Coles is committed to having effective grievance mechanisms in place to remedy any human rights issues which adversely impact the individuals within both our own operations and supply chain. This is fundamental to upholding the safety of all people, internal and external to Coles. In line with the UN Guiding Principles, we understand effective grievance mechanisms to be: trusted, accessible and communicated, predictable, equitable, transparent, rights compatible, a source of continuous learning and based on engagement.
Coles respects the rights of individuals and human rights defenders to confidentially and/or anonymously raise complaints or concerns without fear of retaliation. Coles will not tolerate anyone from being discouraged from speaking up and will take action against any persons, organisations or their representatives who engage in any manner of retaliation. Retaliation may encompass threats, intimidation, harassment, discrimination, victimisation or any attack against an individual or human rights defenders. Coles is committed to safeguarding the rights and wellbeing of any person who has raised a grievance through a Coles mechanism.
It is important to Coles that our suppliers share this same commitment in ensuring that workers in their supply chains have effective and confidential mechanisms to raise grievances. For this reason, we require suppliers to provide workers with an accessible mechanism or channel to raise grievances.
We understand the challenges associated with providing effective and accessible grievance mechanisms, particularly due to socio-cultural and language barriers. To ensure we are assessing the effectiveness of our own grievance mechanisms as well as our extended supply chains, we are committed to ongoing partnerships with key suppliers to perform reviews of current processes, to share learnings and achieve best practice.
Our Whistleblower Policy encourages reporting of any suspected unethical, illegal, fraudulent or undesirable conduct within our own operations and supply chains, including suspected adverse impacts on people, communities or the environment.
We provide a number of channels for people, both within our own operations and supply chain to make complaints or raise concerns including the
Coles Wages and Conditions Hotline
and Coles STOPline as well as access to Coles’ Protected Disclosure Officers. Beyond our own operations and supply chain, these channels are available to any affected stakeholders including those external to Coles and community members where adverse impacts have been caused by, contributed to or directly linked to Coles.
All concerns raised through any of these mechanisms are assessed to determine if and how they should be investigated. Where possible, we complete our preliminary review of the grievance within 14 days and notify the grievance raiser of the outcome within 90 days. We will always seek to resolve concerns as quickly as possible, however concerns vary in complexity and timeframes for resolution will vary. All grievances will be addressed and assessed through our remediation framework and where appropriate, investigation, verification, consultation, and implementation of a resolution for the grievance raised. Where remedy is necessary, this may be facilitated by us directly or in collaboration with third parties.
Assessing the effectiveness of our grievance channels
We understand the importance of ensuring our grievance mechanism are effective. In line with the expectations set out in the UNGPs, we understand effective grievance mechanisms to be: trusted, accessible and communicated, predictable, equitable, transparent, rights compatible, a source of continuous learning and based on engagement.
In our 2021 Modern Slavery Statement and Human Rights Strategy, we committed to review the effectiveness of our grievance mechanisms. As part of this effectiveness assessment, we are focusing on three guiding questions:
- Are affected stakeholders aware of our grievance mechanisms?
- Are complaints received through these channels being appropriately identified and directed to the right areas of our business?
- Are received complaints being handled correctly and in line with best practice (and the expectations in the UNGPs)?
Key actions we are taking as part of this review include testing our own processes by submitting test complaints through our grievance mechanisms to check that complaints are identified and directed appropriately. We are also reviewing past complaints to assess how they were actioned, their outcomes and any inconsistencies.
As part of this review, we also developed a
flow chart
to help demonstrate how complaints are received and handled by Coles.
If appropriate, we will provide feedback to complainants regarding the investigation’s progress and/or outcome (subject to considerations of the privacy of those against whom allegations are made).
We commit to not obstructing access to other remedies, including judicial or non-judicial remedies. We also support the work of and are open to working with the Australian National Contact Point (AusNCP).
A
table of human rights related complaints received against Coles' suppliers
is available here.
Coles Wages and Conditions Hotline
Workers within Coles’ supply chains in Australia and other countries, including farms, factories and service providers, can access the Coles Wages and Conditions Hotline by phone or email.
In Australia, employees who work for a Coles supplier can call 1300 532 515 between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week to understand more about their conditions of employment or to report unfair labour practices.
For workers in the international supply chain and those where English is not a first language, we have an email facility at
wageline@coles.com.au
where workers can provide their telephone number, preferred language and a brief description of their concern so that any issues can be addressed by Coles or the relevant authority.
Complaints received through the hotline or email are directed to our dedicated Ethical Sourcing Team. All complaints received are investigated and, if required, may be escalated for further investigation by an independent third-party.
Details on
how to contact Coles
are available in Korean, Chinese Mandarin, Bislama, Tongan, Samoan, Tetum, Vietnamese, French, Spanish, and Malay.
Coles STOPline
Coles STOPline is a confidential telephone service run by an independent third party that all stakeholders within Coles’ own operations and supply chain including team members, suppliers, workers, contractors and other affected stakeholders including community members can use to raise concerns or make complaints. It can be accessed overseas and in multiple languages, with translation available on request through an Australian Government translation service and language setting within the Mobile App.
Post
ATTENTION: Coles Case Manager C/O The STOPline Locked Bag 8 Hawthorn VIC Australia 3122
App
Search for STOPline in the iTunes App Store or Google Play to download the free app and submit a disclosure
Coles Protected Disclosure Officers
A matter can be confidentially and/ or anonymously reported directly to a Coles Protected Disclosure Officer. Their contact details can be found in the Coles
Whilstleblower Policy
.
Remediation
Where a legitimate concern or issue is raised through one of our grievance mechanisms or identified as a result of a Coles or third-party audit, we will seek to work with our suppliers, government and worker representative bodies or other non-for-profit organisations to ensure appropriate remedy is provided.
In all instances, we will seek to place the affected person’s needs first and appropriate remedy will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Our Remediation Requirements provides information on our remediation methodology, potential remediation actions that may be undertaken and case studies.
Remedying adverse impacts through our supply chain
Prior to insourcing the majority of our trolley collection, we contracted external providers to undertake this work.
An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman in 2011 found that some sub-contractors had underpaid workers performing trolley collection for Coles. As a result of the investigation we agreed to establish a hotline for subcontractors to speak with us directly about their concerns, to establish a fund to correctly pay subcontractors and to directly employ trolley collectors in future.
We continue to incorporate the learnings from this undertaking and work with suppliers to adapt our purchasing practices and enable us to better identify labour risks within our supply chain.
