Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. | Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

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<h4>Resolution Details</h4>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2025 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Human Rights & Worker Rights </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Human Rights Policy </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>RESOLVED:</strong> Shareholders request the Board of Directors commission an independent third-party report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, assessing the company’s implementation of its Human Rights Policy Statement (Statement) related to operations in conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA).[1]</p>
<p>SUPPORTING STATEMENT</p>
<p>Shareholders seek information, at board and management discretion, through a report that: </p>

Discusses how human rights, conflict, and material risks in CAHRA are assessed, mitigated, and reported upon; and
Assesses if additional policies, practices, and governance measures are needed to mitigate risks.

<p>WHEREAS: The number and intensity of CAHRA are increasing, with the World Bank estimating that by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s poor will live in settings characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence.[2] Recent examples include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the military coup in Myanmar, and the persecution of minorities in Xinjiang, China.</p>
<p>CAHRA are characterized by widespread human rights abuses and violations of national or international law and a higher prevalence of material risks — legal, operational, and financial — for companies and shareholders. The International Finance Corporation notes that companies in these areas “face business risks that are much greater than those in other emerging markets,” including destruction of physical capital, deaths and injuries, weak state control, and supply chain disruptions.[3]</p>
<p>A recent EY survey of 1,200 CEOs indicated 97 percent of respondents altered investment plans due to geopolitical volatility and over one-third relocated operations based on conflict risks,[4] while a Thinking Ahead Institute study found that 84 percent of the world’s 26 largest investors identified “geopolitical confrontation” as a top three systemic risk.[5]</p>
<p>Companies failing to conduct human rights due diligence (HRDD)[6] and report on their risk mitigation efforts are exposed to potential violations of growing legislation requiring mandatory HRDD[7] and accounting standards calling on companies to report on human rights as material risks. [8],[9]</p>
<p>Hilton’s operations include over 8,300 properties in 138 countries and territories, including numerous CAHRA, exposing the company and shareholders to human rights, conflict, and material risks. Examples include Hilton’s: development of a hotel in Xinjiang on a site where a mosque was bulldozed by the Chinese government,[10] partnership with Eden Hotels & Resorts in Myanmar which maintains contracts with and donates to the military junta,[11] and continued support of Russian tourism through listing 25 hotels and facilitating guests’ visa applications and other government requirements.[12]</p>
<p>Hilton’s Statement notes the company “strives to conduct human rights due diligence to determine actual and potential human rights impacts in our value chain, and seeks to mitigate these impacts through reasonable measures” and “communicates with its stakeholders both internally and externally regarding how it addresses impacts and publishes progress.”[13] However, there is no further information on how Hilton conducts HRDD and mitigates and reports risks associated with CAHRA. Information on how Hilton conducts HRDD in CAHRA will give investors meaningful insight into their governance of these material risks.</p>
<p>[1] http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264185050-en</p>
<p>[2] https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence/overview   </p>
<p>[3] https://www.ifc.org/en/what-we-do/sector-expertise/fragile-and-conflict-affected-situations </p>
<p>[4] https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_us/topics/ceo/ey-ceo-outlook-pulse-survey-january-2023-global-report.pdf</p>
<p>[5] https://www.thinkingaheadinstitute.org/news/article/worlds-largest-investors-increasingly-concerned-on-systemic-risks/ </p>
<p>[6]  https://www.undp.org/publications/heightened-human-rights-due-diligence-business-conflict-affected-contexts-guide </p>
<p>[7] https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/doing-business-eu/corporate-sustainability-due-diligence_en </p>
<p>[8] https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/disclosures/sustainability-related-disclosure-financial-services-sector_en </p>
<p>[9] http://www.entegreraporlamatr.org/tr//mailing/25122020/images/Reporting-on-enterprise-value_climate-prototype_Dec20.pdf </p>
<p>[10] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/council-on-american-islamic-relations-urges-hilton-hotels-to-drop-xinjiang-project/ </p>
<p>[11] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/myanmar-survey-of-companies-that-have-expressed-withdrawal-or-suspension-of-operations-since-the-attempted-coup/</p>
<p>[12] https://travelspill.com/news/hilton-russia-ukraine-war-3840/</p>
<p>[13] https://ir.hilton.com/~/media/Files/H/Hilton-Worldwide-IR-V3/committee-composition/he-human-rights-policy-2017.pdf </p>

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<h3>Lead Filer</h3>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Caroline Boden</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church</span></div>
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Resolution Details

Company:

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

Year:

2023

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Paid Sick leave, Worker Rights, Health & Safety

Status:

Omitted

Resolution Text

WHEREAS:

Nearly 28 million people working in the private sector in the U.S. have no access to earned sick time, or “paid sick leave” (PSL), for short-term health needs and preventive care.1 Working people in the United States face an impossible choice when they are sick: to stay home and risk their economic stability, or to go to work and risk their health and the public’s health.

The vast majority (62%) of the lowest earning 10% of American employees do not have access to PSL.2 48% of Latinx workers and 36% of Black workers report having no paid time away from work of any kind.3

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, PSL is a crucial contributor to improved public health outcomes. One study found a 56% reduction in COVID-19 cases per state as a result of temporary federally mandated PSL,4 and others an 11-30% reduction in influenza-like illnesses from state and local mandates.5 State and local PSL mandates have also been shown to reduce the rate at which employees report to work ill in low-wage industries where employers often don’t provide PSL.6

PSL both increases productivity7 and reduces turnover, which in turn reduces costs associated with hiring.8 This is particularly important for lower-wage industries where turnover is highest. Companies across sectors, such Darden,9 Levi’s,10 and Patagonia11 are expanding and publicly sharing their policies.

However, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (Hilton) does not publicly describe its paid sick leave policy.

Hilton offers a Paid Time Off (PTO) program, described on the company’s website as “best in class.”12 However, there are clear benefits to workers from having standalone PSL and paid vacation days. Importantly, some PTO policies require greater advanced notice/preapproved days off which is often not feasible when sick.

Hilton estimates that 30 percent of global employees and 45 percent of domestic employees are unionized.13 This resolution defers to the PSL and PTO policies within collective bargaining agreements.

Hilton also operates franchised brands whose employees may not fall under the company’s leave policy. However, Hilton has the capability to set PSL policy expectations across franchised operations and to offer incentives to franchisees to match the leave policy of company-owned properties.

More transparency on Hilton’s policies such as worker eligibility requirements, number of hours of PSL provided by worker classification, requirements for using PSL, and whether PSL can be used to care for a family member who is ill help, will investors understand how the company is managing this human capital management, brand maintenance, and public health issue.

RESOLVED: Shareholders of Hilton ask the company to publicly disclose its permanent paid sick leave policy, above and beyond legal requirements. For purposes of this proposal, ‘permanent’ means a sick leave policy that is not conditioned on the existence of a pandemic or other external event.”

Implementation of Human Rights Policy Statement

Resolution Details

Resolution Text