Join FLA at the 2026 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in Bangkok

From September 14-17, 2026, several FLA experts will be at the 2026 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum – the Asia-Pacific’s largest gathering on business and human rights – in Bangkok, Thailand. Don’t miss us at the following events.

Interested in attending? You can register to join the forum either in person or virtually.

From bans for products to impacts for people: Can forced labour bans deliver meaningful change for workers? (organized by the Fair Labor Association, Pillar Two, and the Migrant Forum in Asia)

Tuesday, September 15, 2026
13:00 – 14:00 Indochina Time (ICT)
Conference Room 3  

With the adoption of the Forced Labour Regulation, the EU joins a growing number of jurisdictions, including the US, Canada, and Mexico, that prohibit the import of goods made with forced labor. Other countries are considering similar legislation or are under international obligations to adopt comparable measures.

While forced labor import bans have the potential to drive meaningful improvements in business practices and strengthen efforts to address forced labor risks, their local impact remains uncertain.

This session will explore how forced labor import bans are affecting supply chains and ask how implementation may support meaningful, rights-based outcomes for supply chain workers. Bringing together representatives from civil society, frontline organizations, consultancies, multistakeholder initiatives, and business, the session will highlight practical experiences and emerging lessons from different sectors and country contexts.

Independent, CSO-led & Global Supply Chain-Anchored Non-State Based Grievance Mechanisms (NSBGMs): Building synergies for advancing decent work in India and Asia (organized by People’s Courage International)

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 
09:00 – 09:45 Indochina Time (ICT)
Conference Room 4

FLA Executive Vice President and Head of Public Policy Shelly Han will discuss the role of grievance mechanisms and how worker-centered grievance mechanisms can complement existing supplier-based mechanisms. The panel will explore how NSBGMs can provide flexible, accessible, and rights-compatible avenues for dispute resolution through sharing learnings and experiences and identify strategic areas of collaboration for scaling and strengthening the decent work landscape.

Invisible Compensation, Responsible Sponsorship: Advancing fair employer responsibility for migrant workers (organized by the Fair Labor Association and Domus 8.7)

Wednesday, September 16   
11:00 – 11:45 Indochina Time (ICT) 
Meeting Room A

While many labor standards focus on wages and working conditions, migrant workers continue to experience systemic inequalities because employers exercise responsibilities—and often significant control—over aspects of workers’ lives beyond the workplace. These responsibilities include both the provision of essential in-kind benefits and deductions (housing, food, transportation, healthcare, communication) and the obligations created by employer-sponsored migration systems. Together, these shape workers’ well-being, mobility, and ability to exercise their rights. In addition, unequal benefit systems can create labor rights risks and undermine resilience.

Panelists will speak to the lived experience of migrant workers, discuss governance and accountability approaches across sectors; share design principles for sponsorship and employment practices that reduce fear and improve safe access to remedy for migrant workers; and offer practical recommendations for integrating in-kind benefits into HRDD and fair compensation implementation.

Organizing Beyond the Factory Gate: Community-based monitoring, worker voice and access (organized by the Labour Education Foundation)

Wednesday, September 16, 2026
14:15 – 15:15 Indochina Time (ICT)
Conference Room 3

FLA Director, Labor and Civil Society Andrea Ackerman will speak to the multistakeholder perspective on how community-based monitoring and worker-led evidence can be integrated into human rights due diligence systems and how brands can respond constructively when labor rights violations are identified. The panel will emphasize the importance of community-based monitoring and how it can strengthen worker organization, collective voice, freedom of association and access to remedy.