The potential of responsible business to promote sustainable work – An analysis of CSR/ESG instruments

Torres, L. and Ripa, D. and Jain, A. and Herrero, J. and Leka, S. (2023) The potential of responsible business to promote sustainable work – An analysis of CSR/ESG instruments. Safety Science, 164. ISSN 0925-7535

Abstract

In the last few years important efforts have been made to rationalise the growing corporate sustainability or CSR/ESG standards field aiming at achieving some degree of harmonisation. Yet, these efforts might be unable to capture the diversity of CSR/ESG issues, particularly those that relate to the promotion of sustainable work. This paper aims to analyse the extent to which aspects of labour and working conditions are included in selected CSR/ESG standards and frameworks. We consider the need for a ‘CSR/ESG inspired’ approach to promote good practice and discuss the current state of the art. Twenty CSR/ESG instruments were thematically analysed using key international labour standards as benchmark. A framework of six main themes emerged from the analysis: corporate governance; business and human rights; diversity, equity, and inclusion; industrial relations; occupational health, safety and wellbeing; and human resource practices. Our findings highlight the extent of inclusivity of these instruments as well as support the global efforts for harmonisation by identifying common labour and working conditions topics. The framework that has been developed in this paper can be also used as a guidance to analyse corporate social responsibility initiatives and/or corporate reporting with a focus on labour and working conditions.