rights awareness training. As a global operation, we recognize the complex nature of human rights-related risks, understanding that the unique contexts of our facilities may lead to distinct challenges across different regions and operations. To address these challenges, local teams are critical in assessing and managing localized risks, and we empower our colleagues to take part. In 2023 we launched our refreshed program of internal Human Rights Reviews, a facility self-assessment to gauge alignment between internal practice and best practice, and to identify opportunities for improvement. In the third quarter of 2024, we plan to launch a pilot program for SA8000 certification—a global standard for social accountability in the workplace—at three of our sites.
Supporting Human Rights Through Colleague Training
Colleague training on human rights is crucial for fostering awareness, promoting a culture of respect and ensuring that our people are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to uphold and protect human rights throughout our organization. In 2023, we took significant steps to strengthen our curriculum by launching human rights and fair labor practices training for 94.2 percent of professional colleagues on Greif University and a face-to-face training session for 81.5 percent of production colleagues. Overall, 83.3 percent of our colleagues have received human rights and fair labor practices training.
We encourage colleagues to use the Ethics Hotline at any time to anonymously report concerns about potential human rights or discrimination violations. Contact information for the Ethics Hotline is publicly available in all facilities and provided to internal and external stakeholders through the Code of Conduct. All complaints received through the Ethics Hotline are immediately categorized and addressed appropriately by a regional vice president or director. We aim to resolve all reports submitted to our Ethics Hotline promptly. In 2023, we investigated 100 percent of the 236 reports made through the Ethics Hotline and worked to resolve all of the issues raised. Outstanding complaints are under investigation.
In 2023, 36 percent of Greif’s colleagues engaged in collective bargaining agreements. Our Human Resources and Legal Teams oversee these agreements, which are independently managed in each region. The agreements align with local regulations and cover colleagues’ health and safety, working conditions, training and career management, diversity and discrimination and other workers’ rights. For further information on Greif’s approach to labor relations, please see the Business Continuity, Automation & Digitization section.
Goals, Progress & Performance
2025 Goals:
- 100 percent of our operations will be subject to internal human rights reviews including modern slavery risk assessments, measured on a rolling cycle, by the end of FY25.
- 100 percent of colleagues will be trained in human rights policies and procedures by the end of FY25.
Between FY20 and FY22, we conducted Human Rights Review audits at 73 Greif facilities. During FY23, we primarily focused on redesigning our human rights auditing and review process, creating a detailed risk dashboard to ensure we identify and prioritize facilities and geographies where there may be significant human rights risks. The risk dashboard draws from a wide variety of expert sources, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Child Labor Database, ILO data on poverty and excessive working and world and poverty metrics. Topics covered in the updated review process include modern slavery assessments (forced and child labor), health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, diversity, equity and inclusion, grievances, working hours, compensation and benefits.
After finalizing this process, human rights reviews resumed in November 2023, and as of December 31, 2023, 29 Greif locations have been reviewed using the updated process. By the end of FY24, 52 percent of global Greif locations will have completed the human rights review, which includes assessments on 10 topics such as child and forced labor, freedom of association, diversity, grievances, working hours, compensation and more. All facilities are projected to be reviewed by the end of 2025. We plan to re-review facilities every two years.
At the end of 2023, over 94.2 percent of professional colleagues and 81.5 percent of production colleagues completed training on our human rights policies and procedures, which includes training on the Fair Treatment of Others Policy, resulting in an overall completion rate of 83.3 percent for Greif as a whole.
We are on track to reach our target of training 100 percent of colleagues by the end of FY25 following the development and delivery of human rights and fair labor training for all Greif colleagues via Greif University in 2023. This training will now be part of our compliance training agenda and will be required every two years for all colleagues.
