Read the initial statement published 21 June 2021: English
Read the final statement published 22 April 2022: English
Read the follow up in the NCP's 2022 Annual Report (p. 49): English
On 18 May 2020, four trade unions, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF), the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT-IUF), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the União Geral dos Trabalhadores (UGT), submitted a specific instance to the Dutch NCP alleging that McDonald’s Corporation, a company active in the food sector, APG Asset Management and Norges Bank, two companies active in the financial sector, did not observe the General Policies (Chapter II), Human Rights (Chapter IV), and Employment and Industrial Relations (Chapter V) provisions of the Guidelines. The notification regards alleged gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the global operations of McDonald's Corporation and related due diligence by two institutional investors of McDonald’s: APG Asset Management and Norges Bank (NBIM).
Although the case was initially submitted to the Dutch NCP, with a request to coordinate with the Norwegian NCP, the Dutch NCP also coordinated with the US NCP, given that McDonald’s Corporation is headquartered in the United States. The Dutch, US and Norwegian NCPs agreed to split the case into three separate specific instances, but with close coordination. The US NCP would handle the specific instance concerning McDonald's Corporation, the Norwegian NCP the specific instance related to NBIM and the Dutch NCP the specific instance regarding APG.
On 21 June 2021, the Norwegian NCP published its initial assessment regarding NBIM deciding to accept the case. The allegations against NBIM focused on Chapters II and IV of the OECD Guidelines. The NCP offered its good offices in hopes of facilitating a dialogue between the parties.
Following dialogue facilitated by the NCP in March 2022, the parties reached agreement. The agreement noted that NBIM will make its best effort to implement due diligence recommendations of the Guidelines, and acknowledges the role of institutional investors in RBC, specifically in considering associated risks and influencing investee companies to mitigate and avoid adverse impacts. The Parties agreed that GBVH is a material risk that companies in the fast-food restaurant sector need to address in order to create a safe and respectful environment for workers.
In October 2022, the NCP invited the parties to a follow-up meeting. The submitters noted their plans to continue disclosing information relating to GBVH, referencing the decision of the ILO to include a ‘safe and healthy work environment’ in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work (read more). NBIM provided updates on its expectation documents on human rights, human capital management and child rights, and the inclusive process to prepare these and other expectation documents. NBIM noted the importance to focus not only on the company’s employees, but also workers throughout the supply chain and business relationships.
The parties agreed to continue a dialogue outside of the NCP process. The NCP commended the parties on their efforts in the NCP process.