The Fair Work (FW) Impact Topic requires companies to provide good quality jobs and create positive workplace cultures. To do this, companies will set clear expectations of workers, implement fair wage practices, incorporate worker feedback in decision-making, and monitor and improve the culture in their workplaces. All workers deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. These mechanisms are ways to address those priorities and issues that are unique to each workplace.
Why this Matters
Workers are one of a company’s most important stakeholder groups—the people whose skills, knowledge, and effort drive its success. B Lab recognizes the vital role of work in people’s lives, considering the amount of time that people spend at work, and the livelihood that their work sustains.
Companies that achieve open dialogue and foster a positive culture bring stakeholder governance to life in the workplace. In these environments, people can succeed because there are clear expectations. They are compensated adequately, allowing them to afford a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. These companies also demonstrate genuine stakeholder consideration for workers. These are vital preconditions for the success of purpose-driven companies, like B Corps.
1. Clear Expectations
Companies set clear expectations for employees, empowering them with information about their responsibilities and what is expected of them. This also includes setting fair and equal cancellation policies for both employers and employees working with variable schedules.
FW1 The company sets clear expectations of employees. |
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FW1.1 The company provides all employees a signed employment contract or offer letter. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
FW1.2 The company has equal cancellation periods when using variable schedules. | All Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
2. Fair Wages
Fair wage practices promote wage transparency, enabling workers to understand their pay and rights, and to hold their employer accountable for fair and equitable wage practices. This helps identify and eliminate disparities, especially between men and women, and helps ensure all employees are paid fairly and can afford a decent standard of living.
FW2 The company implements fair wage practices. |
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FW2.1 The company has a policy of not requesting wage histories from job applicants. | All Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
FW2.2 The company tells workers how it sets their wage and what benefits they are entitled to. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5
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FW2.3 The company has wage scales. | All Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5
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FW2.4 The company calculates its gender wage gap. | All Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5
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FW2.5 The company publicly shares its gender wage gap or gaps. | All Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
FW2.6 The company maintains a closed gender wage gap, reduces the gap, or justifies why the gap is not sufficiently closed. | All Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies
| Year 3 Year 5 |
FW2.7 The company evaluates equal pay for work of equal value. | All Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 5 |
FW2.8* The company implements fair wage practices for its lowest-paid employees. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5
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3. Worker Consideration in Decision-Making
Companies actively seek and consider employee feedback, fostering a meaningful dialogue with their workforces. While the intent is not to agree with all feedback, the company should demonstrate a genuine effort to understand and incorporate workers' perspectives in decision-making.
FW3 - The company considers feedback from workers on decisions that affect them. |
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FW3.1 The company has an employee representation mechanism. | All Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
FW3.2 The company considers feedback from workers on decisions that affect them. | All Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
4. Workplace Culture
Companies regularly evaluate their workplace cultures and respond to findings to foster continuous improvement. Companies also aim to understand how experiences and perceptions of workplace culture may differ based on gender identity, sex at birth, or other aspects of social identity.
FW4 The company measures workplace culture and takes action to improve it. |
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FW4.1 The company measures workplace culture regularly. | All Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 0 Year 3 Year 5 |
FW4.2 The company has a plan to continuously improve its workplace culture. | All Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
FW4.3 The company disaggregates its workplace culture measurements by gender identity or sex at birth. | All Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies
| Year 3 Year 5 |
FW4.4 The company disaggregates its workplace culture measurements by one additional social identity. | All Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
Appendix
*FW 2.8 Guidance - The company implements fair wage practices for its lowest-paid employees.
The company chooses and implements ONE of the following:
Sub-requirement |
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FW2.8.a The company pays employees a living wage. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
FW2.8.b The company pays employees a collectively-bargained wage. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
FW2.8.c The company calculates its living wage gap, creates a closure plan, and meets two additional criteria. | All Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Extra Extra Large companies | Year 3 Year 5 |
Further Resources
Topic | Resource |
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Unadjusted gender wage gap | SDPI II.B.6 Gender pay gap: Equality of remuneration, see pages 78-79 (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development) [EN] Achieving Pay Equity: How analytics has evolved to support true progress (Mercer) [EN]
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Adjusted gender wage gap | |
Including non-binary people | |
Closing the gender wage gap | Closing Gender Pay Gaps to Achieve Gender Equality at Work (Women's Empowerment Principles) [EN] [FR] [JP] Closing the Gender Pay Gaps: making the case at company level (Empowering Women at Work) [EN] [FR] [JP]
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Evaluate equal pay for work of equal value | Gender-neutral Job Evaluation for Equal Pay: A step-by-step guide (International Labour Organization) [AR] [EN] [ES] [FR] [PT] [RU] [Simplified ZH] Diagnosis for Equal Remuneration (UN Women) [EN] [ES] [PT] Pay Transparency Tools to Close the Gender Wage Gap (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) [EN]
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Defining a living wage | |
Implementing living wage for employees | |
Learning about collective bargaining | |
Measuring workplace culture | |
Identifying and using inclusive language | |
Release 1 - 11 July, 2025 - based on B Lab Standard v1.0 - © B Lab 2025