Why is it important?
People should work in freedom, safety and dignity, with fairness and justice. In addition to the importance of human well-being, a workforce that is treated with respect can promote performance and productivity, with better, more satisfied workers and lower turnover. Conversely, in addition to the potential human cost, workforce issues can materially impact companies’ reputations, disrupt operations, divert resources and lead to long-running legal consequences. Accordingly, such issues can materially affect the value of our members’ investments
Our view
We expect companies to actively engage with their workforce and other stakeholders to understand and assess labour risks and opportunities. Companies should consider and manage risks such as workforce wellbeing, engagement, industrial issues, equality of opportunity and treatment, the right to freedom of association, unfair wages or poor or dangerous working conditions.
Companies should disclose material risks and impacts, including processes to identify, prevent and mitigate risk, the effectiveness of their processes, remediation and accountability standards.
Disclosures should reference the performance of the company on workforce safety, specifying any fatalities; culture; training and development; workplace diversity and discrimination; labour relations; and whistleblowing and grievance mechanisms.