JB Hi-Fi operates in the consumer electronics sector, which is considered high risk for modern slavery due to complex global supply chains and reliance on manufacturing in higher-risk countries. Key risks include the use of migrant labour, recruitment fees and limited worker voice mechanisms in supplier facilities.
It is widely recognised that effective worker voice is a critical component of human rights due diligence, as it provides direct insight into worker experiences that may not be visible through audits alone.
Progress
This year, JB Hifi confirmed that grievance mechanisms are now assessed through both the company’s supplier ethical sourcing self-assessment and social compliance audit process. These mechanisms are used as part of the company’s broader due diligence process to identify risks and issues in supplier facilities. If issues are identified through this due diligence process, they are raised directly with suppliers for remediation.
Company disclosures further indicate that grievance mechanisms are a required part of supplier standards, enabling workers to raise concerns confidentially and without retaliation.
JB Hi-Fi has demonstrated a structured approach to incorporating worker voice indicators into its due diligence processes via questionnaires and audits. Company reporting provides quantitative insight into the presence and effectiveness of grievance mechanisms across supplier facilities. For example, the company tracks the proportion of factories with grievance mechanisms in place and audit findings relating to the effectiveness and management oversight of those mechanisms.
This reflects an understanding that worker voice is an important input into risk identification, particularly where traditional audit approaches may be insufficient.
JB Hi Fi has also begun to provide more concrete evidence of how worker voice is operationalised in practice. This includes, for example, when a worker has travelled to a new country to work. Supplier facilities in Malaysia are now conducting face to face feedback sessions at all stages of the journey to assess if any or multiple recruitment fees have been charged along the way.
Next steps
ACSI will continue to encourage JB Hi-Fi to further strengthen the company’s due diligence approach with emerging leading practice under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
