Marks and Spencer 2016 Annual Report Download - page 78

76
MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC
DIRECTORS’ REPORT: GOVERNANCE
OTHER DISCLOSURES
CONTINUED
inspired our most senior leaders to bring
about a step change to drive stronger
levels of mental wellbeing across our
business. Now a key part of our annual
wellbeing calendar, our mental wellbeing
week launched a bold awareness campaign
across the business including peer to peer
experience sharing, mental health training
and external expert speaker events.
We’ve also evolved our annual employee
‘Weight Loss Challenge’ to become a new
‘Wellbeing Challenge’ bringing a focus on
our physical health in parity with our mental
health. A new online hub of resources
including an essential line manager guide
on mental wellbeing gives our employees
access to help and support in both
developing their mental wellbeing and
resilience and to our free, confi dential
team of mental wellbeing specialists
‘Livewellworkwell’.
Employees are able to interact with one
another and can gain access to information
about corporate projects, which link to
their personal health via our employee
social media platform Yammer.
We have websites for both our pension
schemes – the Defi ned Contribution (Your
M&S Pension Saving Plan) and the Defi ned
Benefi t (The M&S Pension Scheme) – which
are fully accessible to both employees
and former employees that have retained
benefi ts in either of those pension
schemes. Employees are updated from
time to time with any pertinent information
on their pension savings as appropriate.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The Group is committed to an active equal
opportunities policy from recruitment
and selection, through training and
development, performance reviews and
promotion to retirement. It is our policy
to promote an environment free from
discrimination, harassment and victimisation,
where everyone will receive equal treatment
regardless of gender, colour, ethnic or
national origin, disability, age, marital or civil
partner status, sexual orientation or religion.
All decisions relating to employment
practices will be objective, free from bias
and based solely upon work criteria and
individual merit. The Company is responsive
to the needs of its employees, customers
and the community at large. We are an
organisation which uses everyone’s talents
and abilities and where diversity is valued.
We were one of the fi rst major companies to
remove the default retirement age in 2001
and have continued to see an increase in
employees wanting to work past the state
retirement age. Our oldest employee is 89
years old and joined the business at age 80.
In April 2016 the Company once again
featured in The Times Top 50 Employers for
Women, highlighting how equal
opportunities are available for all at M&S.
EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES
It is our policy that people with disabilities
should have full and fair consideration for
all vacancies. During the year, we continued
to demonstrate our commitment to
interviewing those people with disabilities
who fulfi l the minimum criteria, and
endeavouring to retain employees in the
workforce if they become disabled during
employment. We will actively retrain and
adjust their environment where possible
to allow them to maximise their potential.
We continue to work with external
organisations to provide workplace
opportunities through our innovative Marks
& Start scheme and by working closely with
JobCentre Plus. The Marks & Start scheme
was introduced into our distribution centre
at Castle Donington in 2012/13, where we
work with Remploy to support people with
disabilities and health conditions into work.
GROCERIES SUPPLY CODE
OF PRACTICE
The Groceries (Supply Chain Practices)
Market Investigation Order 2009 (‘Order’)
and The Groceries Supply Code of Practice
(‘GSCOP’) impose obligations on M&S
relating to relationships with its suppliers
of groceries. Under the Order and GSCOP,
M&S is required to submit an annual
compliance report to the Audit Committee
for approval and then to the Competition
and Markets Authority and Groceries
Code Adjudicator.
M&S submitted its report to the Audit
Committee on 18 May 2016 covering the
period from 1 April 2015 to 2 April 2016.
In accordance with the Order, a summary
of that compliance report is set out below.
M&S believes that it has complied in full with
GSCOP and the Order during the relevant
period. No formal disputes have arisen
during the reporting period. Two allegations
regarding potential breaches of GSCOP
were made by suppliers during the relevant
period, but both have been resolved.
M&S operates systems and controls to
ensure compliance with the Order and
GSCOP including the following:
> The terms and conditions which govern
the trading relationship between M&S
and those of its suppliers that supply
groceries to M&S incorporate GSCOP;
> New suppliers are issued with information
as required by the Order;
> M&S has a Code Compliance O cer as
required under the Order, supported
by our in-house legal department; and
TOTAL GLOBAL M&S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 2015/16
The disclosures required by law and additional information relating to the Group’s greenhouse gas emissions are included in the table
below. For full details of calculations and performance against our 2006/07 voluntary baseline, see the 2016 Plan A Report.
2015/16
000 tonnes
2013/14
000 tonnes
%
change
Direct emissions (scope 1) 182 168 +8
Indirect emissions from energy (scope 2) 328 340 -4
Total statutory emissions (scope 1 and 2) 510 508 Level
Transport, energy T&D, waste and travel emissions (scope 3) 56 59 -5
Total gross/location-based emissions 566 567 Level
Carbon intensity measure (per 1,000 sq ft of salesfl oor) 29 30 -3
Green tari s and bio-methane procured 299 302 -1
Remaining market-based emissions 266 265 Level
Carbon o sets 266 265 Level
Total net operational emissions 00Level
Emissions are from operationally controlled activities in accordance WRI/WBCSD GHG Reporting Protocols (Revised edition) and 2014
Scope 2 Guidance using 2015 DEFRA/DECC conversion factors. As these emissions account for less than 10% of M&S’s total carbon
footprint we also engage with suppliers and customers to address the most signifi cant sources.