Complaints Process

Even though The Guidelines are voluntary, they provide a process to raise complaints about an MNE’s actions and behaviour that are alleged to be in breach of The Guidelines

Making a complaint

Any individual, employee or their union, iwi, hapu, communities, or non-governmental organisation with an interest in the matter may submit a complaint regarding an MNE’s alleged breaches of The Guidelines.

Complaints can be made to the NCP about:

• A foreign or New Zealand MNE operating in New Zealand, or
• A New Zealand MNE operating overseas, even in countries that are not adherents to The Guidelines.

To submit a complaint to the New Zealand NCP you need to fill out the complaint submission form below and email it to the email below. The stages of the complaints process are outlined in diagram 1.

oecd-ncp@mbie.govt.nz

Stages of a complaint

When the New Zealand NCP receives a complaint, it triggers the specific instance process.

The NCP will make an initial assessment of the complaint against The Guidelines criteria. If the complaint is accepted, the NCP will invite parties to take part in a mediated dialogue with the view to increase awareness of The Guidelines and encourage resolution of issues raised in the complaint. The New Zealand NCP may coordinate with countries’ NCPs to help with resolving the complaint.

The process is non-judicial. The NCP cannot compel parties to participate, impose sanctions or require compensation. If mediation is refused or fails to achieve agreement, the complaint will return to the NCP for examination. The NCP will make a statement on the outcome of the assessment, mediation or examination process.

Further information on the complaints process can be found in the New Zealand NCP procedures for dealing with complaints brought under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.

New Zealand’s complaints

New Zealand’s NCP has progressed 14 complaints to the initial assessment stage since 2007, predominantly related to alleged breaches of Human Rights.

Between 2013 and 2014, 67 complaints were received arising from claimants’ experiences with insurers, construction firms and government agencies in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes. All complaints alleged breaches of the human rights provisions of the Guidelines and were coordinated by a Christchurch NGO, the Wider Earthquake Community Action Network (WeCAN). While these complaints were considered, they did not progress to the initial assessment stage because they either lacked supporting information or because the entities complained about were not multinational enterprises.