Webinar: Increasing importance of human rights to civil aviation, defence, security and space

The importance of human rights in the context of a company and the way in which it conducts its business has never been under tighter scrutiny than it is now, especially given current world events. This free-to-attend webinar is intended to provide an overview of this complex area and the key “red flag” indicators of the risk of modern slavery and the steps that can be taken by companies to identify and mitigate these risks.

The speaker panel will feature the following:

Legal expert (from Baker & McKenzie LLP) to cover what the different national regulations are in this area
Airbus, as a global company on how they handle the challenge of modern slavery
An Academic to discuss research on this area
Speaker from the UK MoD on its human rights policies
An NGO on the wider human rights scene

Background

There are a number of different national and international regulations around human rights, which state the basic rights and freedoms that all human beings are entitled to, including the likes of:

UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015
European Convention on Human Rights of 1950
United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948
UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted in 2011
OECD’s Guidelines for Multinationals on Responsible Business Conduct

Companies have a responsibility to respect human rights and should have such a policy as an integral part of their Code of Ethics, or similar, noting the close links between human rights abuses and corruption.

Human rights are also taken into consideration in the granting of export licences to certain countries by many nations. The UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 criminalises the employment by anyone or any organisation of enslaved workers in the UK. If your company has an annual turnover of £36 million or above, you must prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year.

It’s important that relevant employees, such as those engaged in hiring and procurement, are aware of signs of slavery as it can take many forms. A company’s human rights policies and practices need to be cascaded down to include their supply chain and in their interaction with local authorities, especially security authorities, and to audit their effectiveness. 

Whilst the aerospace, defence, security and space industries operate in a highly regulated and mostly high-tech sector, high risks of forced and child labour still prevail in some areas such as the mining of key / conflict minerals (e.g. tin, tungsten, lithium, cobalt, tantalum, gold etc.) or in the manufacture of components and military clothing.

Closer to home, risks of forced labour or human trafficking can exist for workers in lower paid and “hidden” jobs such as drivers, in warehousing, construction, maintenance, catering and cleaning. It is, therefore, not beyond the bounds of possibility that a company may unknowingly encounter modern slavery within its own operations and face reputation risk and fines.

Draft Agenda

Welcome and opening comments – Steve Pegg (Senior Ethics Manager, Lockheed Martin and Chair of the Business Ethics Network)

The international legal dimension – Jonathan Tuck (Partner, Employment & Compensation, Baker & McKenzie LLP)

The Academic viewpoint – Dr Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga (Research Leader in Business, ESG & Modern Slavery, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law)

The UK MoD’s policy on human rights – Ryan Giblin (Policy Development & Embed Officer, UK MoD)

The NGOs’ perceptions – Elena López (Senior Business Ethics Consultant, The Goodcorporation)

How a multinational company tries to navigate human rights issues – Catherine Rushforth (Head of UK Responsibility & Sustainability Policy, Airbus)

Open forum Q&A

Closing remarks – Steve Pegg (Senior Ethics Manager, Lockheed Martin and Chair of the Business Ethics Network)

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