Marks and Spencer 2015 Annual Report Download - page 83

OUR PERFORMANCEFINANCIAL STATEMENTS GOVERNANCE OUR BUSINESS
81
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2015
We have a well established interactive
wellbeing website designed exclusively
for M&S employees. It gives any employee
the opportunity to access a wealth of
information, help and suppor t. We cover all
areas of wellbeing, from healthy eating and
exercise to help in overcoming issues such
as stress, fi nancial challenges, achieving a
positive work-life balance and problems
with sleeping. Using this service, employees
can access our personal support teams,
such as counselling, as well as take par t in a
calendar of wellbeing events and initiatives.
Employees are able to interact with one
another, post information about clubs and
groups in their area and can gain access
to information about corporate projects,
which link to their personal health, via our
employee social media platform, Yammer.
We maintain contact with retired sta
through communications from the
Company and the Pension Trust. Member-
nominated trustees have been elected
to the Pension Trust board, including
employees and pensioners. We continue
to produce a regular Pensions Update
newsletter for members of our fi nal salary
pension scheme and have a fully interactive
website for members of the defi ned
contribution M&S Pension Savings Plan.
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 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 88 years old and joined
the business at age 80. In April 2015 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.
ESSENTIAL CONTRACTS OR
ARRANGEMENTS
The Company is required to disclose any
contractual or other arrangements which
it considers are essential to its business.
We have a wide range of suppliers for the
production and distribution of products
to our customers. Whilst the loss of, or
disruption to, certain of these arrangements
could temporarily a ect the operations
of the Group, none are considered to be
essential, with the exception of certain
warehouse and logistic operators and
providers of services relating to the
Company’s e-commerce platform.
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 14 May 2015 covering the
period from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.
In accordance with the Order, a summary
of that compliance repor t 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. Four
allegations regarding potential breaches
of GSCOP were made by suppliers during
the relevant period, but all complaints have
been withdrawn/resolved.
TOTAL GLOBAL M&S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 2014/15
The disclosures required by law relating to the Group’s greenhouse gas emissions are included in the table below. For full details of
calculations and adjustments, as well as performance against 2006/07 voluntary baseline, see our 2015 Plan A Report.
2014/15
000 tonnes
2013/14
000 tonnes
%
change
Direct emissions (scope 1) 167 168 -1
Indirect emissions from energy (scope 2) 367* 340 +8*
Total statutory emissions (scope 1+2) 534 508 +5
Transport, energy, waste and business travel (scope 3) 58 59 -2
Total gross/location-based emissions 592 567 +5
Carbon intensity measure (per 1,000 sq ft of salesfl oor) 30 30 L
Green tari s and carbon o sets 592 567 +4.4
Total net/marketplace emissions 00–
Calculated based on operational control in accordance with 2014 DECC/DEFRA using Guidelines WRI/WBCSD GHG Reporting Protocols
(Revised edition) and 2014 Scope 2 Guidance.
*Increase c aused by highe r UK grid e l e ctri ci t y carb o n inte nsit y.