Read the Final Statement published 14 March 2022: 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 concerns 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 2 September 2021, the NCP completed its initial assessment deciding to accept the case for further consideration.
The NCP had several meetings with the parties and professional mediators to establish mediation sessions, however, in December 2021 the company informed the NCP that they would not participate in mediation. This was due to the company’s belief that the submitters were engaged in inappropriate actions and misleading statements to the NCP and the press. The company noted that it remained committed to the Guidelines and respected the work of the US NCP.
On 14 March 2022, the NCP published a final statement providing recommendations to the company based on paragraphs from the Guidelines, specifically relating to respecting human rights and seeking ways to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts, and promoting co-operation between employers and workers, including taking steps to ensure occupational health and saftey in their operations.
The NCP will follow-up on the specific instance in December 2022.