Women-friendly policies disclosure by companies in India

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the significance that companies give to women-friendly policies and practices. Thus, the disclosures on women-friendly policies made in annual reports by top listed companies in India have been examined. This paper also attempts to investigate the disclosure-level changes over a three-year period: 2014–2016. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the extent of women-friendly policies disclosure made by top 83 Bombay Stock Exchange listed companies in India in their annual report. The content analysis method is used to examine the annual reports of each organisation over a period of three years to determine the extent of disclosure. Findings The result points out that the sexual harassment policy is the most disclosed item, followed by a special committee for handling sexual harassment and maternity leave. Most of the companies have ignored policies such as job sharing, cafeteria benefit plan and differential referral payment programme. It was also found that over a period of three years the women-friendly policies disclosure by companies has increased. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on the annual reports published by the companies. A broader study can be done by using other reports issued by companies. Originality/value In terms of the knowledge of the researchers, this is the first-ever study in the area of women-friendly policies disclosure in the annual report by listed companies in India. Thus, it also adds to the scarce research on women-friendly policies by companies.