Human rights due diligence (HRDD), often referred to as human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) is the process companies use to identify, prevent, mitigate, and address adverse human rights impacts in their operations and supply chains. It requires ongoing risk assessment rather than one-time compliance checks. HRDD is grounded in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and is reflected in binding and emerging regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), France’s Duty of Vigilance Law, and similar frameworks globally.

Effective HRDD in supply chains helps companies detect risks that audits alone may miss, protects workers’ rights, strengthens stakeholder trust, and supports compliance with emerging legal requirements in multiple jurisdictions.

Human rights due diligence is grounded in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. It is increasingly required or reinforced by regulation, including the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), France’s Duty of Vigilance Law, Norway’s Transparency Act, and similar laws emerging globally. These frameworks require companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and address human rights risks across their operations and supply chains.

A strong HRDD process typically involves embedding respect for human rights into governance, identifying and assessing risks, integrating findings into decision-making, tracking implementation, communicating on actions taken, and providing or cooperating in remediation where appropriate.

No. While audits offer valuable snapshots, they do not provide continuous visibility into workers’ lived experiences or emerging risks. Effective HRDD requires ongoing engagement with workers, accessible grievance mechanisms, supplier collaboration, and systems that track risk and remediation over time.

Engaging workers directly is increasingly expected under regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which emphasize stakeholder engagement and access to remedy as core elements of effective HRDD.

Access to remedy refers to avenues through which workers or communities can raise concerns and receive fair responses and corrective actions for adverse impacts. This is a core element of HRDD and required under international frameworks.

Demonstrating effective HRDD means showing that policies, data, worker feedback, remediation actions, and monitoring are integrated into business processes and continuously updated. Consistent documentation and transparency help meet stakeholder and regulatory expectations.

Social audits provide a snapshot in time, while HRDD is an ongoing process. HRDD emphasizes continuous risk identification, stakeholder engagement, and improvement rather than periodic inspections alone.

Labor Solutions supports HRDD by operationalizing worker-driven data, enabling companies to identify and address human rights risks in labor supply chains, beyond audit-based compliance. Tools include worker surveys,(https://www.laborsolutions.tech/well) grievance mechanisms,(https://www.laborsolutions.tech/wovoconnect-grievance) supplier improvement systems,(https://www.laborsolutions.tech/improve) and eLearning (https://www.laborsolutions.tech/wovoeducate-elearning)to support ongoing due diligence commitments.