Employment and Recruitment Agencies Human Rights Sector Guide

This Guide was developed by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Shift. It offers practical advice to Employment and Recruitment agencies on how to implement the corporate responsibility to respect human rights through step-by-step guidance.

At each step, it summarizes what the UN Guiding Principles expect, offers a range of approaches and examples for how to put those expectations into practice, and links users to additional resources that can support their work. The Guide was developed over 18 months through extensive research and multistakeholder consultations.

The growth of agency employment is one of the biggest challenges facing the world of work today. Employment agencies operate in almost every sector of our global economy and have an expansive reach. The UN Guiding Principles make clear that both the agencies and user enterprises have responsibility to avoid the adverse impacts which potentially arise through this "triangular" relationship. This Guide provides concrete advice to help sort through these responsibilities, identify high risk situations and take concrete, proactive steps to avoid problems.
Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union

We welcome the EC guide as a useful tool for all companies in the recruitment and placement industry, especially for SME's, which are numerous in our sector. It supports Eurociett's long-standing efforts to prevent abuses, improve governance and transparency, contributing to a more level playing field for well regulated agency work. The guide may be used to implement best practices from the EU to emerging markets.
Annemarie Muntz, Eurociett