M14 - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social ResponsibilityReturn

The article focuses on the new requirements for ESG auditors following the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Through an analysis of legislative documents, ethical standards, and professional literature, it defines the key professional competencies and personal attributes essential for fulfilling this new role. The outcome is a Matrix of Professional Competencies for ESG Auditors, providing a systematic overview of the necessary knowledge, skills, and qualities. This tool supports the preparation of auditors for the specific demands of ESG assurance and contributes to a broader understanding of educational and professional needs in this field. Additionally, the article opens a discussion on practical applications and challenges related to sustainability report assurance within the context of European legislation.

The article deals with the issue of reporting information on corporate social responsibility in the annual reports of Czech and Slovak companies. The analysis is based on selected aspects of corporate social responsibility as defined by GRI standards and evaluates their presentation in the annual reports of 25 Czech and 25 Slovak companies in 2015 and 2020. A two-sample t-test was used to evaluate the significance of the change in the reported information. The most frequently reported aspects include information related to risks and opportunities impacting the company's revenues and expenses. Conversely, among the least frequently reported information can be found aspects dealing with diversity policy. The analysis did not confirm a significant improvement in the narrative value of CSR information reported in annual reports between 2015 and 2020.

This article focuses on non-financial reporting under SASB standards in Europe andis primarily motivated by the development of new ESG reporting frameworks,namely the European Sustainability Reporting Standards under Directive (EU)2022/2464 and Sustainability Disclosure Standards within IFRS. The articleexamines a sample of 110 European companies from various industries in terms ofthe degree of compliance with the requirements of the SASB standards. Usinga document analysis of non-financial reports and a set of double-level metrics, thescope and relevance of published non-financial information is assessed. It is found that European companies largely meet the requirements of SASB standards.Information about the environmental matters is published to the greatest extent. Nosignificant effect of the sector to which the company belongs on the scope ofpublished information is found.

The willingness of companies to donate is influenced by a number of factors. This paper intended to determine to what extent the tax legislation, financial results and macroeconomic factors affect corporate donation. Correlation analyses were used to determine the strength and significance of the relationships between variables. Model was based on data from the Ministry of Finance Czech Republic for the period 2002–2019. I have found that changes in tax regulation does not have a significant impact on donations, because companies manage donor policy primarily on the basis of the result achieved. Although the relationship of donation with costs has not proven to be significant, it cannot be excluded that companies view donation primarily as a cost item similar to advertising or PR.