Buro Happold receives JUST label

Buro Happold North America has received the International Living Future Institute’s™ JUST™ label, a significant milestone for the overall wellbeing of our North American practice.

The program gives our firm the opportunity to become a more socially just practice by scoring our operations such as employee wellbeing, where we make financial donations and contributions, and our community involvement. Acting almost like a report card, our office scored high on the JUST rating system.

“In a relatively short timeframe since program launch, the JUST Program has garnered worldwide interest and is helping organizations develop better employee engagement policies and community stewardship practices,” said Francis Janes, JUST Program Manager of the International Living Future Institute. “The Institute is pleased to announce that Buro Happold, an international, integrated engineering consultancy, has joined the ranks of JUST labeled organizations.”

The program is open to all organizations, and Buro Happold has helped pave the way for the industry by becoming the first global engineering firm to receive the JUST label by scoring high in categories such as non-discrimination, ethnic diversity, pay-scale equity, and worker happiness. For example:

• Occupational Safety: With regular Health and Safety seminars for employees and updates on the company’s performance over previous periods, Buro Happold received a 3/3 rating for occupational safety.
• Worker Happiness: Buro Happold is committed to creating, maintaining, and supporting a positive work environment conductive to worker happiness and job satisfaction. When asked whether they would recommend Buro Happold as a great place to work, the company received an 86% satisfaction rate within its New York office and a 90% satisfaction rate within its Los Angeles office.
• Living Wage: Buro Happold is committed to paying a living wage for all employees, using the Poverty in America: Living Wage Calculator to assist in determining the minimum living wage. For this reason the company received a 3/3 rating, paying an average of 32% higher than average living wage for each office.

The Living Building Challenge 3.0 is also putting more precedent on creating a more JUST and equitable society by requiring at least one of the team members for any project seeking certification to have a JUST label. For more information on the updated requirements, click here.

While we are proud of our scorecard, Buro Happold is constantly striving to further improve the wellbeing of our practice and look forward to promoting the “call to social action” of the JUST label throughout our global network. To learn more about the program, visit the JUST site and you can check out our own JUST label here.