Where human rights issues are identified in our global value chain, we work diligently to address them as documented by the Danish Institute for Human Rights' The Arc of Human Rights Priorities publication. Examples of these are listed below.
The Coca-Cola system is one of the world’s largest buyers of sugar. Our direct suppliers in the sugar supply chain are usually sugar mills where sugar is refined. We do not typically purchase ingredients directly from farms. We hold our direct suppliers accountable for their adherence to our Supplier Guiding Principles, which prohibit the use of child labor. We also collaborate with our suppliers, industry and other stakeholders to address the issue of child labor in sugar cane harvesting at the farm level. As a result of a global/local strategy to address child labor in sugar cane harvesting, we are working to address the issue in several countries, including El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines, to raise awareness of the issue and to remove children from sugar cane fields and place them in schools.
In El Salvador, for example, we collaborated with ILO-IPEC, the Salvadoran sugar industry, local Foundations, international NGOs and the government to address child labor. The work resulted in measurable reductions in the incidence of child labor in sugarcane harvesting. Learn more about our work in El Salvador, beginning on page 53.
In addition, we have hosted convenings of experts on the topic of child labor to seek advice on the most constructive role that we can play in addressing this complex issue. Input from these discussions has been incorporated into our action plan focused on raising awareness at the international level and taking concrete actions at the country level in collaboration with our suppliers, local government and industries to address child labor in sugarcane harvesting.
Compliance with local work hours and overtime laws is a fundamental component of our WRP and SGP. Reducing overtime can increase employee morale and decrease quality incidents thereby improving business results and fostering a Great Place to Work. To help our bottlers and supply partners manage the issue we sought to understand the root cause and help identify solutions which can be provide win-win opportunities. In a number of countries we carefully tracked overtime to identify causes and then developed a guidance document to provide facilities with practical strategies to reduce overtime as well as real case studies to demonstrate that success is possible.
The Coca-Cola Company addresses human trafficking and forced labor through both our Workplace Rights Policy and Supplier Guiding Principles. Where we have found specific issues, we have tailored our actions to address those issues. These actions include establishing a guideline in the Middle East that prohibits passport holding, thus protecting freedom of movement for migrant workers, and enhanced forced labor monitoring in the sugar supply chain in Brazil.
