Gender Benchmark

This measurement area looks at a company’s overall commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment across its full value chain. It considers how gender equality and women’s empowerment is integrated into a company's governance structure, strategy, processes and management systems, as well as how a company engages with internal and external stakeholders to manage and improve its gender impacts. It also considers a company’s explicit commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment in its supply chain.

This measurement area considers the fair representation of women across the workforce broadly, as well as the systemic discrimination that women have continued to face. It considers gender diversity in leadership, not just in governance bodies but also at all levels of leadership both in the workplace and in the supply chain. It also considers gender diversity in areas of a company where women have traditionally been discriminated against, including in traditionally male or female functions in the workplace, as well as in various aspects of a company’s supply chain including where women workers and entrepreneurs have not been appropriately treated or represented.

This measurement area considers the fair compensation of women and addresses the gender pay gap that persists globally. The issue of compensation and benefits manifests itself as a gender pay gap in a company’s workplace, while in a company’s supply chain the focus is on whether women are extended formal contracts and a living wage, both of which are inextricably linked to the gender pay gap. Further, this measurement area considers the key family-friendly benefits that companies and their suppliers should extend to their workers in order to support their unpaid care burden, which women disproportionately carry.

This measurement area considers the unique health and well-being needs of women workers, particularly those related to sexual and reproductive health, which are central to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. It explores the extent to which a company supports its women workers with critical health information and services, both in the workplace and in its supply chain. It also considers the health and safety of the work environment extended to women workers in the supply chain.

Violence and harassment in the world of work can constitute a human rights violation or abuse, and it is a threat to equal opportunities as well as unacceptable and incompatible with decent work. This measurement area looks at a spectrum of actions that a company can take to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace and in its supply chain. It also considers the process a company can implement to address and effectively remediate claims of violence and harassment.

This measurement area encompasses the remaining value chain components beyond the workplace and supply chain. It looks at the non-discriminatory marketing practices that a company has in place to ensure gender-responsive communications and engagement with its various stakeholders, including customers, to support gender equality and women’s empowerment.