"Adidas Creates Human Rights Complaint Process", 6 Nov 2014

Last month, German sportswear giant, The Adidas Group...quietly released its “Third Party Complaint Process for Breaches to the Adidas Group Workplace Standards or Violations of International Human Rights Norms”...Although the document is not perfect, and it is impossible to fairly evaluate the process without examining how it functions in practice, Adidas appears to have created a strong grievance mechanism that passes muster under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights...“The Adidas Group is committed to operating as a sustainable business which is environmentally sound, respects human rights and ensures fair, safe and healthy working conditions across our global supply chain.”...The company points out that it already has a “worker’s rights complaint process,” which has been in effect for more than 10 years, and that this grievance mechanism builds on that process...Pursuant to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, business enterprises should “establish or participate in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted” The purpose of a business-sponsored grievance mechanism is to ensure that harms are “addressed early and remediated directly.”