ESG and sustainability

People and social issues

Our global team advises on the full range of ESG-related employment and incentives issues, with jurisdictional knowledge of workplace culture, employment status, shareholder and employee activism, workforce engagement, diversity and inclusion, whistleblowing and incentivisation.

As the ‘S’ of ESG continues to gain prominence, employers are increasingly looking to ensure that ESG initiatives are built into their culture. From focus on employment and incentives law issues to wider events, such as COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, social considerations are under the spotlight.

Employers can no longer be satisfied with solely meeting legal and regulatory requirements, as the expectations from a variety of stakeholders, including the workforce, move to more than mere compliance. Demonstrating that ESG is at the heart of an organisation helps build a reputation that can attract, retain and incentivise the best talent, create an inclusive and diverse culture, and maximise productivity. Crucially, it can also reduce the risk of employment-related investigations and litigation.

Our experienced team of employment and incentives lawyers understand that people and reward issues require sensitive handling alongside commercial insights, providing advice on strategic positioning and best practice, in addition to the law.

Client successes

Advising on board composition and mentoring and networking programmes designed to improve the representation of minority groups in the workplace, and navigating the limits of positive action.

Various investigations into alleged harassment, discrimination and whistleblowing-related victimisation, and handling Employment Tribunal litigation relating to such allegations.

Carrying out ‘lessons learned’ exercises and ‘culture audits’ and making recommendations to strengthen, for example, ‘speak up’ culture to mitigate the risk of claims in the future.

Advising on the incorporation of ESG measures into variable remuneration arrangements and the changing stakeholder expectations in relation to structure, alignment to strategy and disclosure.