Human rights

Home / Sustainability / I : Our well-being / Human rights

HUMAN RIGHTS

Challenges, Risks, and Impacts

Significant development in human rights has occurred since the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as a “universal” human rights framework about 70 years ago. In 2017, the Royal Government of Thailand declared its commitment to human rights as the national agenda through the development of the 4th National Human Rights Plan and the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. After that, the 1st National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) for 2019-2022 was published in 2019. The 2nd National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for 2023-2027 has been officially announced in 2023. Thaioil Group aims to respond to this national action plan and cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the other impacts that accelerate the changes in any aspect. In particular, the risks that may lead to human rights violations in various dimensions have been considered, for example, employment and labour practices, migrant worker and forced labour, community rights, and employee engagement and inequality that affect employee security and mentality. For these reasons, Thaioil Group has determined the action plan in accordance with the 2nd of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights to elevate and prioritize the prevention and protection of human rights for all stakeholders.

Commitments and Targets

Thaioil Group is committed to respect human rights in all operational areas across the value chain, as demonstrated in the Company's business operations. The Company has adopted the Human Rights Policy and the Thaioil Group Human Rights Impact Assessment and Management Procedure since 2015. Also, these policies and procedures have been consistently updated to align with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), The Core Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP).

To manifest the human rights commitments across the "Thaioil Group Value Chain," Thaioil Group has developed tools and conducted Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) for business activities and suppliers in the value chain every three years and monitored the performance on an annual basis. The tools and approaches are aligned with the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Guide to Human Rights Impact Assessment and Management, the UN frameworks, the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP), and the enterprise risk management criteria. This approach has been clearly described in the Thaioil Group Human Rights Impact Assessment and Management (HRIAM) Procedure.

Targets

Thaioil Group must maintain zero human rights violation complaints.

Indicator	Unit	Target 2023	Long-term Target 2030
Human rights violation complaints filed by the employees	Number of complaints	0	0
Human rights violation complaints filed by the suppliers	Number of complaints	0	0

Management Approach and Performance

Management Approach

To achieve the target and mitigate the risks to human rights, Thaioil Group has published two policies and the Thaioil Group Human Rights Roadmap. The roadmap has enclosed the human rights prevention and protection for all stakeholders, including employees and contractors, society and communities, suppliers, and their employees. Moreover, the aspects of safety, security, and environment are incorporated, serving as the foundation for sustainable growth and development in both social and environmental aspects, along with the Business Code of Conducts as described in the vision of the Thaioil Group.

The Human Rights Policy in the workplace provides Thaioil’s guidelines to ensure the practices of respecting human rights for employees, contractors, and community members. Meanwhile, the scope of the Business and Human Rights Policy for Supply Chain has been extended to business partners, which covers suppliers, contractors, customers, and other partners such as joint ventures. The business partners are required to comply with and adhere to the policy. The essential contents of these policies are summarized as below:

Policy	Human Rights Policy in Workplace	Business and Human Rights Policy for Supply Chain
References	Both policies have been reviewed to align with the principles of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).
Scope	All activities in Thaioil’s operations and joint ventures under Thaioil’s management control.	Activities in the operations of Thaioil’s business partners such as suppliers, customers, joint ventures without management control.
Key Points	• All employees must strictly adhere to the international human rights principles. • Thaioil Group must educate the employees on the international human right principles to apply into their works and avoid the activities that may lead to human rights violations. • Thaioil Group compiles laws, rules, and public regulation documents into categories for the employees to study and provide sufficient and appropriate trainings on the relevant laws and regulation. • Thaioil Group employees, in any position, must have clear understanding on the relevant laws that are associated to their works and self-responsibility, and strictly follow them. Those who have any enquiry should contact the law office and must not act without instruction. • When the employees work aboard, the employee should study the local laws, traditions, and cultures of the destination to ensure that their products, samples, equipment, travel document and traveling or working purpose are not illegal and not contrary to the tradition and culture of that country. • This Policy also covers the other labour rights, policy comprehension, and grievance procedures.	• Business partners must strictly adhere to the international human rights principles and the code of conduct of this Policy. • Thaioil Group will regularly assess the activities of business partners to refrain from improper actions and strictly prevent the violation of human rights. • The Policy covers the rights of labour and community as well as environmental impacts, customer safety, anti-corruption, policy communication, and violation reporting.
Remarks	• Those cases where the national laws do not align with the international human rights principles, where feasible, Thaioil will strive to operate with the highest human rights standards. • Those cases where Thaioil does not have management control to the joint ventures, Thaioil will support and encourage joint ventures and business partners to comply with the same international human rights standards.

Furthermore, Thaioil Group has also integrated human rights principles in other guidelines, such as the Sustainable Code of Conduct for Suppliers of Thaioil Group

Thaioil Group’s Human Rights Impact Assessment and Management

Thaioil Group has conducted a comprehensive human rights risk assessment under the Enterprise Risk Management process, which is aligned with the international UN principles through the Thaioil Group Human Rights Impact Assessment and Management (HRIAM) procedure for human rights due diligence. The human rights risk assessment has been comprehensively implemented across the business operation and suppliers in the Company’s supply chain for every three years and monitored on an annual basis.

Human Rights Risk Assessment in Thaioil’s Operations 2023
In 2023, Thaioil Group assessed Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) for all business activities in the Thaioil Group. The assessment covers 100% of the core business activities, other business unit activities, and joint ventures. As a result, there are 36.4% residual risks from Thaioil Group’s business activities, with 100% of activities that have risk mitigation measures.

The scope of Human Rights Risks Assessment Conducted for Thaioil’s Operation includes:

• Refinery business (Thai Oil Public Company Limited)
• Petrochemical business (Thai Lube Base Public Company Limited, Thai Paraxylene Company Limited, LABIX Company Limited, TOPNEXT International Company Limited, and Sak Chaisidhi Company Limited)
• Power and Steam business (TOP SPP Company Limited)
• Supporting business (Thaioil Energy Service Company Limited and Thaioil Treasury Center Company Limited)

The Scope of Internal and External Stakeholders included: employees, business partners, customers, communities, as well as vulnerable groups, such as women, children, migrants, people with disabilities, elderly, people with illnesses, and LGBTIQ+.

Human Rights Risk Assessment in the Supply Chain 2023

Thaioil Group conducted a risk assessment on the Company’s Tier-1 Suppliers, covering 100% of the Tier-1 suppliers in crude oil and general procurement. The assessment considered the severity and likelihood of each risk in accordance with the criteria of the Sustainable Code of Conduct for Suppliers of Thaioil and Subsidiaries (SCOC). The result of the 2023 risk assessment revealed that 1.5% of all supplier activities had key human rights risks on working conditions and occupational health and safety, in which mitigation measures were 100% in place.

Good Labour Practice (Labour Rights and Equality)

Thaioil Group places importance on labor rights and equality. The Company considers that the challenges, risks, and impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the construction of the Clean Fuel Project (CFP) may lead to violations of human rights in various aspects, particularly in occupational health and safety of the workforce. To mitigate these risks, Thaioil Group has organized training, communications, and activities related to human rights for management executives and employees. These activities aim to increase the understanding of the Company's policies and practices and prevent human rights violations in its operations and value chain. Moreover, to retain talents within the organization, Thaioil Group annually considered employee compensation and remuneration to ensure competitiveness with the industry peers and Thai companies. The consideration is aligned with the Human Rights Policy in the Workplace on the Fair Treatment for Employees, the Equal Pay Policy, and the Non-discrimination and Anti-harassment Policy. Also, the Company promotes non-discrimination, the Union's Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, and the employment of people with disabilities, as specified by the government. With these implementations, the Company has achieved 94% of employee satisfaction in 2023.

In 2023, 75% of Thai Oil PCL’s employees are the members of the Thai Oil Refinery Workers’ Union, according to the assessment processes of all business activities, with a record of zero protests and strikes.

Based on the above performance, the Company had no significant labor conflicts in the past 60 years. Thaioil Group, therefore, received the “Role Model Organization on Human Rights” Award for large businesses for the fourth consecutive year.

Good Community Practices (Community Rights)

Thaioil Group places significant importance on engaging with communities surrounding its operational sites. The 3-Synchronization Principle is adopted to engage with the representatives from Thaioil Group, representatives from the surrounding 10 communities of the operation sites, and governmental agencies. In parallel, the 5-Together Conceptual Framework is employed to empower communities to build strength and self-reliance. Community engagement is one of the communication channels used to update the construction progress of the Company’s production capacity expansion project, and to obtain feedback and opinions from the community to collaboratively solve any issues that may arise. In 2023, Thaioil Group effectively managed community impacts through community engagement and created a good quality of life through projects and activities focusing on art and culture, healthcare, education, and the environment. Thaioil Group is aware of the community rights as part of human rights, which are important to the Company.

Furthermore, Thaioil Group conducts Environmental Impact Assessment for all the Company’s major expansion projects, and additionally with developing mitigation measures and receiving feedback from the communities as the Company’s key stakeholders. In 2023, Thaioil Group organized community engagement activities through a variety of channels, including meetings with representatives of various groups, such as the Community Committee, Village Health Volunteers (VHVs), Fishery Group, and Youth Group. The Company also invited the community to visit the construction site and conduct open houses to share construction progress and upcoming construction plans, in conjunction with visiting communities around the construction sites.

Grievance Mechanisms

The purpose of Thaioil Group’s grievance mechanisms is to receive and manage grievances from all stakeholders throughout Thaioil Group’s value chain to minimize the social risks to business. The human rights grievance mechanism is a designated process for the suppliers in the Company’s supply chain to collect complainant data, respond to the concerns, and demonstrate transparency in the grievance and concern management process within Thaioil Group. This helps reduce potential conflicts and strengthen relationships with business partners.

To access grievance mechanisms, stakeholders can submit grievances or concerns by explicitly noting the confidentiality of the document(s) to Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee, Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chief Executive Officer and President, Company Secretary, or email to cgcoordinate@thaioilgroup.com.

Moreover, Thaioil Group also has specific complaint channels for each stakeholder group to monitor and collect feedback. For suppliers, the complaint channels are provided on Thaioil Group’s Supplier Relations website or srm@thaioilgroup.com.

Thaioil Group has central function to receive community reports on incidents or complaints directly from the communities in an event that the Company’s activities have affected the communities. The Voice of Stakeholders (VOS) Management System is used as a main tool for collaboration with the communities, which focuses on effective complaints resolution that may arise during both normal operations and construction expansion projects. The Company also continuously communicates the progress with communities through both online and on-site visits to build trust, understanding, as well as reducing community concerns, to ensure that Thaioil Group manages, maintains, and protects the rights of all stakeholders.

Highlight projects

In 2023, Thaioil Group has continued emphasizing communications and human rights activities for all stakeholders under the "3 Parts for Fulfilling Human Rights" framework for the fourth consecutive year. The activities include:

• Ensuring education for all: The Company provided knowledge and awareness on human rights for employees through the Human Rights E-Learning course in the "Thaioil Academy Application." For other stakeholders, the Company consistently organized workshops and activities to enhance the understanding and knowledge of human rights, for example, the human rights lecture in Supplier Seminar 2023 at the Thaioil Conference Hall in Sriracha, Chonburi. Also, The Company raises awareness of human rights through the acknowledgment of the Thaioil Group's Supplier Code of Conduct.
• Improving mental health care: The Company implemented the “5 Happiness Project” to enhance the New Normal Work Life and to enhance understanding of their own rights, including employee care and benefits for employees and retired employees. The key projects in “5 Happiness Project” are:
• Working with the right to health: Thaioil Group has managed and prevented the COVID-19 pandemic through continuous healthcare measures for employees until they recover and safely enable a return to work. The Company’s measures and policies are aligned with the government guidelines. Additionally, the Company has ensured high efficiency in providing safety and instilling confidence among employees, contractors, business partners, and stakeholders of Thaioil Group. The Work From Home Policy has also been established to grant the employee’s rights to choose their most suitable work lifestyle.
Furthermore, the Company has developed the "People First for Employee Support Policy" to respond to the employees’ needs. Meanwhile, the Company provides the assistances to the employees and their families, as well as members of the Thaioil Group Retired Employee Club, who may face the challenges in respect to financial concerns, legal issues, physical health, mental health, alcohol and drug problems, marital problems, illness of family members, or childcare problems, etc. The support was provided in the form of benefits, welfare, or non-welfare. This program aids eligible individuals 24 hours a day, seven day a week.
Performances 2023
Update : February 2024