Top firms should come clean on well-being

Businesses listed in the FTSE 100 have been urged to publish more data about their engagement and well-being practices.

Business in the Community (BITC) has produced the Workwell FTSE 100 benchmark to measure the amount of information firms publish so it can be seen by potential investors and members of the public. The index shows FTSE 100 firms only reported just over a fifth of the information they could have potentially given concerning well-being.

Firms in the manufacturing sector made the most data available, typically publishing a third of what they could, while the pharmaceutical industry was the next open with 25% The study showed real estate companies also gave a quarter of the well-being information they could, while those in financial services and retail typically published 24%.

Stephen Howard, BITC chief executive, said: “The Workwell benchmark represents a new chapter for CSR reporting and the low average scores are not unexpected at this first stage of development.”

The highest scoring indicators in Workwell were diversity and inclusion at 50%, followed by health and safety at 44%. And the BITC said these higher figures suggest compliance is the driving force behind measurement and reporting.

Manufacturers again reported the most when it came to health and safety, publishing 75% of the potential information, while companies in the mining sector reported 67%.

www.bitc.org.uk/news-events/news/press-release-results-workwell-ftse-100-benchmark-highlights-need-increase