Human Rights Policy: IHG Hotels
& Resorts
IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) has been
operating in Vietnam for over a
decade and has 14 hotels across four
brands with another 15 properties in
the pipeline (as of September 2021).90
IHG’s Human Rights Policy was
significantly updated in 2019.91 The
company’s approach is informed
by the OECD Guidelines, the UN
Global Compact and the UN Guiding
Principles.
2. Conduct human rights
due diligence
A business’ responsibility to respect human rights
is applied in practice through a process called
human rights due diligence – a process through
which your business can ‘know and show’ that it
respects human rights.97 The purpose of human
rights due diligence is to identify, prevent,
mitigate and account for any adverse human
rights impacts your business might have on
people.98 Your human rights due diligence will be
IHG’s Human Rights Policy set out
its human rights commitments
in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the ILO Declaration
on Fundamental Principles and
Rights at Work.92 It also outlines its
expectations of its business partners,
particularly franchisees. The Human
Rights Policy also outlines IHG’s
commitment to providing remedy.93
guided by your human rights policy.99
The Human Rights Policy also refers
to IHG’s Supplier Code of Conduct
which outlines minimum standards
to which suppliers should adhere.94
Under the Supplier Code of Conduct,
IHG suppliers are expected to respect
human rights in accordance with the
international human rights standards
listed in its policy.95 IHG expects
suppliers to adhere to these standards
both within their own business and
across their supply chains.96
human rights risks, regardless of whether there
Human rights due diligence should not be
confused with business due diligence, as these
are separate concepts. While there is often
overlap, human rights due diligence focuses on
impacts the business has or may have on people,
while business due diligence focuses on risks to
the business. Human rights due diligence asks
businesses to prioritise addressing potential
is a ‘business case’ for addressing those risks, or
whether the risks are the easiest to address or
getting the most attention.100
Responsible business conduct and the tourism industry in Vietnam • Guidance for companies • 2022 | 39