Two years after the adoption in France of the law on the duty of vigilance for parent and instructing companies, Sherpa releases its Vigilance Plans Reference Guidance, now available in English. Specially intended for stakeholders and companies liable under the duty of vigilance obligation, it provides a legal analysis of the content and the scope of the law and suggests some legislative improvements...

Sherpa is seeking to provide various stakeholders meaningful tools, and especially a support in the dialogue for implementing the new legal obligations. The Guidance could also be used for training and awareness-raising on the necessary legislative improvements. It also provides inputs for the development of new European or international norms on vigilance.

Furthermore, it should help companies to improve their vigilance plans for 2019. After having reviewed more than 80 vigilance plans in 2018, we have noticed they were particularly terse, and did not reflect the importance of the issues raised by the law. Besides the establishment and the effective implementation of vigilance measures, the law also provides an obligation of transparency and information...