A company’s ability and commitment to include en­vironmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in its strategy becomes more and more important to investors, consumers, policy makers, civil socie­ty organizations and other stakeholders. There is a funda­mental societal shift towards sustainability and responsi­bility. Managers are held accountable for ESG compliance. While environmental and governance aspects have always been key criteria, social sustainability criteria such as di­versity and inclusion, human rights, health and safety at work and equal employment opportunities for minorities have become a focal point only more recently. Many com­panies still have a rather vague understanding of what ESG actually means and how ESG criteria can be ad­dressed by a company’s compliance organization. At the same time, disclosure and reporting obligations make a company’s approach to ESG very transparent for both in­ternal and external stakeholders, so looking into this topic behind closed doors is no longer an option.

Read more in our article in Labor Law Magazine