When something goes wrong in a supply chain, what happens next? And what does it actually take to put things right? Module four of ETI Human Rights Essentials tackles these questions head on – exploring effective remedy, and meaningful grievance mechanisms, and why the relationship between buyers and suppliers is often key to making them work.

ETI Human Rights Essentials is delivered by our training partner Inherently Human. It’s designed to help participants go beyond theory and take meaningful action within their organisations.

Module 4 explores the final pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Having built your understanding across modules 1 to 3 – covering due diligence, risk assessment, and responsible purchasing practices – this module turns to what happens when human rights violations occur, and critically, how to ensure workers have effective channels to report problems and receive redress.

The module asks: What does it really mean to provide remedy? And how can companies move beyond tick-box grievance mechanisms to create systems that workers actually trust and use?"

Meet the trainer: Sabita Banerji

Sabita Banerji's grew up on tea plantations in India, witnessing inequality first-hand from an early age. It’s an experience that has shaped everything that followed.  "Those childhood impressions stay with you very strongly," she reflects. 

After moving to the UK aged 12, Sabita spent over 12 years working at Oxfam, before joining ETI as Knowledge and Learning Advisor, and later, NGO Coordinator. Whilst working on a garment factory project in South India, she visited Munnar – the tea plantation area where she was born. 

"The day I was there, this massive uprising of women workers on the tea plantations started, and I was just in the middle of it," she recalls. "It absolutely felt like a calling." 

That moment led her to establish THIRST (The International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea), which she now leads as CEO, bringing together decades of human rights experience and a lifelong connection to the communities she works with.

What remedy means in practice

For Sabita, remedy starts with recognising a fundamental inequality. "If you live in a country like the UK, you're quite used to the idea – or may even take for granted – that if something goes wrong at work, there's someone you can report that to and you might get compensation," she explains.

But in many international supply chains, those channels simply don't exist. Workers in lower-income countries often can't stand up to employers or colleagues when things go wrong – they're terrified of losing their jobs.

"The UN Guiding Principles and other instruments are there to ensure that every person, regardless of which country they're in or what levels of poverty they're living with, is able to access remedy when their human rights are being breached at work."

What makes grievance mechanisms meaningful? 

Effective grievance mechanisms require certain fundamental elements: workers knowing the mechanism exists, feeling confident to use it anonymously, and trusting that action will be taken. "If they report an issue and nothing happens, then no one's going to bother with it anymore."

Sabita has seen suggestion boxes proudly displayed outside managers' offices, with managers boasting about receiving no complaints as proof workers are happy. "A suggestion box situated where the manager can see who uses it is never going to be helpful," she notes.

Building trust 

The catalyst for improving remedy is rarely just the grievance mechanism itself – it's often the relationship with suppliers. 

"If the buyer's relationship with the supplier is one of a policeman or a schoolteacher who's punishing them for doing things wrong, they're going to try and hide it when things do go wrong."

Instead, Sabita advocates for partnership. "The relationship should be one of understanding – we're in this together, and we recognise that there are risks. How can we support you to reduce those risks?"

The power of collaboration

No company can tackle systemic human rights challenges alone – and Sabita is clear that collaboration, even between competitors, is essential. "Companies are often nervous about this – they worry about commercial sensitivities or breaching competition rules. But ETI is a really good example of how companies can and do work together in a pre-competitive way."

A participatory training approach

The training is designed to be genuinely interactive. Participants bring their own knowledge, experience and sector perspectives – and that is treated as a resource in its own right. 

As Sabita puts it: " We can all learn from each other – it’s not just the trainer imparting knowledge, but everybody in that room."

One message to carry forward

We asked Sabita what she hopes participants take away. Her answer captures the spirit of the whole module: "A commitment to making it work, the practical steps to turn it into reality, and the humility to collaborate with others."

Join the course

Module 4 of ETI Human Rights Essentials takes place on 12 March 2026. It is designed for practitioners who want to move beyond tick-box compliance and build grievance mechanisms that workers genuinely trust and use.

Course

Human rights essentials training

ETI's Human Rights Essentials course features four modules to equip learners with the fundamentals of human rights in business.

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