Sustainability Report

정책

Policy

Human Rights Management Guidelines

POSCO respects and supports internationally accepted human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions. Every human being has the right to be treated with dignity, which encompasses the rights to life and physical safety, freedom of thought, expression, and religion, freedom of association, work-life balance, privacy protection, food and water security, freedom from torture, slavery, or forced labor, fair and decent working conditions, and non-discrimination

Therefore, since declaring a Code of Ethics that reflects the Human Rights Management Policy in 2003, POSCO has been striving to prevent the infringement on others’ human rights and to take appropriate measures to prevent and resolve negative impact on human rights in the company’s business activities and business relationship processes. POSCO continues to strengthen its commitment to human rights management practices.

  • Basic Position on Human Rights Management

    POSCO takes the following basic position on human rights management to fulfill its responsibility to respect human rights and meet the expectations of its stakeholders.
    • POSCO complies with applicable laws and internationally recognized global human rights standards everywhere it operates.
    • When faced with conflicting regulations in a host country, POSCO seeks ways to comply with global human rights standards.
    • Risks that could lead to severe human rights violations are addressed as material management issues by the company.
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Basic Position on Human Rights Management

Risk Management for Establishing a Human Rights Culture

POSCO is committed to respecting the human rights of all employees. To prevent and mitigate risks, we have established human rights management guidelines and a risk management system in line with international human rights standards and internal company policies. We transparently share the outcomes of these efforts
  • The company proactively prevents the causes of negative impacts on human rights from its business activities and appropriately addresses any issues that do arise.
  • Even if the company has not directly violated human rights or contributed to human rights violations, it strives to prevent and mitigate any negative human rights impact that occurs or may occur in its supply chain and business relationships.

Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

The POSCO Human Rights Policy applies to POSCO employees. The company recommends and, when necessary, supports its suppliers, partners, and others in complying with international standards and POSCO’s human rights management policy. The company also respects the human rights of all stakeholders and strives to prevent any actions that constitute human rights violations.

Basic Principles

The POSCO Human Rights Policy applies to POSCO employees. The company recommends and, when necessary, supports its suppliers, partners, and others in complying with international standards and POSCO’s human rights management policy. The company also respects the human rights of all stakeholders and strives to prevent any actions that constitute human rights violations
  1. Prohibition of Discrimination/Bullying
    • POSCO does not engage in discriminatory treatment in terms of employment, promotion, education, compensation, or welfare based on race, nationality, sex, age, educational background, religion, region, disability, marital status, gender identity, etc.
    • POSCO guarantees employment conditions that enable employees to lead a life with human dignity by complying with legal working hours, maintaining appropriate working hours, and providing fair compensation for overtime work.
    • POSCO provides employees with opportunities for education, respects diverse cultural differences, and maintains an appropriate working environment where employees can fully immerse themselves in their work
    • POSCO strictly prohibits any verbal, physical, or visual conduct that constitutes sexual harassment or causes discomfort to others. The company is committed to protecting privacy and safeguarding personal information.
    • POSCO conducts disciplinary procedures based on procedural fairness, in accordance with relevant regulations such as employment rules, HR regulations, and rewards and disciplinary guidelines, in response to employees’ misconduct.
  2. Prohibition of Forced Labor and Child/Youth Labor
    • POSCO ensures that no work is performed involuntarily through mental or physical coercion.
    • POSCO complies with national labor laws and international standards regarding the working conditions and minimum age for employment of minors.
  3. Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining
    • POSCO complies with the Constitution and Labor Relations Act, which form the basis of its human rights policy, and strives to respect and guarantee employee rights, including the freedom of association, the right to unionize, and the right to collective bargaining.
  4. Assurance of Industrial Safety
    • POSCO establishes a safety culture to ensure that all employees can work in a safe working environment and takes appropriate measures for identified risk factors. Additionally, POSCO supports its partners in establishing a safety management system.
  5. Assurance of Environmental Rights
    • POSCO recognizes the environment and energy as key elements of its business activities and strives to realize a sustainable low-carbon green economy as a corporate citizen that grows together with society.
    • POSCO makes efforts to efficiently utilize natural resources and by-products to restore natural ecosystems and conserve biodiversity.
  6. Protection of Local Residents’ Human Rights
    • POSCO manages its business activities to prevent the violation of local residents’ human rights, including their environment, safety and health, and freedom of residence. Additionally, POSCO gathers opinions in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and respects the autonomy and traditional values of the local community.
    • Security personnel at business sites must not engage in actions that violate human rights or cause discomfort, and they must comply with local laws and international standards.
  7. Protection of Customer Human Rights
    • POSCO provides products and services that do not harm the life, health, or safety of customers and exercises necessary caution in accordance with legal standards.
  8. Responsible Supply Chain Management
    • POSCO supports all major suppliers and partners in fulfilling their obligations to protect human rights.

Human Rights Due Diligence Process

Human Rights Due Diligence Considerations

  • This encompasses the potential negative impact on human rights that may arise directly or indirectly from the company’s business activities and relationships.
  • Consideration is given to various factors, including the location and scale of the business site, human rights-related risks, the nature and content of the business, and the political, economic conditions, and cultural context of the host country.
  • We continuously employ these considerations, acknowledging that the risks to human rights evolve in tandem with changes in the company’s activities and operational environment.

Implementation Method

POSCO adheres to the following process to identify and evaluate actual and potential negative impact on human rights resulting from its domestic and international business activities and relationships.
  • When human rights-related risks are detected at major business sites, human rights due diligence is conducted to analyze the situation and formulate improvement measures.
  • Due diligence is primarily conducted by internal experts, with the option to engage external experts for support when necessary.
  • Substantial interviews are conducted with potentially affected groups and relevant stakeholders as necessary.
  • During human rights due diligence, potential and actual impacts must be identified. Potential impact should be shared at a company-wide level, and relevant procedures should be followed to implement measures to prevent and mitigate these impacts. Actual impact that has already occurred should be subject to remedy and resolution.
  • Human rights due diligence is conducted utilizing a checklist that diagnoses key elements related to human rights management.

Response and Follow-up Measures

Based on the findings from human rights due diligence, a response system is established to implement follow-up measures for the prevention and mitigation of potential negative impact on human rights.
  • Establishment of the Internal Response System
    • To resolve identified issues, the roles and responsibilities of relevant departments are clearly defined.
    • Internal decision-making, budget allocation, and monitoring procedures are implemented to effectively respond to these impacts.
    • Issues identified through human rights due diligence are accurately communicated to relevant departments, managed, and addressed as critical issues.
  • Follow-Up Measures and Remedy
    • When negative impact on human rights has been caused or is likely to occur, we take all necessary measures to prevent and mitigate it.
    • Despite having the best policies and procedures, if unforeseen negative impacts arise, we strive to improve these negative impacts either individually or in collaboration with other parties.
    • Even if POSCO does not directly violate human rights or contribute to human rights violations, if negative human rights impact arises from relationships with other parties (e.g., suppliers) and are related to the company’s operations, production, and services, POSCO assumes a role in improving the situation, even without direct responsibility.
    • If the company possesses the influence to prevent and mitigate human rights violations, it should leverage this influence. If not, it should collaborate with relevant parties to enhance this influence.
    • As an effective remedy measure, the company operates a grievance handling system for stakeholders.

Stakeholder Communication

The company gathers stakeholders’ opinions on whether its actions to resolve human rights violations were appropriate and provides accountable explanations to stakeholders regarding the human rights impact assessment results and response actions.
  • We engage with stakeholders, including individuals and investors, grounded in accountability and transparency. To ensure stakeholders can easily access information, we employ various communication methods, such as face-to-face meetings, publishing official reports (e.g., the Corporate Citizenship Report, Audit Report), and utilizing online channels (e.g., the company’s official website, Helpline, Corporate Citizenship Love Letter).
  • In our official reports, we address both actual and potential negative impacts and consider independent verification procedures to enhance the credibility of the report content.
  • We strive to provide information that assists stakeholders in evaluating whether the company is responding appropriately to specific human rights impacts.

Internalization and System Improvement

We foster practical improvements in human rights management through the internalization of the organizational culture and system improvement activities based on the outcomes of human rights due diligence.
  • Activities to embed human rights management into the organizational culture include providing training on the necessity of human rights management to all employees, education on relevant norms, and sharing success and failure cases.
  • Continuous improvements to the human rights management system are carried out through expert consultations, stakeholder communication, and identifying enhancements through system implementation.

Human Rights Grievance Handling Process

POSCO operates a grievance handling system for stakeholders as an effective remedy measure. The grievance handling system serves the following key functions related to the company’s responsibility to respect human rights.
  • It facilitates the easy identification of negative human rights impact and provides a channel for directly affected stakeholders to raise issues
  • It addresses grievances and provides remedies for victims early and directly to prevent the spread of human rights violations
  • It identifies and improves issues in human rights policies and procedures through the analysis of operational status
We utilize channels such as the Ethics Counseling Center (Helpline) and the Unethical Conduct Reporting Center (Hotline) for individuals and communities affected by negative impact. We strive to ensure that raised issues are promptly discussed and resolved. We strictly adhere to the whistleblower protection system to safeguard members and stakeholders from reprisals when they report issues
[Contact: humanrights@posco.com]