GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. Answer: Introduction Timberwell Constructions is located in Stanwell Council district and is a residential development company that builds apartment complexes. The company have 58 male staffs employed from the region and the employees have the experiences with the different profession and trade. The local market for the employees is very competitive and thus, Due to market competition the company has employed 21 new apprentices for the reporting period.. This study is based on the preparation of the sustainability assessment report with respect to the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards 2016. GRI Standards are designed so that it can be used by the different organizations to report their impact on the society, environment and economy (Globalreporting.org 2018). Economic sustainability i) Climate change and the opportunities and risks and financial implications- The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following information: information of the opportunity or risk and its differentiation as either regulatory or physical; description of the opportunity or risk in connection with the impact; financial implication of the opportunity or the risk before the action taken; methods employed to manage the opportunity or risk; the cost of the action taken to manage the opportunity risk or opportunity. According to the case study, there is an increased risk in Stanwell district from the bushfires due to the warming effects and the climate change. The Stanwell council proposed to amend the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and rezone certain areas of Stanwell district as bushfire prone areas. The amendment is expected to take effect within a time period of 6 weeks. Any new development within the amended LEP zone must meet the issue of bushfire. The higher standards of safety include increased spaces between the land boundaries and buildings, also utilization of the fire retardant materials in the buildings. Timberwell Constructions has a region in the Stanwell district that requires an amended LEP zone in order to comply with the bushfire safety. To comply with the new amendments, it would cost Timberwell Constructions a whopping $4 million. In order to minimize the huge costs of, an external town planning firm has been engaged by Timberwell Constructions to look after the development of the region and work alongside the Stanwell council. In return of the service the new town planning company is charging $50,000. ii) Confirmed incidents of corruptions and actions taken- The GRI standards reveal that the organization which is reporting must gather information based on: nature and the number of the confirmed cases of corruption; number of the confirmed cases in which workers were either disciplined or dismissed due to the charges of corruption; number of cases in which contracts were not cut down because of involvement with corruption charges or business partnerships were terminated due to corruption; legal cases based on the corruption charges against the workers of a company during their reporting period or against the organization and the results of such cases. According to the case study, Dennis McCabe a former employee of Timberwell Constructions. Dennis McCabe brought charges against the company to different government authorities. This resulted in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to move to the Federal court on grounds of anti-competitive conduct that involved exclusive dealings and market power misuse against the Timberwell Constructions. ACCC accussed that, Timberwell Constructions came to know about establishment of a rival company in the Stanwell district. In response to the competitive threat, Timberwell company executives told the contractors and the suppliers to not to get involved with the new company. If they do, then Timberwell Constructions will both reduce and withdraw business from the contractors and the suppliers. Based upon the allegations, the Federal Court will give its verdict in 4 months. There were other separate complaints made by Dennis to the state corruption commission. The allegations invol ved a public corruption involving 2 business partners and 5 Timberwell employees. The complaint revealed that, the 2 external consultants and companys five employee offered bribes to the project officers of the council in order to move the companys development application out of the council approval process. This resulted in charging the 5 employees of the company and the 2 external consultants with corruption. Although the prosecutions were pending, the 5 employees are suspended by the company without their pay. Timberwell also cancelled the contracts with these two external consultants. iii) Monopoly practices, anti-trust, anti-competitive behavior and the legal actions arising out of it The GRI standards reveal that the organization which is reporting must gather information based on: pending or completed legal cases and its actions during the reporting period based on the grounds of violations of anti-trust, monopoly legislation and anti-competitive behavior in which an organization has been found as a participant; major results of the legal cases which included judgements and decisions. According to the case study, Dennis McCabe, resigned from the company and a claim of workplace harassment was filed by him to the fair work commission. He revealed that he was subjected to discrimination for his age with respect to the other workers. He even mentioned that he was the only worker who was aged above 50 years. The Fair Work commission took Denniss issue and ordered the company to pay 4,400 to Dennis. The commission also directed the company to amend its anti-discrimination policy and also train the employees regarding anti-discrimination. The company Timberwell Constructions complied the commission orders. An incident of anti-competitive conduct was reported by Dennis McCabe to the Australian Competition and consumer Commission (ACCC) on the grounds of exclusive dealings and misuse of the market power. ACCC alleged that Timberwell Constructions came to know that a development company is going to be established in the Stanwell district. Timberwell Constructions wanted to put a check on the new company, thus the senior Timberwell executives told the suppliers and the contractors to not to get involved with the new company. It was warned that engagement with the rival company will lead to reduction in and withdrawal of business. This case was thus listed to be heard by the Federal Court in the 4 months. Another was registered by Dennis to the state corruption commission which resulted in to public corruption scandal that involved the 5 employees and the 2 business partners of Timberwell Constructions. The complaint was registered based on the allegation that in order to move the companys development application from within the council, the 2 external consultants and companys employees offered bribes to the project officers of the council. Thus, state corruption commission accused the external consultants and the companys 5 employees with corruption. Environmental sustainability i) Energy consumption within the organization The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following information: total fuel consumption from the nonrenewable resources within the organization, including fuel consumption from the renewable resources within the organizations, the usage of fuel types, total energy consumed within the organization in the unit of joules; calculation tools, assumptions, methodologies and standards used. According to case study, a media released information stated that Timberwell Constructions is an energy efficient organization. The data released by the media included: fuel consumption in terms of non-renewable resources were 1.0 Gigajoule; fuel consumption in terms of renewable resources were 0.5 Gigajoules; consumption of electricity was 2.0 Gigajoule. According to the calculations made 1 Gigajoule= 109 joules (Mekhilef et al. 2012). The tools for calculation used were prescribed by the Australian Department of Industry and Science. The media release also stated that, Timberwell has implemented a program in which it plans to increase the consumption of fuel in terms of renewable resources by at least 50 percent within the period of 3 years. ii) Impacts on biodiversity services, products and activities The GRI standards reveal that the organization reporting must gather information based on: nature of the significant impact on the biodiversity due to the construction of transport infrastructure, mines, manufacturing plants; pollution; introduction of the pathogens, pests, invasive species, reduction of the species, habitat conversion; significant indirect positive, negative and direct impact- duration of the impacts, extent of the impacted areas, species affected, irreversibility and the reversibility of the impacts. According to the case study, Dennis made a complaint to the department of Environment and Energy. The department after investigation directed the Timberwell Company to pay a fine of $200,000 for clearing a critically endangered ecological community of the coastal grasslands. The affected coastal grassland was recognized by the State Planning commission as an important habitat for the fauna and flora. iii) environmental regulations and laws and its non-compliance The GRI standards reveal that the organization reporting must gather information based on: non-monetary sanctions and fines due to non-compliance with the environmental laws and regulations; if the organization failed to identify non-compliance with the environmental regulations and laws, a brief statement is required; the reporting must also include the international treaties, conventions, international declarations; local, regional, sub-national, national regulations, environmental agreements with the regulation authorities that are considered as a substitute for the new implementing strategies or are binding; cases brought against a company through the national dispute resolution mechanism by the government. According to the case study, allegations were brought against the Timberwell Construction Company of clearing a 0.45 hectare of critically endangered community of coastal grasslands. The company was imposed a $200,000 fine for this by Department of the Environment and Energy. The coastal grassland was earlier designated by the State Planning Scheme as to be containing important fauna and flora. The company was ordered to take up an external review of the vegetation management plan, to implement a rehabilitation plan at a cost of no less than $440,000. Coastal grassland are a habitat for different types of bird species and insects. Contain the endangered flora and fauna and these grasslands are able to withstand changing microclimate in the coastal areas (Ground, Slotow and Ray-Mukherjee 2016). Due to the loss of the coastal grasslands, many micro vertebrates and fish that especially utilize these grasslands are reducing in number due to the habitat destruction (Seitz et al. 2013). It was also found that the habitat destruction due to anthropogenic activities have affected the predation of snakes to a great extent. This has resulted in the reduction in the number of the snakes in the coastal grasslands (Santos et al. 2013). Social Sustainability i) New employee hires and employee turnover The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following information: The rate of the hiring of new employees and the total number of employees during the reporting period by region, gender, age group; rate of the employee turnover. According to the case study, 58 male staffs were employed by the company from the region that are having the experience in construction related trades and profession. It was informed that due to the competitive market 17 employees resigned. In place of the 17 employees only 12 new apprentices have been recruited by the company. In order to retain the employees, the company has started to increase the pay rates and also introduced a monthly rostered day off for its existing staff. When Dennis made a complaint to the fair work commission regarding the work discrimination, it was revealed by him that other than him all other employees were aged between 30 to 50 years. ii) Actions taken against the incidents of discrimination The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following information: Total number of the incidents of discrimination at the time of reporting; actions taken and the states of the discrimination- incident cross examined by the organization, remediation plans that are implemented, remediation plans implemented and the routine check by themanagement processes, incident that are no longer subject to any action. According to the case study, only one incident of discrimination was reported. Dennis McCabe lodged a complaint to the fair Work Commission against the Timberwell Constructions. Dennis reported to be facing harassment due to his age from the other co-workers because he was the only employee with 50 years of age. The Fair Work Commission took up Denniss cause and directed the Timberwell Company to pay Dennis $4,400 as a compensation. Along with it the company was also directed to amend it anti-discriminatory policy. The company was suggested to give anti-discrimination training to its workers. The Timberwell Company was later found to comply with the orders of the commission. iii) Engagement with the local community, development programs and impact assessement The GRI standards reveal that the reporting organization must report the following information: gender impact assessment, social impact assessment based on a participatory processes; local community grievance process; stakeholder engagement plans based on the requirement of the local communities. According to the case study, media released information revealed that the company carried out an environmental impact assessment (EIA). This was done by the company to portray itself as a good corporate citizen. Timberwell carried out an EIA of the Otford Park development site and discovered the presence of rare wallum sedge frog. Media releases also revealed that the company went on to engage with the local communities in order to conduct impact assessments, formulates social development programs. These programs were carried out in order to develop an affordable social housing. Conclusion From the above study, it can be concluded that Timberwell Constructions is an Australian based construction company that are provide building solutions in the Stanwell district. The company even planned to create zones that are bushfire prone and devoted special attention for the development of the bushfire prone zones. Whereas, it has been found that company got engaged with certain unethical activities that had cost the company huge sums of money. According to some media releases, it has been found that the company has positive engagements with the local communities and work for their development. References Globalreporting.org, 2018. Consolidated set of GRI Standards. [online] Globalreporting.org. Available at: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/consolidated-set-of-gri-standards/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2018]. Ground, L.E., Slotow, R. and Ray-Mukherjee, J., 2016. The value of urban and peri-urban conservation efforts within a global biodiversity hotspot. Bothalia-African Biodiversity Conservation, 46(2), pp.1-10. Mekhilef, S., Safari, A., Mustaffa, W.E.S., Saidur, R., Omar, R. and Younis, M.A.A., 2012. Solar energy in Malaysia: current state and prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(1), pp.386-396. Santos, M.B.D., Oliveira, M.C.L.M.D., Gonalves, T.P., Almeida, F.D.M., Loebmann, D. and Tozetti, A.M., 2013. Does human influence on coastal grasslands habitats affect predation pressure on snakes?. Biota Neotropica, 13(1), pp.366-370. Seitz, R.D., Wennhage, H., Bergstrm, U., Lipcius, R.N. and Ysebaert, T., 2013. Ecological value of coastal habitats for commercially and ecologically important species. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71(3), pp.648-665.