Better Health for All

RWS's core services significantly support the healthcare industry, with 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies

and 9 of the top 10 medical device companies as clients . These services, including linguistic validation and regulatory compliance, contribute to life safety and improved public health outcomes. The company directly supported the renovation of an operating theatre at the Christian Hospital in Indore, India, to improve women's health and reduce infant mortality . Regarding health equity, the RWS Foundation made over £200,000 in donations , which represents approximately 0.027% of its £733.8m revenue , supporting initiatives like earthquake relief and Clear Global . In terms of data responsibility, RWS states it handles data in accordance with GDPR and provides secure solutions . However, the company experienced a cyber incident in April 2023 , requiring notification to the UK's Information Commissioner's Office and contacting affected individuals . During public health emergencies, RWS mobilized over 40,000 researchers in April 2020 to collect and provide scientific information free of charge to pharmaceutical companies working on COVID-19 vaccines or treatments . For mental health, RWS developed a comprehensive program for its global workforce, including an Employee Assistance Programme, resources on stress management, meditation, and virtual yoga . Engagement with these resources reached 20.6% in FY23 , with 99 actively managed cases . RWS's services are integral to the ethical conduct of clinical trials, ensuring translation accuracy and compliance with regulations like the EU Clinical Trials Regulation, which mandates patient-facing documents in local languages .

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

RWS Holdings PLC is a global provider of technology-enabled language, content management, and intellectual property services. Its core business does not involve lending, insuring, moving, or storing money for consumers. Consequently, all KPIs related to financial services, such as underserved client share, pricing fairness, exploitative fee exposure, inclusion initiatives (loan/insurance book), customer finance data accessibility, fair lending compliance, wealth building outcomes, debt burden ratio, geographic inclusion (financial access points), and financial product simplicity, are not applicable to its operations. While RWS and its Foundation make charitable donations (e.g., £467,000 in FY23

, £206,000 in FY24 , and £31,500 in FY25 ) and offer an Employee Assistance Program that includes financial planning information for employees, these activities do not constitute community finance reinvestment or financial literacy initiatives for customers as defined by the rubric for financial services.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

RWS Holdings reported a 60% favorable employee engagement score for FY25.

The voluntary attrition rate was 9.2% in FY25, an improvement from 10.6% in FY24. Employee reviews from October 2023 raised concerns about fair pay and workload, including difficulties in securing salary increases and feelings of being overworked. The company has approved a Human Rights Policy and a revised Whistleblowing Policy. An updated Code of Conduct was implemented in 2023, accompanied by a global training program for ethical behavior standards. RWS also reviews and approves its Modern Slavery Act Statement and Gender Pay Gap Report annually. As of September 2023, the Board had 50% female representation and the Executive Team had 36% female representation.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

RWS Holdings PLC, a provider of technology-enabled language and intellectual property services, does not procure or trade physical commodities, making fair-trade certifications and material risk indices largely inapplicable to its operations. Standard terms and conditions for suppliers include a clause requiring compliance with RWS's Supplier Code of Conduct, which upholds human and labor rights.

Suppliers who fail to comply risk termination of their business relationships. RWS partners with EcoVadis to assess the sustainability performance of top suppliers by emissions. A review of modern slavery, human rights, and other ESG-related criteria across the supply chain is planned for FY25. RWS signed up to the Prompt Payment Code in FY20 and had average payment terms of 37 calendar days to suppliers in FY23.

Honest & Fair Business

RWS Holdings PLC received a silver certification from EthiFinance for its ESG performance, scoring 68/100.

The company's independent external audit procedures covered 90% of its total assets. No specific data was provided for regulatory fines, financial restatements, ESG controversy index, or the median time to resolve complaints. While a Speak-up Policy and an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy are in place , and multiple independent verifications exist for various aspects of the business , the evidence does not provide sufficient detail to score the strength of these policies or the percentage of ethical claims verified.

Kind to Animals

RWS Holdings PLC operates in language, content management, and intellectual property services.

Its business model does not involve direct engagement with animal welfare issues, animal testing, animal-derived products, animal husbandry, or animal agriculture. Consequently, the company has no animal-derived products requiring cruelty-free certification, no animal testing operations, no animal-related suppliers, and no animal agriculture practices. While its services may indirectly support wildlife conservation, this impact is minimal and not a core part of its operations, and no measurable biodiversity impact from conservation initiatives is reported. The company's environmental initiatives, such as greenhouse gas emission reduction and ISO 14001 certification, are not directly related to animal welfare.

No War, No Weapons

RWS Holdings PLC has no evidence of revenue from direct arms or defense contracts, though it provides content management solutions and technical documentation for defense equipment.

The company allocated approximately 0.06% of its £733.8 million revenue to donations, including £467,000 in general donations and £7,500 for the Türkiye Appeal. RWS joined the United Nations Global Compact in 2020, supports its Ten Principles, participated in the Early Adopter Programme, and publishes an annual Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement.

Planet-Friendly Business

RWS's Science Based Targets (SBTi) for Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions (54.6% reduction by FY33 from a FY22 base year)

and Scope 3 GHG emissions (61.1% reduction per million GBP value added by FY33 from a FY22 base year) were validated by SBTi on May 15, 2024, and are in line with a 1.5°C trajectory. The company achieved 30% renewable electricity in the first half of FY25. RWS states it meets or exceeds all applicable environmental legislation, standards, and compliance obligations globally, implying zero violations. RWS started reporting in line with TCFD in 2021 and discloses climate change-related risks and opportunities in its Annual Report and Accounts, but lacks explicit climate scenario analysis for TCFD. As a pure services provider, RWS's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions were 31,797 tCO2e in 2025, which is considered a non-material footprint.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

RWS Holdings PLC has formal partnerships with around 600 universities worldwide through its RWS Campus program.

The company has reported no cultural appropriation incidents. RWS states that Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes are not applicable to its operations. Similarly, the company's operations do not typically impact cultural contexts, and there is no specific protocol for cultural impact assessment. RWS also does not have specific community representation on its governance or advisory bodies. A Speak-up Policy is in place for reporting corrupt or suspicious behavior, but its coverage for community concerns is not specified.

Safe & Smart Tech

RWS demonstrates a strong commitment to AI ethics, actively participating in Meta's Open Loop program to shape future AI policy

and advocating for trustworthy AI through data governance and bias detection . Its AI solution, Evolve, received two Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards in March 2025 for ethical development . The company provides outstanding user data control, offering comprehensive rights including access, rectification, erasure, portability, and explicit opt-in for sensitive data, supported by preference centers , . RWS maintains a very strong regulatory compliance program, explicitly adhering to major global privacy regulations such as GDPR, DPA, PIPEDA, CCPA, LGPD, Australia Privacy Act, and the EU-US, UK Extension, and Swiss-US Data Privacy Frameworks , . RWS holds comprehensive privacy and security certifications, including ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II . Computer-based information security training is delivered annually to all employees, with effectiveness testing by external providers . RWS is developing LLMs deliberately designed to mitigate privacy risks and provides privacy functionality in its software . Client data is never sold or rented , and no incidents of unauthorized data use by the company are documented . An unauthorized access incident occurred in April 2023, which was managed effectively . RWS conducts monthly vulnerability scanning of public-facing infrastructure and routinely scans internal and external infrastructure . However, RWS does not currently have a bug bounty program .

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

RWS Holdings PLC achieved a 32% reduction in single-use plastics compared to a 2017 baseline

, preventing 26.1 million pieces of plastic from entering landfill or the environment since 2017 . This includes a 99.7% reduction in straws , 41.6% in bottles , and 53% in bags . The company implements numerous waste reduction initiatives, such as a Group-wide Waste Policy , measuring 31 categories of plastic , promoting reusable items , separating aluminum and biowaste in offices , reselling plastic caps for charity , collecting coffee grounds for fertilizer , operating a global buy-back scheme for electronic equipment , and reusing bubble wrap and cardboard . RWS also has a Supplier Code of Conduct and a Group-wide Sustainable Procurement Policy , expecting all suppliers to manage environmental impacts and engaging them on climate-change management strategies through questionnaires and risk screening .