Respect for human rights, and incorporation of ethically and environmentally sound business practices as well as fair and safe working conditions and employees’ wellbeing, are fundamental parts of our culture and identity.
Tata Communications is dedicated to ensuring that the fundamental rights of people involved in our operations throughout the value chain are never violated. Our Company has a zero-tolerance policy for illegal and immoral practices, such as child labour, forced labour, and modern slavery, including human trafficking, as stated in our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
Governance framework and policies
Our Tata Code of Conduct (the Code) outlines our Company’s values and approach toward human rights. The Code describes our commitment towards combatting human trafficking and rejecting forced and child labour, demonstrates our commitment towards the human rights of all our stakeholders, including freedom from slavery, discrimination, servitude and forced labour. All our contractors, suppliers, and other business partners are expected to be compliant and follow our Code. These third parties must abide by the Code, and the standard terms and conditions outlined in the Code, when they sign any contract with us. Our security and functional teams also guide our visitors and guests appropriately, when they enter our premises.
We are focussed on eliminating all forms of bullying, discrimination, and retaliation of our policies through our ‘Global Dignity in the Workplace Policy.’ This includes any action that could amount to human trafficking, forced labour, and/or any other behaviour deemed to be modern-day slavery and sexual harassment, under applicable laws. This policy applies to all workplaces, guests or visitors, employees, temporary workers, contractors, apprentices, and trainees in our Company. This policy also applies to all corporate offices and other workplaces of our Company.
We have also published a standalone Network Shutdown Policy (‘Policy’) to describe our network management and human rights commitments, thereby achieving maximum transparency. The Policy is aligned with the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and is consistent with the Tata Code of Conduct.
We have set out clear roles and responsibilities within our Company to ensure respect for human rights is reflected across our business. The structure of our Board and extended mandate of the CSR, Health and Safety and Sustainability Committee reinforces this by leading the oversight of human rights issues. This Committee comprises two Non-Executive Independent Directors and one Executive Director.
We initiated the Business and Human Rights (BHR) Assessment to identify and evaluate human rights issues present within the Company’s value chain. We plan to report the gap assessment and its result to CSR, Safety and Sustainability committee.
Against child and forced labour
Our human resource policies also ensure that our employees and contractors are hired and treated fairly and humanely while working or contracting with Tata Communications. When recruiting and providing employment, our Company does not use deception, fraud, or coercion. It also does not employ recruiters, who violate labour laws or charge recruitment fees in countries that violate the law. None of our operations and suppliers in all geographies are deemed to pose a significant risk of child labour or forced labour incidents. In addition, we have not received any complaints or claims regarding a child or forced labour in our operations, and supply chain from internal and external stakeholders.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
All our employees have the right to join associations or engage in civil or public affairs in accordance with local law. Our employees are expected to confirm with the Management Team the formation of unions in the workplace, under the ‘Conflicts of Interest’ clause in our Code of Conduct.
None of our operations and suppliers are at risk where freedom of association and collective bargaining are not allowed. All employees are free to choose to join, not join or leave unions and associations and choose their representatives in accordance with local and international practice. We encourage active and open communication and dialogue with our employees and/ or their representatives. We understand the importance of collective bargaining in avoiding labour disputes and maintaining peace, and we encourage unions at all our sites. If necessary, our Company also ensures that the employment contract and other related labour documents are drawn up in the employee’s local language and informs him/her of his/her rights and remedies, according to the applicable laws. Any modifications to the conditions of service and employability are the subject of prior discussions with employee representatives and unions. All these changes and their impact will then be evaluated and, accordingly, final changes will be communicated to employees within a period of 2 to 3 weeks, before the changes are implemented.
Percentage of employees covered by Collective Bargaining (CB) agreements
| Region | Total number of employees | Number of employees covered under the CB agreement | (%) of employees covered under collective bargaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 11,491 | 203 | 2% |
| America and Canada | 382 | 27 | 7% |
| Europe | 283 | 43 | 15% |
| MENA | 42 | 0 | 0% |
| APAC | 245 | 0 | 0% |
Awareness and training
We have launched a series of HR policies including the Whistleblower Policy, Sexual Harassment Charter (India), Leave Policy – India and Global, Work-from-Home Policy. We regularly review and revise these policies, including our Code based on feedback received through various communication forums and also evaluate them against industry standards and best practices. Our Company provides supplementary trainings to employees and contractors on specific ethics and compliance subjects, throughout the year. This includes topics on how employees should treat everyone in the workplace, freedom of expression, information, data privacy, etc. In addition, our Company’s contractual employees are also trained on Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH), Dignity at Workplace, Information Security Awareness, etc.
96%
Employees undertook training on the Tata Code of Conduct, and Global Dignity in the Workplace policy
Reporting concerns
Anyone who suspects or is aware of a violation of the Code and other Tata Communications policies may raise a concern through any of the various channels outlined in our whistle-blower policy. This includes the ability to report concerns confidentially and, if desired, anonymously to our third-party whistle-blower hotline, available in multiple languages. We have published our whistle-blower policy on our corporate website and in our staff training and communication efforts. Concerns can be reported to both, internal contacts and external parties. Employees can raise their concerns to internal points of contact as well as to external parties.
Assessment and results
The ICT industry works to increase connectivity, enable communication, and make significant contributions to socio-economic development. However, ICT organisations may also engage in human rights violations in the form of network shutdown, data breaches, invasion of privacy, and restricting freedom of expression. Therefore, to maintain a continuing commitment to our stakeholders, Tata Communications focusses on Business and Human Rights (BHR). The need for this has emerged from the increased scale of operations, the complex value chain that makes up our Company, the emerging importance by investors and customers on adhering to certain standards regarding human rights, the emergence of legislature related to business and human rights, and existing policies at Tata Communications which aim to protect human rights and prevent violations.
This year, we conducted a BHR assessment to identify and evaluate human rights issues present within our Company’s value chain. The study aimed to review existing policies with Tata Communications, code of conduct, global policies for the sector, appropriate industry benchmarking, and understand key stakeholder expectations and challenges. The human rights salience also involved the prioritisation of the actual and potential human rights relevant to our Company’s business activity. Further, the study pertained to a corporate-wide assessment that considered human rights impact across our entire value chain, including all business lines, functions, operations, and supply chains, as well as an issue-specific assessment to identify where human rights risks lie within our Company’s value chain.
The assessment was carried out in a consultative and participatory approach, while engaging with relevant stakeholders. A sensitisation workshop was also conducted with Tata Communications employees to create awareness of the importance of the BHR assessment and its impact on human rights issues. Various relevant stakeholders, including employees, vendors, community, etc. were included through in-depth interview sessions and surveys to understand key human rights issues and concerns. Based on the discussions with the stakeholders, peer analysis, compliance with the international and national level commitment to human rights, a human rights salience matrix was developed that covers risk rating for relevant BHR areas as per the extent of control and risk exposure.
Furthermore, we plan to work towards bridging the gaps identified including the formulation and implementation of a standalone human rights policy that delineates our Company’s commitment to important human rights aspects, such as freedom of expression, information, data privacy, etc.