The demand for corporate disability data is intensifying in the European Union, where 27% of people over the age of 16 are people with disabilities (EU). Reporting on disability in business is on the verge of greater transparency as voluntary disclosures are replaced by standardized materiality assessments, mandated by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The existing practices of the European Fortune 500 demonstrate that disability is already a material facet of business performance that warrants stakeholder disclosure. This report details how companies disclose information about disability for investors, strategists, employees, clients, and consumers’ benefit.
Today,
- 99% of European Fortune 500 companies report on non-financial data annually
- 72% of European Fortune 500 companies include disability in their non-financial reporting, and
- 30% of European Fortune 500 companies disclose disability workforce participation percentages
Starting in 2025, subject to a double materiality assessment, disability will be integrated into social and business conduct disclosures through the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Over the remainder of the decade, some 50,000 multinational and regional enterprises will begin factoring disability into their materiality assessments and reporting against ESRS standards, some as early as next year.
This modernization of corporate reporting codified by CSRD provides investors with information they need to make short-, medium-, and long-term financial decisions. Reporting on disability tells shareholders that companies are working to secure the disability inclusion advantage that yields higher revenue, net income, economic profit, and individual productivity (Accenture, 2023).
