Duty of Care Law (Devoir de Vigilance)

Duty of Care Law (Devoir de Vigilance)

Applicable to companies established in France, employing more than 5,000 people in France or 10,000 persons worldwide.

Under France’s devoir de vigilance, certain large companies must follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the execution of their business. It requires companies to establish due diligence processes throughout the supply chains to prevent human rights and environmental violations. Companies in the scope of the legislation need to do risk mapping to identify supplier risk levels by region or category, conduct due diligence assessments and mitigation, and develop annual plans (“plan de vigilance”), describing the related risks and measures taken to address them. Following a formal complaint, a failure to act with adequate diligence or adhere to standards of reasonable care may lead to civil liability of defaulting company.

To learn more about how the Duty of Care Law (Devoir de Vigilance) affects your business read our whitepaper (in French).