4.3 Grievance mechanism
Has the bank established or participated in a grievance mechanism for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted by its activities?
About the data
The BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark is an independent assessment of the world’s largest commercial banks, measuring how they respect human rights in their policies, practices, and business relationships. Built on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the benchmark evaluates banks across key themes, including policy commitments, due diligence, remedy, and specific issues such as the protection of human rights defenders, free, prior, and informed consent, and environmental rights.
Why this metric is important: Banks not only have a responsibility to remediate human rights impacts that they identify as having caused or contributed to, but also to ensure that those who feel their rights have been impacted are able to raise grievances and seek remedy. This is relevant both to situations where banks have caused or contributed to harm themselves, and where banks are directly linked to an impact through their business relationships. Banks can establish their own company-level grievance mechanism, or opt to join third-party mechanisms, for example, sector-level grievance mechanisms for other sectors, or with other banking industry peers.
Why this metric is important: Banks not only have a responsibility to remediate human rights impacts that they identify as having caused or contributed to, but also to ensure that those who feel their rights have been impacted are able to raise grievances and seek remedy. This is relevant both to situations where banks have caused or contributed to harm themselves, and where banks are directly linked to an impact through their business relationships. Banks can establish their own company-level grievance mechanism, or opt to join third-party mechanisms, for example, sector-level grievance mechanisms for other sectors, or with other banking industry peers.
Methodology
Requirements for full and half score:
Full score: The bank operates or participates in a grievance mechanism through which complaints or grievances can be raised to the bank, which is supported by a clear process for handling complaints; is explicitly able to address human rights related issues; and which is open to all who may be adversely impacted by its operations, products and services.
Half score: The bank operates or participates in a grievance mechanism through which complaints or grievances can be raised to the bank, but it is restricted to certain sectors or business areas, or is not supported by a clear process for handling complaints. Complaints mechanisms for employees are not scored in this benchmark.
Full methodology can be found in the report.
Full score: The bank operates or participates in a grievance mechanism through which complaints or grievances can be raised to the bank, which is supported by a clear process for handling complaints; is explicitly able to address human rights related issues; and which is open to all who may be adversely impacted by its operations, products and services.
Half score: The bank operates or participates in a grievance mechanism through which complaints or grievances can be raised to the bank, but it is restricted to certain sectors or business areas, or is not supported by a clear process for handling complaints. Complaints mechanisms for employees are not scored in this benchmark.
Full methodology can be found in the report.
License
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
Partially
No
Assessment
Steward Assessed