Updated 12 May 2010:  The Special Representative has been collecting views and feedback; here he aims to test some of the propositions that are emerging.

The corporate responsibility to respect human rights applies to all business enterprises regardless of size, industry, region or ownership.  The scope of the responsibility to respect human rights is determined by the actual and potential impacts of a company's activities and relationships, not its revenues or number of employees.  All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, which requires human rights due diligence; but the resultant company activities will vary depending on the particular context and circumstances.

Some have expressed concern that human rights due diligence is too onerous for small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  SMEs may have less capacity and more informal processes and management structures than larger companies, which means that their human rights due diligence will take on a different form than that of larger companies.  But SMEs can have significant impacts on human rights; if they were absolved of responsibilities because of size, some might deliberately keep the size of their workforces or annual turnover below any designated threshold.

In fact, compared to larger, complex, globally-dispersed companies, SMEs may find it easier to ensure that commitments are implemented throughout their business, to react quickly to changing conditions, and to develop strong ongoing relationships with the people they affect --  “bricks and mortar” SMEs often have closer ties to their immediate community than corporations based elsewhere.

Questions for discussion:

• Are the following propositions reasonable?  What is missing?
• How can expectations for SMEs be articulated without diluting their responsibility to respect human rights?

Propositions:

• The corporate responsibility to respect human rights applies to all business enterprises regardless of size, industry, region or ownership. 
• Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a responsibility to respect human rights like every other business enterprise, but their human rights due diligence might look different than that of large corporations.  For example, most SMEs are privately held and therefore not subject to public reporting requirements, but should consider other means of demonstrating that they are meeting their responsibility to respect.
• SMEs might particularly benefit from simple tools to help them meet their responsibility to respect, as well as government support and partnerships, whether with other companies or nongovernmental organizations, for example.