1) Protected legal positions within the meaning of this Act are those arising from the conventions on the protection of human rights listed in numbers 1 to 11 of the Annex.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a human rights risk is a condition in which, based on factual circumstances, there is a reasonable probability of a violation of any of the following prohibitions:

(1) the prohibition of employing a child under the age at which compulsory education ends under the law of the place of employment, provided that the age of employ-

This shall not apply if the law of the place of employment deviates from this in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 4 and Articles 4 to 8 of Convention No. 138 of the International Labor Organization of June 26, 1973 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment (Federal Law Gazette 1976 II p. 201, 202);

2. the prohibition of the worst forms of child labor for children under 18 years of age; this includes, in accordance with Article 3 of Convention No. 182 of the In-

ternational Labor Organization of June 17, 1999, concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of

Child Labor (Federal Law Gazette 2001 II pp. 1290, 1291):

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and servitude, and forced or compulsory labor, including the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict,

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; or

c) the bringing, procuring or offering of a child

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production of or trafficking in

drugs,

d) work which, by its nature or because of the circumstances in which it is performed, is likely to be harmful to the health, safety or morals of children;

3. the prohibition of the employment of persons in forced labor; this includes any labor or service which is required of a person under the threat of punishment and for which he or she has not made himself or herself available voluntarily, such as as a result of debt bondage or trafficking in persons; except for labor or service which is in conformity with Article 2(2) of Convention No. 29 of the International Labor Organization of June 28, 1930, concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor (Federal Law Gazette 1956 II pp. 640, 641) or Article 8 (b) and (c) of the International Covenant of December 19, 1966, on Civil and Political Rights (Federal Law Gazette 1973 II pp. 1533, 1534);

4. the prohibition of all forms of slavery, practices similar to slavery, serfdom or other forms of domination or oppression in the workplace environment, such as extreme economic or sexual exploitation and humiliation;

5. the prohibition of disregarding the occupational health and safety obligations applicable under the law of the place of employment, if this would increase the risk of

accidents at work or work-related health hazards, in particular due to:

(a) manifestly inadequate safety standards in the provision and maintenance of the workplace, workstation and work equipment,

b) the lack of appropriate protective measures to avoid exposure to chemical, physical or biological agents,

c) the absence of measures to prevent excessive physical and mental fatigue, in particular through inappropriate organization of work in terms of working hours and rest breaks, or d) the inadequate training and instruction of employees;

6. the prohibition of disregard for the freedom of association, according to which: a) workers may freely form or join trade unions,

(b) the formation, joining and membership of a trade union may not be used as a reason for unjustified discrimination or retaliation; and

c) trade unions may operate freely and in accordance with the law of the place of employment; this includes the right to strike and the right to collective bargaining;

7. the prohibition of unequal treatment in employment, for example on the basis of national and ethnic origin, social origin, health status, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and the right to strike and collective bargaining.

disability, sexual orientation, age, gender, political opinion, religion or belief, unless this is justified by the requirements of the job.

requirements of the employment; unequal treatment includes, in particular, the payment of unequal remuneration for work of equal value.

work;

8. the prohibition of withholding a fair wage; the fair wage shall be at least the minimum wage established by the applicable law and shall be

dest wage and shall otherwise be determined in accordance with the law of the place of employment;

9. the prohibition of causing harmful soil contamination, water pollution, air pollution, harmful noise emission or

excessive water consumption that (a) substantially impairs the natural basis for the preservation and production of food,

(b) denies a person access to safe drinking water,

(c) impedes or destroys a person's access to sanitary facilities; or

(d) harms the health of a person;

10. the prohibition of unlawful eviction and the prohibition of unlawful deprivation of land, of forests and of waters in the process of acqui-

acquisition, development or other use of land, forests and waters, the use of which secures the livelihood of a person;

11. prohibiting the hiring or use of private or public security forces for the protection of the entrepreneurial project if, due to lack of instruction or control on the part of the company in the use of the security forces

a) the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is disregarded,

b) life or limb is injured, or

(c) the freedom of association and the freedom to organize are violated;

12. the prohibition of an act or omission in breach of duty which goes beyond numbers 1 to 11 and which is directly capable of violating in a particularly

serious way to impair a protected legal position and the unlawfulness of which is obvious on a reasonable assessment of all the circumstances under consideration.

(3) An environmental risk within the meaning of this Act is a condition in which, on the basis of factual circumstances, there is a sufficient probability of a violation of one of the following prohibitions:

(1) the prohibition on the manufacture of mercury-added products under Article 4(1) and Part I of Annex A to the Minamata Convention

of October 10, 2013 on mercury (Federal Law Gazette 2017 II pp. 610, 611) (Minamata Convention);

2. the prohibition of the use of mercury and mercury compounds in manufacturing processes as defined in Article 5(2) and Part I of Annex B to the Minamata Convention from the phase-out date specified for the respective products and processes in the Convention;

3. the prohibition of the treatment of mercury waste contrary to the provisions of Article 11(3) of the Minamata Convention;

4. the prohibition of the production and use of chemicals pursuant to Article 3(1)(a) and Annex A of the Stockholm Convention of 23 May 2001 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Federal Law Gazette 2002 II pp. 803, 804) (POPs Convention), as last amended by the decision of 6 May 2005 (Federal Law Gazette 2009 II pp. 1060, 1061), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (OJ L 169, 26.5.2019, p. 45), as last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/277 of 16 December 2020 (OJ L 62, 23.2.2021, p. 1);

5. the prohibition of non-environmentally sound handling, collection, storage and disposal of waste in accordance with the rules laid down in the applicable

applicable jurisdiction in accordance with the requirements of Article 6(1)(d)(i) and (ii) of the POPs Convention;

6. the prohibition of exports of hazardous waste as defined in Article 1(1) and other waste as defined in Article 1(2) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal of 22 March 1989 (Federal Law Gazette 1994 II pp. 2703, 2704) (Basel Convention), as last amended by the Third Ordinance Amending Annexes to the Basel Convention of 22 March 1989. March 1989 of 6 May 2014 (BGBl. II p. 306, 307), and as defined in Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste (OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1) (Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006), as last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2174 of 19 October 2020 (OJ L 433, 22.12.2020, p. 11)

(a) to a Party that has prohibited the import of such hazardous and other wastes (Article 4(1)(b) of the Basel Convention),

(b) to an importing State, as defined in Article 2(11) of the Basel Convention, which has not given its written consent to the particular

import if that importing State has not prohibited the import of that hazardous waste (Article 4(1)(c) of the Basel Convention); or

Basel Convention),

(c) to a non-Party to the Basel Convention (Article 4(5) of the Basel Convention),

(d) to an importing country, if such hazardous waste or other waste is not being managed in an environmentally sound manner in that country or elsewhere

(first sentence of Article 4(8) of the Basel Convention);

7. the prohibition of exports of hazardous wastes from countries listed in Annex VII to the Basel Convention to countries not listed in Annex VII (Article 4A of the Basel Convention, Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006); and 8. the prohibition of imports of hazardous wastes and other wastes from a non-Party to the Basel Convention (Article 4(5) of the Basel Convention).

(4) A violation of a human rights-related duty within the meaning of this Act shall be a violation of a prohibition referred to in paragraph 2, numbers 1 to 12. A violation of an environmental obligation within the meaning of this Law shall be a violation of a prohibition referred to in paragraph 3, numbers 1 to 8.

(5) The supply chain within the meaning of this Act refers to all products and services of a company. It includes all steps in Germany and abroad that are required to manufacture the products and provide the services, starting with the extraction of the raw materials and ending with the delivery to the end customer and covers

1. the actions of a company in its own business area,

2. the actions of a direct supplier, and

3. the actions of an indirect supplier.

(6) The own business area within the meaning of this Act shall cover any activity of the enterprise to achieve the objective of the enterprise. This shall include any activity for the manufacture and exploitation of products and for the provision of services, irrespective of whether it is carried out at a location in Germany or abroad. In affiliated companies, the parent company's own business operations include a company belonging to the group if the parent company exercises a determining influence on the company belonging to the group.

1. the actions of a company in its own business area,

2. the actions of a direct supplier, and

3. the actions of an indirect supplier.

(7) For the purposes of this Act, a direct supplier is a party to a contract for the supply of goods or the provision of services whose supplies are necessary for the manufacture of the company's product or for the provision and use of the service in question.

(8) An indirect supplier within the meaning of this Act is any enterprise which is not a direct supplier and whose supplies are necessary for the manufacture of the enterprise's product or for the provision and use of the relevant service.