Implementation of guiding principles on business and human rights into small-medium companies in Malaysia

Maheran, Makhtar and Farhanin, Abdullah Asuhaimi and Khairun-Nisaa, Asari and Nur Amani, Pauzai (2018) Implementation of guiding principles on business and human rights into small-medium companies in Malaysia. In: International Conference on Global Humanitarianism and Human Rights, 22 Sep 2018, UniSZA.

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Abstract

Adherence to human rights principles has become the crucial elements in today’s world, not only by human per se, but also by companies and body corporations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls on “every individual and every organ of society” to play its part in securing universal observance of human rights. Since companies and are organs of society, and as their operations come under scrutiny around the world, this is increasingly demanded by consumers, shareholders and the communities with whom they interact. Therefore, many multinational level companies take initiative to implement self-regulatory mechanism called the corporate social responsibility policy (CSR) to monitor and ensure that business activities are in compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national or international norms. However, many CSR initiatives are undertaken selectively, based on what the company voluntarily chooses to address. This is in the opposite of the human rights approach that requires companies to respect all human rights; they do not have the option of picking and choosing to deal with only those issues with which they feel comfortable. Therefore, the United Nations Human Rights Council regulated the "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework" in 2011. This framework consists of the state duty to protect against human rights abuses; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and greater access by victims to effective remedies. Thus, the aim of this paper is to address issues on human rights in small-medium companies (SME) and to discuss on the implementation of the Guiding Principles into SMEs in Malaysia.

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