Warehouse gets top social responsibility rating

1.00pm

SYDNEY - The Warehouse Group has been adjudged New Zealand's most socially responsible company by Melbourne-based ratings company RepuTex.

The independent rating agency assessed the social responsibility of 93 of the Australia's top 100 companies and the top 20 New Zealand companies, releasing its results today.

It started rating Australian companies last year and this year included New Zealand firms.

The top five Kiwi companies were the The Warehouse, Carter Holt Harvey, Telecom, ACC NZ and New Zealand Post.

RepuTex examined the companies' activities and policies in four areas -- corporate governance, environmental impact, social impact and workplace practices -- over the past six months.

Each company received a rating of either AAA (outstanding), AA (high), A (satisfactory), B (low) C (very low or D (inadequate).

The Warehouse's overall rating was AA minus, while Carter Holt Harvey and Telecom received an A plus and ACC and NZ Post an A.

Other New Zealand ratings were:-

A minus: Genesis Power Ltd, Meridian Energy Ltd.

B plus: Fisher and Paykel Appliances Holding Ltd, Fletcher Building Ltd, Mighty River Power Ltd.

B: Air New Zealand Ltd, NGC Holdings Ltd, Tenon Ltd.

B minus: Contact Energy Ltd, Trust Power Ltd.

C plus: Affco Holdings Ltd, Alliance Group Ltd, Fonterra Co-Op ltd, Nuplex Industries Ltd.

RepuTex said it had insufficient information on which to base a rating for Wrightson Ltd.

Its highest accolade for Australian companies went to Westpac, with a triple AAA rating.

RepuTex said the bank worked hard to ensure all its policies were communicated to employees and its ethical standards were promoted through comprehensive training.

Companies with a AA rating were Australian Postal Corporation, BHP Billiton, Energex, Hewlett-Packard Australia, IBM Australia, Insurance Australia Group, National Australia Bank, Queensland Rail and Visy Industries.

RepuTex chairman Graeme Lee said most companies were recognising the importance of corporate social responsibility.

"Many have a dedicated a team of staff to manage social responsibility and the number of companies publishing comprehensive social reports continues to grow," he said in a statement.

"Companies and the community are recognising that they need each other to be sustainable."

Telecom, which was previously rated through its Australian entity AAPT showed a marked improvement from 2003, largely due to the introduction of enhanced reporting systems, the ratings agency said.

Its rating of New Zealand companies disclosed some innovative work practices.

"For example, NZ Post applies a preferential employment status to women who resign after maternity leave and seek to be re-employed within 5 years," RepuTex said in its report.

"As an alternative to the company's co-contribution to retirement savings, at the rate of 1.5 times the employee contribution, an employee may use a similar contribution matching scheme to pay off student debt."

- NZPA