More than 5 million employees (UK) worked extra hours for free, losing £26.9bn in pay. Employers had benefited from record levels of unpaid overtime provided by their workers last year in a further extension of the long-hours culture that has characterised the British workplace. More than five million people gave free overtime worth £26.9bn by staying at work longer than their contracted hours - the highest number since records began in 1992.
Jan 26: Denmark Introduces Mandatory CSR Reporting for Large Companies
A law was adopted in Denmark requiring the 1100 largest companies in the country to report on their corporate responsibility efforts. The new bill, passed by a vast majority of the Danish parliament, makes it mandatory for publicly listed companies, state-owned companies and institutional investors to include information on CSR in their annual financial reports. The reports must include information on: • the company’s policies for CSR or socially responsible investments (SRI); • how such policies are implemented in practice, and; • the results obtained as well as managements’ expectations for the future with regard to CSR/SRI.
Jan 26: Primark in storm over conditions at UK supplier
Britain's high street fashion giant Primark was at the centre of a storm last night over allegations that illegal immigrants paid just over half the minimum wage had been employed to make fashionable knitwear for one of the firm's bestselling ranges. Primark announced yesterday that it had launched an inquiry after an investigation by the Observer and the BBC revealed that Manchester-based garment firm TNS Knitwear may have breached key employment and immigration laws. Breaches of the legislation could lead to fines of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker and potential prosecution for tax evasion and employment law abuses.
Jan 16: Günter Verheugen: "CSR is an undeniable must to cope with bad times"
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is of crucial importance for competitiveness in Europe, says the latest European Competitiveness Report published by the European Commission. The annual report analyses productivity and competitiveness issues in the EU. For the first time, the report includes an in-depth discussion on the links between CSR and competitiveness.
The 2008 European Competitiveness Report has recently been published, and contains a chapter on the links between CSR and competitiveness. To download a copy of the report:
Jan 16: Final text of EU CLP Regulation (CLP) published together with amending laws
The final text of the EU Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) of chemicals has now been published. The Regulation was speedily adopted at first reading in December and constitutes the EU's implementation of the UN Global Harmonised System (GHS) on classification and labelling of chemicals. It also underpins the REACH Regulation, forming the rules for establishing a database of classification and labelling of registered chemicals to be maintained by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
ENDS Europe Daily, 17 December 2008 - MEPs formally approved an unprecedented package of six new climate and energy laws in Strasbourg on Wednesday. A year of intense negotiations was wrapped up in a mere twenty minutes of voting. Over 550 MEPs backed the package, while fewer than 100 voted against.
The package is designed to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by twenty per cent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels, as pledged by European leaders at their spring summit in 2007. The EU will aim for a 30 per cent cut if other industrialised countries take on equivalent commitments in a new international climate treaty to be agreed at UN talks in Copenhagen next December.
Two suppliers out of three have experienced arbitrary extensions to their payment terms by company customers during the last three months, according to a survey by the Institute of Credit Management.
The findings, from a poll of 600 companies, suggest that more large firms are adding to the pressure on their small suppliers in order to manage their working capital. Many said that the new terms had been applied to past business, not just for future business.
Last week, the government department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) launched a voluntary 'prompt payment code' to seek to address the problem.
(source:Mallien Baker blog)
Europe: Phenolic resins producers consider forming two more consortia
The European Phenolic Resins Association (EPRA) has identified two additional resin chemistries requiring active management in order to meet their REACH requirements, following an open meeting on modified phenolic resins hosted in mid-October.
As a result, the association is planning to organise back-to-back meetings in London on 13 January 2009 to explore the possibilities for consortium formation in the following areas: A Substituted Phenolic Resins (SPR) Consortium to cover cresol modified resins (CAS No. 9039-25-2 and 41701-84-2) together with alkyl phenolic resins, such as para-tertiary butyl phenol modified resins (CAS No. 162393-06-8) and nonyl phenol modified resins (CAS No. 31605-35-3)
An Alcohol-modified Phenolic Resins (APR) Consortium to cover, at a minimum, 1-butanol modified phenolic resins (CAS No. 96446-41-2) and methanol modified resins.
source: Echa
EU agrees tough new toy safety standards
New Directive will ban CMRs and 55 allergenic concentrations; set migration limits formetals
A proposal to revise the EU toy safety Directive was adopted by the European Parliament at first reading yesterday and should enter into force in January. Companies will have to comply with the Directive's restrictions on chemicals by early 2013
source: Echa
EU retailers agree voluntary pact with Commission on toy safety
Deal requires systems and procedures to monitor safety, traceability and to handle customer complaints. EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva today met retailers in the Dreamland toy shop in Brussels to announce a voluntary agreement with four bodies to improve toy safety, particularly for the "low end" of the market. The deal includes measures to ensure widespread uptake of guidelines to be developed on systems and procedures to ensure toy safety. Improved traceability and customer complaints handling procedures as well as supplier education and monitoring are also part of the deal signed by EuroCommerce, the European Retail Roundtable, Toy Traders of Europe and the European Promotional Products Association.
source: Echa
UK brands are realising it pays to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in their operations and supply
chains
Doing so cuts energy bills and production costs. It gets suppliers to innovate to create
low-carbon products. And it readies a company for future emissions-cutting laws. For all of these
reasons, data on how much CO2 a company emits is becoming important to investors in
UK-listed firms. But do customers want to know these numbers too? Yes, according to 25 brands
piloting the Carbon Reduction Label from the UK’s Carbon Trust, a government-funded body. http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5772
UK: Ethics still matter in hard times
The difficult economic climate makes corporate integrity more important than ever, since many investors and customers base their decisions on social and environmental issues. In our second annual guide, The Observer reveals Britain's most and least - ethical companies.
The UK is mired in the most difficult economic conditions for three decades and many businesses are struggling for survival. At such a time, when simply staying afloat is the top priority, devoting management attention to social and environmental issues might seem like fiddling while Rome burns.
A more enlightened way of looking at it is that the economic downturn makes corporate integrity more important than ever; companies already under financial strain can ill afford to expose themselves to fresh risks by being lax on the environment or courting the anger of investors by flouting governance rules. Boom times can be a forgiving environment for companies that cut corners on ethics, with investors turning a blind eye so long as profits roll in - busts are not. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/16/observer-good-companies-guide-1
Europe: Businesses told to avoid blacklisted chemicals
The European Chemicals Agency has released its first draft blacklist of chemicals that may soon be covered by new legislation that terms them as of Very High Concern, and is urging businesses to plan now for the point when the list is confirmed. The Candidate List includes 15 chemicals whose use would be progressively restricted over time. Companies whose products use any of these chemicals will be required to provide information on the chemical to any consumers on request, and will need to notify the European Chemicals Agency of products using them from the end of 2011.
Over time, companies will be required to phase out the use of the chemicals altogether unless they can provide conclusive evidence that no viable alternatives are available.
