Responsible business is good business. Businesses can perform well while creating jobs that respect labor rights. Governments can help by creating and facilitating conditions for responsible business conduct and respect for labor rights to thrive.
Explore the U.S. Government Responsible Business Conduct and Labor Rights InfoHub, an online repository to communicate an all-of-government point of view, approach and suite of resources to advance labor rights outcomes in business operations and value chains.
About the InfoHub
The U.S. government is committed to promoting responsible business conduct in global supply chains. This commitment includes upholding international standards to protect the rights of workers, safeguarding access to remedies, and ensuring accountability for all stakeholders within supply chains.
Further, responsible business conduct means that businesses can positively impact economic, environmental, and social progress. Businesses can do this by committing to robust due diligence efforts and complying with legal obligations both at home and overseas.
This website serves as a central hub for U.S. government-wide policy, guidance, tools, resources, and outcomes-based approaches available to businesses to advance responsible business conduct in global supply chains, focusing on labor rights.
Guiding Frameworks
Understanding the foundation of responsible business conduct is vital for the success of global businesses in meeting expectations and obligations. The following guiding frameworks provide a foundation of responsible business conduct that guides companies on how to operate and proactively contribute to economic, environmental, and social progress as understood from both global and national perspectives.
Global
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct
- OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration)
- ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
U.S. Government
National Action Plan for Responsible Business Conduct
The National Action Plan for Responsible Business Conduct is a broad concept based on the idea that businesses can perform well while doing good and that governments should set and facilitate the conditions for this to take place. This plan also outlines how the federal government promotes human rights in the overseas operations of U.S. businesses through research, technical cooperation, federal procurement practices, labor diplomacy, and public-private dialogue.
Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally
The U.S. government is committed to ensuring high labor standards, bringing workers' voices to the decision-making table, and enforcing rules against unfair labor practices — not just here at home, but around the world. The Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally is the first whole-of-government approach to advance workers’ rights by directing departments and agencies to elevate labor rights in their work abroad to:
- Enhance labor diplomacy and consistently include worker voices in engagements abroad, including in multilateral engagements;
- Defend workers when they come under threat or face violence for exercising their labor rights;
- Expand the U.S. government’s capacity to advance workers’ rights around the world; and
- Pursue effective and meaningful responses to labor rights violations and address gaps in labor rights protections and compliance.