Professional & Commercial Services
Relevant Issues (3 of 26)
Why are some issues greyed out?
The SASB Standards vary by industry based on the different sustainability-related risks and opportunities within an industry. The issues in grey were not identified during the standard-setting process as the most likely to be useful to investors, so they are not included in the Standard. Over time, as the ISSB continues to receive market feedback, some issues may be added or removed from the Standard. Each company determines which sustainability-related risks and opportunities are relevant to its business. The Standard is designed for the typical company in an industry, but individual companies may choose to report on different sustainability-related risks and opportunities based on their unique business model.-
Environment
- GHG Emissions
- Air Quality
- Energy Management
- Water & Wastewater Management
- Waste & Hazardous Materials Management
- Ecological Impacts
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Social Capital
- Human Rights & Community Relations
- Customer Privacy
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Data Security
The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data. - Access & Affordability
- Product Quality & Safety
- Customer Welfare
- Selling Practices & Product Labeling
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Human Capital
- Labour Practices
- Employee Health & Safety
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Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
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Business Model and Innovation
- Product Design & Lifecycle Management
- Business Model Resilience
- Supply Chain Management
- Materials Sourcing & Efficiency
- Physical Impacts of Climate Change
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Leadership and Governance
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Business Ethics
The category addresses the company’s approach to managing risks and opportunities surrounding ethical conduct of business, including fraud, corruption, bribery and facilitation payments, fiduciary responsibilities, and other behaviour that may have an ethical component. This includes sensitivity to business norms and standards as they shift over time, jurisdiction, and culture. It addresses the company’s ability to provide services that satisfy the highest professional and ethical standards of the industry, which means to avoid conflicts of interest, misrepresentation, bias, and negligence through training employees adequately and implementing policies and procedures to ensure employees provide services free from bias and error. - Competitive Behaviour
- Management of the Legal & Regulatory Environment
- Critical Incident Risk Management
- Systemic Risk Management
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Disclosure Topics
What is the relationship between General Issue Category and Disclosure Topics?
The General Issue Category is an industry-agnostic version of the Disclosure Topics that appear in each SASB Standard. Disclosure topics represent the industry-specific impacts of General Issue Categories. The industry-specific Disclosure Topics ensure each SASB Standard is tailored to the industry, while the General Issue Categories enable comparability across industries. For example, Health & Nutrition is a disclosure topic in the Non-Alcoholic Beverages industry, representing an industry-specific measure of the general issue of Customer Welfare. The issue of Customer Welfare, however, manifests as the Counterfeit Drugs disclosure topic in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals industry.
General Issue Category
(Industry agnostic)
(Industry agnostic)
Disclosure Topics (Industry specific) for: Professional & Commercial Services
Data Security
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Data Security
Entities in every segment of the industry are entrusted with customer data. Employment and temporary staffing agencies as well as data providers and consulting entities store, process and transmit increasing amounts of sensitive personal data about employees, clients and candidates. In addition, the clients of financial and non-financial services providers may handle sensitive information and share this information with professional and commercial services entities. The exposure of sensitive customer information through cybersecurity breaches, other malicious activities or employee negligence may result in significant risks such as identity fraud and theft. Data breaches may compromise client perception of the effectiveness of a service provider’s security measures, which may result in reputational damage and affect an entity’s ability to attract and retain clients adversely.
Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion
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Workforce Diversity & Engagement
Developing a broad base of valued, respected and supported employees throughout an organisation is essential for the long-term growth prospects of professional and commercial services entities. Human capital is the primary source of revenue generation, contributing knowledge, talent, advice and various technical skills. Although financial and non-financial service providers may hire a diverse workforce among lower-level employees, they may lack diversity among senior management. Enhancing workforce diversity, particularly among management positions, may help entities attract and develop the best talent. Significant employee engagement, fair treatment and equitable levels of pay and advancement opportunities for all workers are all likely to contribute to increased productivity and performance through all levels of the entity.
Business Ethics
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Professional Integrity
The business model of professional and commercial services entities is dependent on client trust and loyalty. To ensure long-term and mutually beneficial relationships, entities must provide services that meet the highest professional standards of the industry. Professional integrity is an important industry governance issue because the collective actions of professionals inside a single organisation may make the detection and prevention of conflicts of interest, bias or negligence more challenging. Training employees adequately, providing advice and distributing data free from bias and error, and taking other measures to ensure professional integrity, are important both for strengthening an entity’s licence to operate as well as for attracting and retaining clients.