About Human rights policy

Canongate Books is committed to respecting the human rights of all people affected by our operations, products, and services – whether directly or indirectly. We believe publishing carries a responsibility that extends beyond the page: to the people who make our books possible and to the communities our work reaches. This commitment covers all formats in which we publish and encompasses our entire value chain. We are dedicated to identifying, preventing and addressing any actual or potential negative human rights impacts arising from both our own activities and those of our suppliers and partners.

This policy applies to all individuals and communities who may be affected by Canongate Books’ own operations and our value chain, including our workforce, authors, suppliers, business partners, readers, and the communities in which we operate.

This policy is informed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We commit to respecting internationally recognised human rights, understood at a minimum as those set out in:

• The International Bill of Human Rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

This commitment applies whether our impact is direct or through our business partners.

We have assessed our operations and value chain to identify the human rights issues most likely to be affected by our business activities, and where we can directly impact or influence positive change. Through this process we have identified three salient human rights issues that we are committed to monitoring and addressing on an ongoing basis:

• Freedom of expression. As a publisher, freedom of expression is central to our purpose. We are committed to upholding the right to free expression for authors, workers, and others connected with our business, while recognising that th

is right carries responsibilities and operates within the limits set by law.

• Worker welfare and rights. We are committed to fair, safe and dignified working conditions across our own workforce and throughout our supply chain, including fair pay, reasonable hours and freedom of association.
• Privacy. We respect the privacy of our workers, authors, business partners and readers and we take appropriate steps to protect personal data across our operations.

We will conduct ongoing human rights due diligence to assess, prevent and mitigate our potential negative impacts. This includes:

• Assessing human rights risks across our operations and value chain on a regular basis, with a focus on risks to people rather than risks to the business.
• Taking meaningful action to prevent and mitigate identified risks, prioritising those that are most severe.
• Working with our suppliers and business partners to understand and uphold human rights across our supply chain.
• Remediating any negative impacts that we have caused or contributed to.
• Reviewing and updating our approach as our business and its impacts evolve.

This policy has been approved by the Board of Directors of Canongate Books, which bears overall responsibility for our approach to human rights. Day-to-day responsibility for implementing this policy is delegated to the Executive Management Team. We will report on our progress as part of our broader sustainability and B Corp commitments.

This policy will be reviewed at least every two years, or sooner where there is a significant change to our operations or the context in which we work. All updates will be approved by the Board of Directors.