A/HRC/4/35 page 21 67. All FG500 respondents, irrespective of region or sector, included non-discrimination as a core corporate responsibility, at minimum meaning recruitment and promotion based on merit. Workplace health and safety standards were cited almost as frequently. More than three quarters recognized freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the prohibition against child and forced labour, and the right to privacy. European firms were more likely than their United States counterparts to recognize the rights to life, liberty, and security of person; health; and an adequate standard of living. 68. The survey asked the FG500 firms to rank the stakeholders their human rights policies or practices encompassed - in effect, to indicate their conception of their sphere of influence. Employees were ranked highest (99 per cent); suppliers and others in their value chain next (92.5 per cent); then the communities in which companies operated (71 per cent); followed by countries of operation (63 per cent). The only significant variations were that the extractive sector ranked communities ahead of suppliers, while United States and Japanese firms placed communities and countries of operations far lower than European companies. 69. Companies referenced international instruments in formulating their policies. Among the FG500, ILO declarations and conventions topped the list, followed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations human rights treaties were mentioned infrequently. The Global Compact was cited by just over 50 per cent, the OECD Guidelines by just under 50 per cent. More than 80 per cent also said they worked with external stakeholders on their human rights policies. NGOs topped that list, followed by industry associations. Intergovernmental organizations were a distant third - except for United States firms, which ranked them fifth, behind labour unions and Governments. 70. The broader cross-section of companies paralleled the FG500 in recognizing labour standards. But their recognition of other rights was consistently lower: the highest, at 16 per cent, was the right to security of the person, encompassing both the right to life and the freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.58 For areas covered by social, economic, and cultural rights these companies tended to emphasize their philanthropic contributions. 71. Firms in both samples participated in one of the eight collective initiatives.59 The recognition of rights by these initiatives closely reflected industry sectors: for example, those in manufacturing focused more on labour rights, whereas the extractive initiatives emphasized community relations and indigenous rights. Moreover, they drew on international standards: the FLA and Social Accountability 8000 meet or exceed most core ILO rights, while Equator banks track the IFC’s performance standards. The SRI indices mirrored the overall high recognition of labour rights, and several exhibited a particular concern for rights related to indigenous peoples, as well as the right to a family life. 58 Numeric differences in responses between the two samples are partially explained by the FG500 study relying on questionnaire responses, whereas the business recognition study examined actual company policies, but this does not account for order of magnitude differences. 59 See HRC/4/35/Add.4 for details.