Monitoring corporate social responsibility in Denmark

Mahler, Susan; Pedersen, Henrik Stener

Overview

Article

Monitoring corporate social responsibility in Denmark

Published: 15 February 2005

Susan Mahler,

Henrik Stener Pedersen

During the period 1997 to 2006, the Danish National Institute of Social Research [1] (Socialforskningsinstituttet , SFI) is carrying out a study each year, to monitor developments in the social responsibility of companies. The work is financed by the Danish Ministry of Employment within the context of overall efforts to prevent exclusion from the labour market by encouraging corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study investigates the efforts that companies make in integrating and retaining people who, for a number of reasons, experience difficulties in obtaining employment.[1] http://www.sfi.dk/sw7013.asp

According to a recently published annual report from the Danish National Institute of Social Research, the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Denmark is gradually improving. However, the report reveals significant divergences in the assessments of workers and employers.

During the period 1997 to 2006, the Danish National Institute of Social Research (Socialforskningsinstituttet , SFI) is carrying out a study each year, to monitor developments in the social responsibility of companies. The work is financed by the Danish Ministry of Employment within the context of overall efforts to prevent exclusion from the labour market by encouraging corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study investigates the efforts that companies make in integrating and retaining people who, for a number of reasons, experience difficulties in obtaining employment.

In the study, CSR is defined as company practices that prevent, solve or reduce social problems. This definition emphasises the study’s focus on concrete actions to promote an inclusive labour market. To measure developments, CSR is divided into actions aimed at:

preventing social exclusion among the core workforce;
retaining employees at risk of social exclusion;
integrating employees who are already excluded from the labour market.

Developments and changes in social responsibility performance are viewed from the perspective of both the employees and employers. To keep track of trends, the Danish National Institute of Social Research publishes an annual report summarising the main developments. The report alternates its focus every second year between the views of workers and employers, on how companies are performing in terms of CSR.

The most recent report, ‘Social responsibility of companies - 2004’ (in Danish), looks primarily at social responsibility from the perspective of the workers, based on the survey figures of 2003. However, previous survey results presenting the view of the employers are included, to compare potential differences in how the social partners assess the performance of Danish companies.

Slight improvement in CSR performance

Based on the workers’ opinions, the report for 2004 concludes that the social responsibility performance of Danish companies is gradually improving. In 2003, 87% of workers in the SFI survey indicated that the workplace, in general, showed human consideration to some or to a high extent, compared with 84% of workers holding this view in 1999 (Table 1).

**Table 1 Employees’ opinion on whether there is human consideration in the workplace, 1999-2003 (%)**
	1999	2001	2003
Yes, to a high extent	43	40	42
Yes, to some extent	41	46	45
No, not really	10	8	8
No, not at all	4	3	3
Don’t know	3	3	2
Total	101	100	100
Source: Holt, H. et al, Virksomhedernes sociale engagement, Socialforskningsinstituttet, Copenhagen, 2004

The results of the survey among workers also reveal positive developments in considerations regarding special requests, such as considering the needs of working parents, older employees or persons with reduced working capacity due to illness. However, Table 2 shows that workers rate the level of social responsibility performance significantly lower than employers.

**Table 2 Consideration to special needs in the workplace, according to employees and employers (%)**
	Workplace shows consideration for employees with young children	Workplace shows consideration for older employees	Workplace shows consideration for employees with illness
Workers who say yes, to a high or to some extent (2003)	56	45	72
Employers who say yes, to a high or to some extent (2002)	88	72	96

Source: Holt, H. et al, Virksomhedernes sociale engagement, Socialforskningsinstituttet, Copenhagen, 2004

The table reveals significant variations between the views of workers and employers, with fewer workers believing that the workplace shows consideration to employees with special requests. The difference of opinion is smallest with regard to assessing how much consideration is given to employees with illness.

Influence of personal experiences

In general, both workers and employers view positively the integration and retention of people who experience difficulties in obtaining employment due to reduced working capacity. This indicates a great future potential for increased job creation in this group. According to Table 3, workers are more positive than companies in this respect.

**Table 3 Views on retaining and integrating people with reduced working capacity in the workplace (%)**
	Positive view on retaining employees with reduced working capacity	Positive view on integrating new employees with reduced working capacity
Workers who have very or fairly positive views (2003)	87	65
Employers who have very or fairly positive views (2002)	77	40

Source: Holt, H. et al, Virksomhedernes sociale engagement, Socialforskningsinstituttet, Copenhagen, 2004

Table 3 also suggests that workers and employers are more concerned with internal than with external social responsibility. Both parties show a significantly more positive attitude towards the retention of co-workers, compared with integrating new employees with reduced working capacity from outside. This could be because workers feel more solidarity towards colleagues they know, as distinct from new employees from outside the company. From the employers’ perspective, there may be no direct economic advantage in integrating new employees with reduced working capacity from outside the company, whereas a trained employee with work experience and valuable tacit knowledge is worth retaining.

The study indicates that the workers’ attitude towards employment on special terms is related to the actual workplace experiences of the respondent. In general, workers who have direct experience of colleagues employed on special terms are more likely to express positive views towards that situation, and are less anxious about the effect this may have on their own circumstances. The same trend may be seen among employers.

Further information

The reports are based on survey data and register information from Statistics Denmark . Questionnaire surveys were carried out among employers in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004; and among workers in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

All the reports are in Danish and are available online on the website of the Danish National Institute of Social Research.

Further EU level research is available on the Foundation’s website concerning [corporate social responsibility](/search/node/ewco OR employment OR csr?oldIndex).

Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.

Eurofound (2005), Monitoring corporate social responsibility in Denmark, article.