27 June 2022
It’s official. The right to an abortion is no longer guaranteed across the United States, following a ruling by the Supreme Court, which allows each US state to put in place its own legislation. The move by the court to overturn the Roe v Wade decision, which had applied since 1973, is prompting employers to publicly affirm their support for employees who wish to have an abortion but are based in states where it is now prohibited. States including Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Dakota, Alabama and...
25 May 2022
From June 2022, all 15,800 staff at the UK accounting and auditing giant will undergo mandatory ‘unconscious bias training.’ Employees who refuse the training risk losing part of their bonus allocation as their career evaluation will inevitably be affected, the group has warned. This unprecedented decision comes after the group’s former chairperson, Bill Michael, was forced to step down in 2021 after claiming that unconscious bias training had been “complete and utter cr*p for years” (c.f....
18 May 2022
On 16 May, and after 32 years in business in the country, the American fast-food chain announced it was withdrawing from Russia, due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in 1990 in Moscow’s Pushkin Square and was one of the first American companies to set up operations in Russia. In making this announcement, McDonald’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Kempczinski, said “We have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our...
9 May 2022
Prompted by the question marks currently surrounding abortion rights in the United States, several companies – including Levi Strauss, Airbnb and Tesla – have opted to take action to safeguard those rights. In the event that certain states restrict or prohibit abortion, these large US groups are considering covering travel expenses so that their employees can travel to another state where the procedure would be possible.
27 April 2022
On 21 April, twenty-eight Mexican and multinational companies signed the Corporate Agreement against Racism in the Workplace and the Professional Environment. The document, signed by companies from various sectors, including Coca-Cola, Scotiabank, Netflix, Walmart, Ford, Nike, 3M, HSBC and Sanofi, together with the Council to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination (Copred) and the RacismoMX association, aims to establish new practices to eradicate racism and discrimination in companies. The companies are committed...
13 April 2022
On 11 April, UK’s NatWest Group, which owns the NatWest and RBS banking networks, announced the signing of a partnership with the University of Edinburgh Centre for Business, Climate Change and Sustainability. The £1.5 million (€1.79 million) contract will provide climate training to more than 16,000 employees, including managers and customer advisors, by the end of 2024. Development of the 12-week e-learning course will be spearheaded by NatWest and the university, and its content will be augmented with...
12 April 2022
On 04 April, Germany’s SAP, the world leading multinational software and business applications corporation announced the launch of ‘dedicated onboarding process for refugees’ fleeing Ukraine, which aims to welcome and integrate qualified Ukrainians in the corporations’ subsidiaries in seven countries (Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia). Recruitment has already begun via an online platform that enables applicants to apply from their smartphones via a dedicated and...
11 April 2022
On 8 April, at the Second Dutch Business Summit on Refugees, co-hosted by the Tent Partnership for Refugees in the Netherlands, a series of the country’s multinationals – including recruitment group Randstad, dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina, and electricity transmission system operator TenneT – made pledges to help over 20,000 Ukrainian refugees find a job and integrate in the Netherlands and across Europe over the next three years. The Tent Partnership for Refugees is a network of over 220 major...
5 April 2022
The UK arm of German automation group Siemens has unveiled a new transport programme for its staff, which will provide on-demand access to vehicles to all its 15,000 employees. Under the plans announced at the end of March, Siemens staff will be able to use the more than 1,400 vehicles provided by the Enterprise Car Club – the majority of which are low- and zero-emission – spread across 200 towns and cities in the UK, as well as in rural areas and on-site at Siemens premises. To do this, employees simply need...
24 March 2022
Citigroup management has taken a public stand against a law passed in Texas that restricts women’s rights to abortion, and now bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The fourth most powerful bank in the United States is offering to pay travel expenses for employees seeking terminations in a neighbouring state as well as the requisite number of sick days so women can undergo the procedure as safely and calmly as possible.
