Updating UK CSR Legislation and Potentials for Voluntary Application

UK legislation is to follow the moral views of society, has begun to incorporate CSR into legislation, forcing companies to conform the voluntary inclusion of CSR into the business framework beyond the legislated minima. Although the incorporation of CSR is a relatively new concept, the relevant legislation does not address certain key points; this allows some companies to find loopholes within the law and perform actions that are damaging the environment, but are technically still within the constraints of the legislation. The absence of a structured assessment of legislations in the UK, against CSR guidelines has left legal escapes which some companies may exploit to avoid their social responsibility. To study the reality of this, Thematic Analysis was used to identify areas of CSR that are currently present within the UK legislation. Further Thematic Analysis was also conducted on Carroll’s Sustainability Pyramid to establish the main areas of CSR that are absent from the selected UK legislation. Accordingly, this study outlines a structured assessment of the current UK legislation in relation to CSR activities. Furthermore, we have provided a set of recommendations that can be espoused by the UK legislators.