VSME VSME Standard (Annex I) VSME Guidance (Annex II) VSME Standard (Annex I)

Defined term

Definition

Accident prevention

Accident prevention refers to the policies and initiatives to prevent workplace accidents and ensure the safety and well-being of employees. This not only includes measures to reduce physical risks but also involves fostering a safe and inclusive work environment free from discrimination and harassment.

Actions

Actions refer to (i) actions and actions plans (including transition plans) that are undertaken to ensure that the undertaking delivers against targets set and through which the undertaking seeks to address material impacts, risks and opportunities; and (ii) decisions to support these with financial, human or technological resources.

Affected communities

People or group(s) living or working in the same geographical area that have been or may be affected by a reporting undertaking’s operations or through its upstream and downstream value chain. Affected communities can range from those living adjacent to the undertaking’s operations (local communities) to those living at a distance. Affected communities include actually and potentially affected indigenous peoples.

Biodiversity sensitive Area

Biodiversity sensitive areas include: Natura 2000 network of protected areas, UNESCO World Heritage sites and Key Biodiversity Areas (‘KBAs’), as well as other protected areas, as referred to in Appendix D of Annex II to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139.

Bribery

Dishonestly persuading someone to act in your favour by giving them a gift of money or another inducement.

Business Conduct

The following matters are collectively referred to as ‘business conduct or business conduct matters’:

(a) business ethics and corporate culture, including anti-corruption and anti-bribery, the protection of whistleblowers, and animal welfare;

(b) the management of relationships with suppliers, including payment practices, especially with regard to late payment to small and medium-sized undertakings.

(c) activities and commitments of the undertaking related to exerting its political influence, including its lobbying activities.

Child Labour

Work that deprives children of their childhood, potential, and dignity and harms their physical and mental development. It includes work that is mentally, physically, socially, or morally dangerous and/or interferes with their schooling (by preventing them from the opportunity to attend school).

Collective bargaining

All negotiations which take place between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers' organisations, on the one hand, and one or more trade unions or, in their absence, the representatives of the workers duly elected and authorised by them in accordance with national laws and regulations, on the other, for: i) determining working conditions and terms of employment; and/or ii) regulating relations between employers and workers; and/or regulating relations between employers or their organisations and a workers' organisation or workers' organisations.

Corruption

Abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which can be instigated by individuals or organisations. It includes practices such as facilitation payments, fraud, extortion, collusion, and money laundering. It also includes an offer or receipt of any gift, loan, fee, reward, or other advantage to or from any person as an inducement to do something that is dishonest, illegal, or a breach of trust in the conduct of the undertaking’s business. This can include cash or in-kind benefits, such as free goods, gifts, and holidays, or special personal services provided for the purpose of an improper advantage, or that can result in moral pressure to receive such an advantage.

Consumers

Individuals who acquire, consume or use goods and services for personal use, either for themselves or for others, and not for resale, commercial or trade, business, craft or profession purposes.

Classified information

EU classified information as defined in Council Decision of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (2013/488/EU) or classified by one of the Member States and marked as per Appendix B of that Council decision.
EU classified information means any information designated by a EU security classification, of which the unauthorised disclosure could cause varying degrees of prejudice to the interests of the European Union or of one or more of the Member States. Classified information may be classified according to four levels: top secret, secret, confidential, restricted (based on the definition from the Council Decision).

Circular economy principles

The European circular economy principles are usability; reusability; repairability; disassembly; remanufacturing or refurbishment; recycling; recirculation by the biological cycle; other potential optimisation of product and material use.

Climate change adaptation

The process of adjustment to actual and expected climate change and its impacts.

Climate-related physical risks

Risks resulting from climate change that can be event-driven (acute) or from longer-term shifts (chronic) in climate patterns. Acute physical risks arise from particular hazards, especially weather-related events such as storms, floods, fires or heatwaves. Chronic physical risks arise from longer-term changes in the climate, such as temperature changes, and their effects on rising sea levels, reduced water availability, biodiversity loss and changes in land and soil productivity.

Direct GHG emissions
(Scope 1)

Direct GHG emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the undertaking.

Discrimination

Discrimination can occur directly or indirectly. Direct discrimination occurs when an individual is treated less favourably by comparison to how others, who are in a similar situation. Indirect discrimination occurs when an apparently neutral rule disadvantages a person or a group sharing the same characteristics.

Employee

An individual who is in an employment relationship with the undertaking according to national law or practice.

End-users

Individuals who ultimately use or are intended to ultimately use a particular product or service.

Forced Labour

All work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily according to the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). The term encompasses all situations in which persons are coerced by any means to perform work.

Grievance mechanism

Any routinized, state-based or non-state-based, judicial or non-judicial processes through which stakeholders can raise grievances and seek remedy. Examples of state-based judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms include courts, labour tribunals, national human rights institutions, National Contact Points under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, ombudsperson offices, consumer protection agencies, regulatory oversight bodies, and government-run complaints offices. Non-state-based grievance mechanisms include those administered by the undertaking, either alone or together with stakeholders, such as operational-level grievance mechanisms and collective bargaining, including the mechanisms established by collective bargaining. They also include mechanisms administered by industry associations, international organisations, civil society organisations, or multi-stakeholder groups. Operational-level grievance mechanisms are administered by the organisation either alone or in collaboration with other parties and are directly accessible by the organisation’s stakeholders. They allow for grievances to be identified and addressed early and directly, thereby preventing both harm and grievances from escalating. They also provide important feedback on the effectiveness of the organisation’s due diligence from those who are directly affected. According to UN Guiding Principle 31, effective grievance mechanisms are legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, rights-compatible, and a source of continuous learning. In addition to these criteria, effective operational-level grievance mechanisms are also based on engagement and dialogue. It can be more difficult for the organisation to assess the effectiveness of grievance mechanisms that it participates in compared to those it has established itself.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

For the purposes of this Standard, GHGs are the six gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2); methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

Governance

The governance is the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled.

Gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

Gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are total GHG emissions released by the undertaking into the atmosphere, without considering any deductions for carbon removals or other adjustments.

Hazardous waste

Waste which displays one or more of the hazardous properties listed in Annex III of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste.

Human trafficking

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or reception of persons, including the exchange or transfer of control over those persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Incident

A legal action or complaint registered with the undertaking or competent authorities through a formal process, or an instance of non-compliance identified by the undertaking through established procedures. Established procedures to identify instances of non-compliance can include management system audits, formal monitoring programs, or grievance mechanisms.

Indirect GHG emissions (Scope 2)

Indirect emissions are a consequence of the operations of the undertaking but occur at sources owned or controlled by another company. Scope 2 GHG emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased or acquired electricity, steam and heat, or cooling consumed by the undertaking.

Impact

Impact refers to the effect an organisation has or could have on the economy, environment, and people, including effects on their human rights, as a result of the organization’s activities or business relationships. The impacts can be actual or potential, negative or positive, short-term or long-term, intended or unintended, direct or indirect, and reversible or irreversible. These impacts indicate the organization’s contribution, negative or positive, to sustainable development. The impacts on the economy, environment, and people are interrelated.
The organization’s impacts on the environment refer to the impacts on living organisms and non-living elements, including air, land, water, and ecosystems. An organization can have an impact on the environment through, for example, its use of energy, land, water, and other natural resources.
The organization’s impacts on people refer to the impacts on individuals and groups, such as communities, vulnerable groups, or society. This includes the impacts the organization has on people’s human rights. An organization can have an impact on people through, for example, its employment practices (e.g. the wages it pays to employees), its supply chain (e.g. the working conditions of workers of suppliers), and its products and services (e.g. their safety or accessibility).

Land-use (change)

The human use of a specific area for a certain purpose (such as residential; agriculture; recreation; industrial, etc.). Influenced by land cover (grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water, etc). Land-use change refers to a change in the use or management of land by humans, which may lead to a change in land cover.

Location-based Scope 2 emissions

Emissions from electricity, heat, steam and cooling purchased or acquired and consumed by the reporting company, calculated using the location-based ‘allocating’ method, which allocates generator emissions to end-users. They reflect the average emissions intensity of grids on which the energy consumption occurs and uses mostly grid-average emission factor data. Typical sources of Scope 2 emissions relate to any equipment that consumes electricity (electrical engines, lights, buildings, etc.), heat (heating in industrial processes, buildings, etc.), steam (industrial processes) and cooling (industrial processes, buildings, etc.).

Nature-oriented area

A “nature-oriented area” is an area dedicated primarily to nature preservation or restoration. They can be located on-site and include elements like roof, façade, water drainages designed, to promote biodiversity. Nature-oriented areas can also be located outside the organisation site provided that the area is owned or (co-)managed by the organisation and is primarily dedicated to promoting biodiversity.

Near (Biodiversity Sensitive Area)

Near, in the context of B5 – Biodiversity, shall refer to an area that is (partially) overlapping or adjacent to a biodiversity sensitive area.

Own workforce/own workers

Employees who are in an employment relationship with the undertaking (‘employees’) and non-employees who are either individual contractors supplying labour to the undertaking (‘self-employed people’) or people provided by undertakings primarily engaged in ‘employment activities’ (NACE Code O78).

Pay

The ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and any other remuneration, whether in cash or in kind which the worker receives directly or indirectly (‘complementary or variable components’), in respect of his/her employment from his/her employer. ‘Pay level’ means gross annual pay and the corresponding gross hourly pay. ‘Median pay level’ means the pay of the employee that would have half of the employees earn more and half less than they do.

Policy

A set or framework of general objectives and management principles that the undertaking uses for decision-making. A policy implements the undertaking’s strategy or management decisions related to a sustainability issue. Each policy is under the responsibility of defined person(s), specifies its perimeter of application, and includes one or more objectives (linked when applicable to measurable targets). A policy is implemented through actions or action plans.
For example, undertakings with less resources may have few (or no) policies formalised in written documents, but this does not necessarily mean they do not have policies.
If the undertaking has not yet formalised a policy but has implemented actions or defined targets through which the undertaking seeks to address sustainability issues, it shall disclose them.

Radioactive waste

Any radioactive material in gaseous, liquid, or solid form, for which no further use is foreseen, as per Article 3(7) of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom(*).

Recordable work-related accident / Recordable work-related injury or ill health

A work-related accident is an event that leads to physical or mental harm therefore to injury or ill health. It happens whilst engaged in an occupational activity or during the time spent at work. Recordable means diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professionals.
Work-related injury or ill health can result in any of the following: death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid or loss of consciousness. Injuries that do not require medical treatment beyond first aid are generally not recordable.

Recycling

Any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.

Renewable Energy

Energy from renewable non-fossil sources, namely wind, solar (solar thermal and solar photovoltaic) and geothermal energy, ambient energy, tide, wave and other ocean energy, hydropower, biomass, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas, and biogas(*).

Sealed area

A sealed area means any area where the original soil has been covered (such as roads) making it impermeable. This non-permeability can create environmental impacts.

Sensitive information

Sensitive information as defined in Regulation (EU) 2021/697 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021 establishing the European Defence Fund.
Sensitive information means information and data, including classified information, that is to be protected from unauthorised access or disclosure because of obligations laid down in Union or national law or in order to safeguard the privacy or security of a natural or legal person.

Site

The location of one or more physical installations. If there is more than one physical installation from the same or different owners or operators and certain infrastructure and facilities are shared, the entire area where the physical installation are located may constitute a site.

Targets

Measurable, outcome-oriented and time-bound goals that the SME aims to achieve in relation to sustainability issues. They may be set voluntarily by the SME or derive from legal requirements on the undertaking.

Time horizons

When preparing its sustainability report, the undertaking shall adopt the following time horizons:

(a) for the short-term time horizon, one year;

(b) for the medium-term time horizon, from two to five years; and

(c) for the long-term time horizon, more than five years.

Training

Initiatives put in place by the undertaking aimed at the maintenance and/or improvement of skills and knowledge of its own workers. It can include different methodologies, such as on-site training, and online training.

Value Chain

The full range of activities, resources and relationships related to the undertaking’s business model and the external environment in which it operates. A value chain encompasses the activities, resources and relationships the undertaking uses and relies on to create its products or services from conception to delivery, consumption and end-of- life. Relevant activities, resources and relationships include: a) those in the undertaking’s own operations, such as human resources; b) those along its supply, marketing and distribution channels, such as materials and service sourcing and product and service sale and delivery; and c) the financing, geographical, geopolitical and regulatory environments in which the undertaking operates. Value chain includes actors upstream and downstream from the undertaking. Actors upstream from the undertaking (e.g. suppliers) provide products or services that are used in the development of the undertaking’s products or services. Entities downstream from the undertaking (e.g. distributors, customers) receive products or services from the undertaking.

Wage

Gross wage, excluding variable components such as overtime and incentive pay, and excluding allowances unless they are guaranteed.

Water consumption

The amount of water drawn into the boundaries of the undertaking (or facility) and not discharged back to the water environment or a third party over the course of the reporting period.

Water withdrawal

The sum of all water drawn into the boundaries of the undertaking from all sources for any use over the course of the reporting period.

Worker in the value chain

An individual performing work in the value chain of the undertaking, regardless of the existence or nature of any contractual relationship with the undertaking. In the ESRS, the scope of workers in the value chain include all workers in the undertaking’s upstream and downstream value chain who are or can be materially impacted by the undertaking. This includes impacts that are connected to the undertaking’s own operations, and value chain, including through its products or services, as well as through its business relationships. This includes all workers who are not in the scope of ‘Own Workforce’ (‘Own Workforce’ includes people who are in an employment relationship with the undertaking (‘employees’) and non-employees who are either individual contractors supplying labour to the undertaking (‘self-employed people’) or people provided by undertakings primarily engaged in employment activities (NACE Code O78).

Topic

Sustainability issue: Sub-topic

Sustainability issue: sub-sub topic

Climate change

— Climate change adaptation

— Climate change mitigation

— Energy

Pollution

— Pollution of air

— Pollution of water

— Pollution of soil

— Pollution of living organisms and food resources

— Substances of concern

— Substances of very high concern

— Microplastics

Water and marine resources

— Water

— Marine resources

— Water consumption

— Water withdrawals

— Water discharges

— Water discharges in the oceans

— Extraction and use of marine resources

Biodiversity and ecosystems

— Direct impact drivers of biodiversity loss

— Climate Change

— Land-use change, fresh water-use change and sea-use change

— Direct exploitation

— Invasive alien species

— Pollution

— Others

— Impacts on the state of species

— Examples:

— Species population size

— Species global extinction risk

— Impacts on the extent and condition of ecosystems

— Examples:

— Land degradation

— Desertification

— Soil sealing

— Impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services

Circular economy

— Resources inflows, including resource use

— Resource outflows related to products and services

— Waste

Own workforce

— Working conditions

— Secure employment

— Working time

— Adequate wages

— Social dialogue

— Freedom of association, the existence of works councils and the information, consultation and participation rights of workers

— Collective bargaining, including rate of workers covered by collective agreements

— Work-life balance

— Health and safety

— Equal treatment and opportunities for all

— Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value

— Training and skills development

— Employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities

— Measures against violence and harassment in the workplace

— Diversity

— Other work-related rights

— Child labour

— Forced labour

— Adequate housing

— Privacy

Workers in the value chain

— Working conditions

— Secure employment

— Working time

— Adequate wages

— Social dialogue

— Freedom of association, including the existence of work councils

— Collective bargaining

— Work-life balance

— Health and safety

— Equal treatment and opportunities for all

— Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value

— Training and skills development

— The employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities

— Measures against violence and harassment in the workplace

— Diversity

— Other work-related rights

— Child labour

— Forced labour

— Adequate housing

— Water and sanitation

— Privacy

Affected communities

— Communities’ economic, social and cultural rights

— Adequate housing

— Adequate food

— Water and sanitation

— Land-related impacts

— Security-related impacts

— Communities’ civil and political rights

— Freedom of expression

— Freedom of assembly

— Impacts on human rights defenders

— Rights of indigenous communities

— Free, prior and informed consent

— Self-determination

— Cultural rights

Consumers and end-users

— Information-related impacts for consumers and/or end-users

— Privacy

— Freedom of expression

— Access to (quality) information

— Personal safety of consumers and/or end-users

— Health and safety

— Security of a person

— Protection of children

— Social inclusion of consumers and/or end-users

— Non-discrimination

— Access to products and services

— Responsible marketing practices

Business conduct

— Corporate culture

— Protection of whistle-blowers

— Animal welfare

— Political engagement

— Management of relationships with suppliers including payment practices

— Corruption and bribery

— Prevention and detection including training

— Incidents