Human Rights Policy
At Endesa we are committed to supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Respect for Human Rights is one of the principles on which we base our activities in all the countries and territories in which we operate.
On 16 June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”, which emphasise that the rights granted by the International Charter of Human Rights are very important for companies – no discrimination, the rights of indigenous peoples, the abolition of child labour, etc. Respect for these rights should be a primary responsibility for companies.
In particular, the interpretation of the responsibility expressed in the Guiding Principles takes an approach that goes beyond the “legal” limits of a company and includes the entire sector: a company may be involved in human rights abuse cases not only because of their direct activity but also for indirectly not respecting them.
On 5 February 2013, Enel adopted the approach established by the United Nations of “protect, respect and remedy” with the approval by the Board of Directors of a policy dedicated to the respect of Human Rights, which strengthens and extends the commitment already established in the Code of Ethics, the Zero Tolerance of Corruption Plan and the Compliance 231 Programme.
At Endesa we support the main principles and commitments contained in the Enel Group Human Rights Policy: our policy was approved by the Endesa S.A. Board of Directors on 24 June 2013 and updated in May 2020.
The contents of this policy were marked by a six-month multi-stakeholder consultation process in which different areas of the company (CSR, Human Resources, Legal, Procurement, Auditing, Risk Management, etc.) and important international experts participated.
The policy identifies eight principles that employees and subsidiaries must adhere to within two broad areas: work practices and communities and societies.
Furthermore, within this formal commitment, we promote respect for these rights among our contractors, suppliers and business partners.
As required by the Guiding Principles, due diligence processes will be developed, such as, for example, Human Rights Compliance Assessment (HRCA) in all the countries in which we operate, the integration of social, environmental and good governance metrics in risk management procedures and the definition of a method to assess the social impact of industrial projects.
At Endesa, we have a specific channel over which stakeholders - internal and external - can report when this policy has been breached. We also have a process for managing claims, in line with the Code of Ethics