CORPORATE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES (NON-) DISCLOSURE☆

Abstract This paper is concerned with corporate reporting on equal opportunities impact in Britain. Despite various legislation (e.g. The Disabled Persons (Employment) Acts 1944 and 1958 and more recent sex discrimination and race relations acts) and business initiatives aimed at the development of human capital to meet the needs of the market economy (e.g. Opportunity 2000), there remains concern at both the position of minority groups who face discrimination in employment, and the lack of accountability by employers for their equal opportunities policies.? In recognition of the potential influence of the corporate annual report and accounts in shaping what is considered important in society (Burchell et al ., 1980) we used content analysis to study the equal opportunities reporting of a sample of 100 British firms. A detailed analysis of reporting is presented, along with examples of accounts of equal opportunities impact. Despite focusing on the largest firms, where previous research has suggested there is likely to be greater voluntary social disclosure, our research has revealed little detailed reporting. Most reporting appears to have been in response to legislation requiring firms to comment on their employment of disabled people, although our study reveals that only a minority of firms in the sample comply fully with the legislation. Only a very small number of firms referred to their monitoring of employment of minority groups and very few take the opportunity to disclose any breakdown of employees by number. The final section of the paper briefly discusses possible reasons for non-disclosure.

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