Human rights

Demonstrating respect for human rights remains a key challenge for society and business—one to which HP is fully committed.

The role of business in respecting human rights is currently being shaped by the work of John Ruggie, professor and special representative of the United Nations secretary-general on business and human rights. In 2008, Professor Ruggie published his main report: Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights. HP supports the framework and accepts our corporate responsibility to use our size and influence to promote human rights in the business community.

Our commitments in this area are outlined in HP’s Human Rights and Labor Policy.

Respect for human rights is integrated into many aspects of our business. Areas where human rights considerations most directly impact HP’s practices are summarized below, with links to other sections in this report for additional information.

Our employees

Our values and Standards of Business Conduct (SBC) require integrity and ethical behavior. HP’s Human Rights and Labor Policy commits us to the fair treatment of all employees wherever we operate. We adhere to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and respect employees’ rights to organize in labor unions in accordance with local laws and established practice. Our diversity policies require that every employee is treated and treats others with dignity, respect and courtesy. We do not under any circumstances tolerate discrimination or harassment. Our clear commitment to promoting human rights, as well as our leadership in other global citizenship areas, is key to retaining and recruiting employees.

HP offers several channels for raising concerns about potential misconduct. We encourage employees to follow our Open Door Policy and talk first to their manager or the next level of management if issues arise. Alternatively, employees can submit concerns to internal ethics and compliance experts or their regional or business ethics and compliance liaisons.

HP’s Ethics and Compliance Office provides formal, confidential communication channels for employees and third parties to report potential violations of law, company policy or the SBC. These include a confidential, round-the-clock, toll-free helpline that operates globally and can handle calls in numerous languages. This line is also available to third parties via our company website and partner and supplier portals. Reporting can be anonymous, if preferred. See Reporting concerns for more detail.

For more information, see HP employees.

Our supply chain

Our Supply Chain Code of Conduct is underpinned by international labor and human rights standards. For example, we believe workers at supplier facilities have the right to freely chosen employment and the right to associate freely and join or be represented by works councils or labor unions on a voluntary basis and bargain collectively as they choose. Workers also have the right to a workplace free of harassment and unlawful discrimination.

Areas of recent focus in this area for HP include working to address minerals mining in conflict zones and improving worker-management communications (including access to grievance mechanisms) in our supply chain.

For full details of our supply chain social and environmental responsibility program and specific audit findings, see Supply chain responsibility.

Education

Our long-term commitment to social innovation and community engagement enables us to provide improved access to information technology and educational assistance around the world. HP supports programs and organizations that align with our business goals and our commitment to enrich communities where we work and live. We focus our social investments on education, in schools and universities, and through programs that promote entrepreneurship. Our support to organizations worldwide is made through a combination of cash and technology.

See Social innovation for more information.

Privacy

The information age has created an environment where the collection of information is ubiquitous and the global flow of data is constant. At HP we strongly believe that people have a right to privacy and personal data protection. These are of prime importance to our customers, fundamental to good business and achievable in the digital age.

Privacy issues are complex and interconnected. Businesses, governments and civil society are collaborating to uphold the principles of fair information practices in the light of 21st century technology. When we meet with regulators, we encourage cross-border collaboration governed by clear and consistent rules that companies can understand and implement. We support governments and industry in their efforts to help individuals understand privacy risks and control how their information is used.

See Privacy for details of our approach and activity.

Promoting business and human rights

Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights

HP played a key role in the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR) , a group of 13 global companies that came together to advance respect for human rights in business. BLIHR completed its work plan in 2009 by creating tools to enable companies to act on human rights commitments, including the following:

• The BLIHR Guide helps companies integrate human rights policy and strategy into business plans. The guide includes case studies from BLIHR members about human rights issues, including four from HP.
• The BLIHR Matrix is an interactive online tool that companies can use to assess human rights issues in the context of globally recognized human rights standards such as ILO conventions.

HP, together with a group of other leading companies, was a founding member of the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights , a follow-up initiative to BLIHR launched in 2009. Over the next two years, the Global Business Initiative aims to provide a platform for companies from different sectors in both the developing and developed world to learn about integrating respect for human rights into the management of their businesses and to show leadership on the issue.

HP participated in the first Global Business Initiative event in New Delhi, India, in 2009. The roundtable was attended by about 100 representatives from business, civil society and government from India and South East Asia. HP shared its experience delivering capability-building training for suppliers in that region. HP plans to participate in additional events in 2010.

Human rights assessment

During 2009, HP conducted a preliminary human rights assessment using the matrix that we helped to develop within the BLIHR initiative. The BLIHR assessment covers seven business areas: business conduct, community, employment, products and services, supply chain, workplace conditions and security. The process highlighted areas for further investigation, which will inform our future work. In 2010, HP plans to conduct a more in-depth review of our human rights policies.