UK Announces Plans to Introduce Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation

The UK government recently announced plans to introduce a mandatory human rights due diligence regime, a significant shift from its predominantly voluntary approach to corporate responsibility. This new legislation will bring the UK closer to the model established by the E.U.'s Corporate Social Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

The announcement follows a review of the UK's responsible business conduct framework, which concluded that existing measures were too heavily reliant on corporate disclosures and increasingly out of step with international standards. Under the new proposal, UK companies with global turnover exceeding GBP 350 million (around EUR 420 million), as well as foreign companies generating more than GBP 350 million in UK turnover, would be required to identify, assess and address human rights abuses and labour exploitation risks across their own operations and throughout their end-to-end supply chains.

The framework would apply across the UK for services and in Great Britain for goods, following a risk-based and proportionate approach aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD standards.

The government also intends to introduce powers allowing regulators to investigate and order the withdrawal of goods produced using forced labour where companies have failed to meet their due diligence obligations. Northern Ireland would instead apply the EU Forced Labour Regulation under the Windsor Framework.

Unlike CSDDD, there are no environmental due diligence measures in the UK’s proposal.