GRI 401 Employment
GRI 401 covers new hires, turnover, and employee benefits — the foundational employment disclosures in the GRI framework. Combined with GRI 404 (training) and GRI 405 (diversity), it forms the core of GRI social reporting.
GRI 401 covers new hires, turnover, and employee benefits — the foundational employment disclosures in the GRI framework. 401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover: Total number and rate of new hires, broken down by age group, gender and region.
The three GRI 401 disclosures
401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover: Total number and rate of new hires, broken down by age group, gender and region. Total number and rate of employee turnover, with same breakdown.
401-2 Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees: Life insurance, health care, disability coverage, parental leave, retirement provisions, stock ownership, and others. Reported by significant locations of operation.
401-3 Parental leave: Number of employees entitled to parental leave by gender; employees who took parental leave by gender; employees who returned to work after leave; return-to-work retention rates.
Mapping GRI 401 to ESRS S1
GRI 401-1 (hires and turnover) maps to ESRS S1-6 (employee characteristics) and supplements the ESRS headcount disclosures with turnover data.
GRI 401-3 (parental leave) maps directly to ESRS S1-15 (work-life balance) — both require parental leave take-up rates by gender.
GRI 401-2 (benefits) has no direct ESRS equivalent in the specific format required, but the underlying data supports ESRS S1 disclosures on working conditions.
For CSRD reporters also using GRI: collect GRI 401 data as part of your ESRS S1 data collection and map across — minimal duplication of effort.
Data collection challenges for GRI 401
Consistent headcount definition: Are you counting FTEs, headcount, or average? GRI 401 uses headcount. ESRS S1 uses both FTE and headcount. Ensure your HR system can produce both.
Regional breakdowns: GRI 401-1 requires data by region. Define your regional structure consistently and ensure your HRIS can filter data accordingly.
Parental leave data: 401-3 is commonly incomplete — particularly return-to-work rates and retention rates 12 months after return. These require tracking beyond the leave period itself.
Frequently asked questions
Does GRI 401 include contractor turnover?
No — GRI 401 covers direct employees (those with an employment contract with the organisation). Contractors and contingent workers are covered in GRI 2-8 (workers who are not employees).
What is an acceptable employee turnover rate?
GRI 401 does not specify a target. Turnover benchmarks vary significantly by sector and geography. The disclosure itself is what is required — context on whether turnover is intentional (restructuring) or unintentional (regretted attrition) is useful additional disclosure.
How does parental leave differ from maternity leave?
GRI 401-3 covers all parental leave (maternity, paternity, shared parental leave) regardless of the parent's gender. This reflects GRI's gender-neutral language. Disclose by gender to allow comparison.