Corporate reporting includes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting. This trend to measure the health of an organization, not only through financial and economic measures, but also through non-financial indicators, is key to assess a company’s value for investors and shareholders today. As with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), organizations need to demonstrate sustainability and good corporate citizenship as measured through ESG reporting. The Social aspect of ESG includes inter alia working conditions, health and safety, employee relations, and DE&I: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Together with ESG reporting needs, countries around the world understand that incentives and binding legal measures are needed to achieve gender parity and generally, greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. For this reason, many countries are passing legislation to ensure non-discrimination laws are in place, and also requiring companies to measure and report on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Indeed, as the Head of the European Central Bank, Ms. Christine Lagarde, stated in March 18, 2021 before the French National Assembly, it would take 140 years before parity between men and women is achieved if nothing further is done. In this edition of EY’s Global labor and employment law strategic topics publication, we survey the laws in 31 countries relating to DE&I.
