Global union initiative will elevate the profile of social issues in the investment chain. Investors will be able to properly evaluate company adherence to robust labour standards and responsible employer relations as a result of a new global trade union initiative. The Committee on Workers’ Capital (CWC) Guidelines for the Evaluation of Workers’ Human Rights and Labour Standards are a comprehensive set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for investors to evaluate companies’ social performance. The guidelines were produced by trade unions from around the globe in response to concerns that asset owners and other investment chain actors are not equipped with tools to adequately scrutinize social issues such as labour relations in their environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis.

“When companies like XPO Logistics or Sports Direct mistreat their workforce, they create risks for investors,” says Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. “Yet to date the ‘S’ in ESG has been the weak link in investment analysis, and investors have lacked a shared framework to assess companies’ approaches.” The Guidelines are inspired by key international norms, standards and frameworks including the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the ILO Fundamental Conventions. The indicators are grouped in ten themes, which include workforce composition, social dialogue, supply chain, grievance mechanisms, workplace diversity, and pension fund contributions for employees...