Operationalizing RBC for Decent Work: Sharing of experience from automotive sector enterprises in India

This brief brings together three examples from India’s automotive sector to illustrate how enterprises can turn Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and human rights due diligence (HRDD) commitments into meaningful practice. The cases range from (i) a multinational enterprise HQ-led governance model adapted to local contexts, (ii) community-based worker support initiatives, to (iii) factory-level approaches that provide equal safety and labour protections for all workers.

Some practical lessons emerge:

• Multinational enterprises can benefit from combining corporate policies in home countries to be adapted and applied in host countries, supported by leadership engagement.
• Enterprises can also extend RBC beyond direct employees, by leveraging partnerships with stakeholders at community level.
• Finally, by ensuring equal safety and labour protections for all workers, enterprises can foster greater respect for workers’ rights.

Together, these examples demonstrate complementary pathways to strengthen labour outcomes.

This document was developed under the ILO project “Building Responsible Value Chains in Asia through the Promotion of Decent Work in Business Operations (Phase II) project”, funded by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan.