Church investors call for guaranteed working hours from U.K. companies
The Church Investors Group wants U.K. companies to guarantee minimum working hours for all employees.
A group of investors with more than £21 billion ($29 billion) in assets wants U.K. companies to provide guaranteed minimum working hours each week for employees.
The Church Investors Group, which represents 60 members, including the £3 billion Church of England Pensions Board, London, is contacting a select group of U.K. firms to encourage them to provide working hours in line with the Living Hours initiative. The initiative calls on employers to provide the right to decent notice periods for shift work and a right to a contract with living hours a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours per week.
By Susanna Rust2021-03-16T14:23:00+00:00
Nestlé is to give shareholders a vote on its climate strategy at its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM), prompting Ethos Foundation, a Swiss pension fund-backed organisation, to withdraw a shareholder resolution requesting such a move.
The shareholder resolution had been jointly submitted by seven Swiss pension funds. In December, Ethos had written to the board of directors to encourage the company to offer an advisory vote on their climate change-related plans.
In a statement, Ethos said it welcomed Nestlé’s decision, “which is based on numerous discussions between the company’s board of directors and Ethos”. However, it expected the “say on climate” practice to be permanent, and for Nestlé to submit to the AGM each year a specific report outlining the progress it had made towards achieving climate neutrality.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – the world’s biggest single owner of listed shares – has firmed up its attitude towards gender diversity within corporate boards, saying firms where either gender had representation of less than 30% should consider targets and report on progress.
Setting out its official stance as an asset owner on board diversity in a new position paper, Norges Bank Investment Manager (NBIM) said: “While there are many different dimensions to diversity, we are particularly concerned by persistent underrepresentation of women on boards.”
The central bank arm made three main points on board diversity in the paper.
Firstly, it said boards should ensure they could bring a broad range of perspectives and approaches to decision-making.
Search
Home / News / BMO Gam, M&G and Rathbones among £3trn investor group demanding answers on school meals scandal
BMO Gam, M&G and Rathbones among £3trn investor group demanding answers on school meals scandal
Footballer Marcus Rashford has drawn attention to meagre food parcels being sent to disadvantaged families
BMO Gam, M&G Investments and Rathbones are among a £3trn investor group demanding answers on meagre food parcels that have been delivered to financially-struggling families in the UK during the latest coronavirus lockdown.
This week, social media has been flooded with angry posts, which have been picked up by national press, regarding meagre food packages supposed to feed children for up to 10 days. These were sent out by Chartwells, a subsidiary of Compass Group contracted by the UK government to issue food parcels to children who normally obtain free school meals – but have not been able to due to the national lockdown.