Responsible: Human Rights Officer at Audi
As the Audi Human Rights Officer, Daniel Patnaik works with his team to coordinate, analyze and monitor the observance of human rights within the Audi Group and along the supply chain.
Daniel Patnaik is Human Rights Officer for the Audi Group. In this independent role they are the primary contact on all human rights matters for government agencies, the political sphere and society at large. One of his key tasks is to monitor the appropriateness and effectiveness of risk management for ensuring compliance with the due diligence obligations arising from the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and to perform all control measures in accordance with the risk. In this respect, he performs the tasks provided for in section 4(3) of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) and reports as part of his role directly to the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
“Our goal is to help improve the observance of human rights worldwide. Audi regularly reviews its human rights risks and, based on the findings, develops appropriate preventive and remedial actions.”
Daniel Patnaik, Human Rights Officer for the Audi Group
Human rights and environment-related protected assets
The Audi Group attaches particular importance to:
- Prohibition of child labor, forced labor and slavery, occupational health and safety
- Freedom of association
- Prohibition of unequal treatment in employment
- Payment of an adequate living wage
- Prohibition of illegal forced displacement
- Observance of corresponding standards in hiring security forces
These human rights protected assets are supplemented by environment-related protected assets. These obligations, and binding obligations related to them, are determined by the Audi environmental policy and the Environmental Compliance Management System.
Human rights and environment-related risks and protected assets according to LkSG
Specific implementation of human rights
AUDI AG has embedded its expectations of employees and business partners in its binding Code of Conduct, published them and generally made them a fixed component of contracts governing business relationships. Numerous internal policies specify these goals and expectations in the Audi sphere of activity in greater detail. The company actively communicates these and carries out regular training measures for employees, in particular managers, and supplier companies.
To fulfill its human rights due diligence obligations, Audi has established a multi-level risk management system that focuses both inward at the company itself as well as outward at the supply chain and at the impact of Audi activities on people and the environment. Audi identifies, analyzes and prioritizes human rights and environment-related risks and derives preventive or remedial measures from them. This is carried out at least once a year or on an ad hoc basis whenever there is the need to take appropriate action to tackle newly emerging risks or incidents.
Stakeholder dialogue and change of perspective
Changes of perspective are highly important to Audi. The company therefore regularly invites experts from business, academic and scientific communities, associations, trade unions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to dialogue events. This form of open exchange with various stakeholders contributes to an even better understanding of specific issued in the context of human rights and to the development and implementation of approaches that can lead to structural change.
Audi is a member of the Sector Dialogue Automotive Industry of the Global Compact Network Germany. In this multi‑stakeholder forum, representatives from companies, trade unions, associations, civil society and the German Federal Government have come together to jointly address structural challenges and to discuss and further develop approaches to strengthening human rights due diligence obligations in global supply and value chains within the German automotive industry.
