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New ‘corporate code of conduct’ for businesses announced

It includes things like having workers on boards and not letting shareholders run away when sh*t hits the fan

Very slowly and not very surely, things might be changing in the power dynamic between bosses and workers in UK businesses.

What it means: An organisation called the Financial Reporting Council is unveiling a new 'corporate code of conduct' today to make businesses more accountable to their workers.

One big announcement is the idea that workers need to be represented by an employee advisory panel or some kind of director from the workforce on the board of a company. It's a very watered-down version of an idea that exists in 19 countries in Europe. In Germany, at least half of the board of companies with over 2,000 employees needs to consist of workers.

The other important change is that shareholders (people who invest in a company, 'paying' for part of it in an exchange for a section of the profits) can't take out their shares until five years after they step down. The idea behind that one is to avoid shareholders ditching the firm right when they know things are about to go downhill, covering their own backs but making things worse for everyone left behind.

Union reps say they're good steps forward but by no means as radical as they could be: and plus, the whole thing is optional.

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