Responding department: Corporate Sustainability
Stock exchange symbol: (OMV:AV)
Does your company have a publicly available commitment to respect human rights?
Dedicated Human Rights Policy: [link] Code of Conduct: [link]
How are human rights governed in your company?
As a signatory to the UN Global Compact and fully committed to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, OMV regards human rights as universal values which guide our conduct in all aspects of our activities. OMV respects, fulfils and supports the fulfilment of human rights as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in internationally recognized treaties, including those of the International Labour Organization. We consider human rights as an essential expression of our Resourcefulness strategy. Resourcefulness, OMV’s sustainability strategy, is managed and overseen by two governance bodies: the Resourcefulness Executive Team comprises representatives of each Resourcefulness area and business units and is responsible for further developing the Resourcefulness strategy and implementing it into operations; the Resourcefulness Advisory Board comprises high ranking external experts who advise us on how we can best develop the strategy, as well as giving feedback on running programs. Human rights cover a wide range of aspects of social, economic and political life and are comprehensive in nature. They protect human dignity on an equal basis and serve to meet the needs and legitimate interests of human beings. As interests and needs of different groups and actors are different, OMV considers and applies human rights as a way of balancing the interests and needs of all relevant stakeholders in a practical and culturally sensitive way. Governments have the primary responsibility for the protection of human rights. OMV – as a signatory of the UN Global Compact – has accepted responsibilities to respect, fulfil and support the fulfilment of human rights in relation to all our business activities and not to become complicit in human rights abuses. We follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for operational implementation of human rights across all functions, in particular for managing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to our business activity.
How are human rights managed within your company?
In order to meet our concrete responsibilities to respect human rights and not to become complicit, we attach special importance to a well-structured process of Human Rights Due Diligence as well as the establishment of effective operational-level grievance mechanisms. But we also see our responsibility to positively contribute to the fulfilment of human rights through our activities. The Human Rights Due Diligence Process includes assessing the human rights risk associated with our current and future business activities and taking risk management actions. It is an on-going process, with regular updates, and it makes use of external resources and expertise, including external stakeholders, in particular impacted groups. The complexity varies with the general human rights situation in the country, the nature, context and size of business operations as well as the severity of the impact on human rights. Our toolbox includes: Country Entry Check, Pre-Stakeholder Engagement, Human Rights Impact Assessment, Self-Assessment, On-Site Audits and Supplier Audits.
What is the company’s approach to the engagement of stakeholders (including workers, and local communities impacted by the company’s activities), on human rights issues?
Effective stakeholder engagement enables us to better anticipate and take advantage of fast changing societal expectations and operating conditions. In 2014, OMV conducted eight stakeholder analysis workshops in order to make sure the relevant internal and external stakeholders are involved in the company’s business context. In Romania, OMV held a major dialog event with 132 participants, representing all our key stakeholder groups, discussing topics including long term environmental and social issues. We also train our people to engage effectively with local communities. In 2014, 50 line managers and community managers in nine countries received the appropriate training.
Priority human rights issues: What are some of the priority human rights issues for your company?
OMV has mapped its human rights responsibilities in a comprehensive Human Rights Matrix, which constitutes the basis for our activities in the field of human rights and a fundamental tool for it its implementation. This includes the particularly sensitive areas of security arrangements and supply chain management as well as interaction with indigenous peoples. Categorized into essential, expected, and desirable, our responsibilities cover the relations with relevant stakeholders, such as employees, communities, contractors, business partners, customers and the like. The OMV Human Rights Matrix has the following characteristics:
- It is systematically based on international human rights standards as developed by international organizations (see, in particular, the Explanatory Notes)
- It links the rights systematically to different types of responsibilities of companies
- It is based on business related Codes of Conducts and on best practice
- It is a practical and adaptable tool which can be used at different levels (e.g. OMV general, OMV country operations)
How are human rights commitments and information about how the company addresses its human rights impacts communicated, internally and externally?
Human Rights commitment and progress are reported and communicated via:
- Annual Report
- Sustainability Report
- On request of specific stakeholders
What provisions does your company have in place to ensure that grievances from workers and affected communities or individuals are heard, and can you provide examples of remedies provided?
OMV seeks to build strong relationships with Stakeholders and manage the impact of its business activities in line with the responsibilities defined in OMV Human Rights Matrix. Nevertheless, it recognizes that Complaints about its activities will occur. Therefore, we attach special importance to the establishment of effective operational-level grievance mechanisms in order to reach following objectives:
- Establish a legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, and rights-compatible mechanism for receiving, investigating and responding to Complaints from Stakeholders based on engagement and dialogue;
- Ensure proper documentation of Complaints and any corrective actions taken; and
- Contribute to continuous improvement in performance through the analysis of trends and lessons learned.
Which external and collaborative human rights initiatives does your company participate in, and what is the nature of your involvement?
- UN Global Compact
- IPIECA Working Groups
- Long-standing cooperation with HumanRightsConsulting Vienna and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM)
Which are the key one, two or three elements of your approach to human rights that been developed or amended since June 2011? Please indicate if these actions were in response to the UN Guiding Principles.
2011
- Integration of Human Rights as core element of Resourcefulness Strategy
2012
- Human Rights Due Diligence Process developed and fully applied on all new country entries
2013
- Over 20 different country entries supported with Human Rights Risk Assessments
- Human Rights KPIs developed for Resourcefulness Dashboard
- New class room training concept launched 2014
- Targets for Human Rights KPIs defined
- Code of Conduct, including Human Rights updated
- Roll-out of Community Grievance Mechanism implementation & harmonization kicked-off