Corporate Social Responsibility to Employees: Considering Common Law Vis-à-vis Islamic Law Principles

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a Western concept. It basically advocates that the corporation, a juridical person, has a great impact on modern society, whereby it engages itself in economic activities, makes profits and contributes to national economy by paying taxes, employing human persons, and meeting people s needs by producing products and providing services. On top of everything, however, its prime objective is to earn profits for the shareholders. Scholars argue that along with this objective, the corporation owes responsibilities to other stakeholders, such as the creditors, employees, consumers, environment and the community as a whole. In other words, profits should not be its sole target; it should take care of the interests of other stakeholders. Islamic scholars have found the concept coincides well with Shari ah in general, as it holds some reservations with respect to particular issues. This paper considers CSR owed to employees from a comparative view point, i.e. common law versus Islamic law