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GRI 2: General Disclosures·Disclosure GRI 2-7

Employees

Practical guidance for preparing this disclosure. Use this card to identify the information to prepare, verify claims and organise supporting evidence. For exact requirements, always refer to the official GRI source.

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Last reviewed 2026-07-18
RK Reviewed by Dr Ross KurinkoLinkedIn Strategic ESG Advisor · IFRS S1 & S2 / GRI / ESRS expert GRI Certified Global Trainer · PhD, University of Cambridge · ESG-AI expert 15+ years on FTSE 100 & Fortune Global 500 disclosures Canary Wharf, London LRA educational guidance · Not issued or endorsed by GRI

Standard

GRI 2: General Disclosures

Disclosure GRI 2-7

Effective

2023-01-01

Official source: Open ↗

Last reviewed

2026-07-18

LRA educational guidance · Not issued or endorsed by GRI

To prepare this disclosure
22preparation fields 14claims to verify 18evidence areas 3report examples

Disclosure focus

Disclosure 2-7 covers all employees who perform work for the entities included in the organisation’s sustainability reporting under Disclosure 2-2. An employee is an individual who has an employment relationship with the organisation under national law or practice. Agency workers, contractors and other workers who are not employees are considered separately under Disclosure 2-8 where applicable.

Report the total number of employees with separate breakdowns by gender and by region. Also report permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time employees, with every one of those five categories broken down by gender and by region.

Permanent and temporary describe contract duration; non-guaranteed hours describes whether minimum or fixed hours are guaranteed; full-time and part-time describe working time. Non-guaranteed hours employees can overlap with permanent or temporary employees, depending on national law and practice, so these categories must not automatically be added together as if they were mutually exclusive.

Gender is reported as specified by employees themselves. GRI’s example presentation uses Female, Male, Other and Not disclosed. A region can be a country, city, operating area or world region; choose a level that gives meaningful insight and apply it consistently.

Where definitions differ between countries, apply national law or practice to calculate country-level permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time figures, then aggregate the country-level data to organisation-wide totals and explain the approach.

Describe whether the figures are headcount, FTE or another measure and whether they are period-end, averages or use another timing basis. If exact figures are unavailable, GRI Guidance permits estimates to the nearest ten employees or, where the number exceeds 1,000, to the nearest 100; explain the estimate and its basis under 2-7-c.

Add context needed to interpret the figures and describe significant fluctuations during and between reporting periods. Report the threshold used to decide what is significant. If there were no significant fluctuations, a brief direct statement is sufficient.

Reasons for omission are permitted for Disclosure 2-7, but ‘not material’ is not a permitted reason. Address every required category: report zero or state that the category does not exist, or identify the unmet requirement and use a permitted reason—Not applicable, Legal prohibitions, Confidentiality constraints, or Information unavailable / incomplete—with the explanation required by GRI 1 in the content index.

The 22 datapoints below are an LRA operational decomposition of the five requirements in Disclosure 2-7. They are not 22 separate GRI requirements.

This LRA educational guidance supports disclosure preparation. For the exact requirements, always refer to the official GRI source.

Before you start

Before you start

A quick mental checklist before you prepare this disclosure — tick each as you settle it.

Preparation

Key information to prepare

Preparation field What to capture Evidence hint Owner
Total number of employees Report all employees who perform work for the entities included in sustainability reporting under GRI 2-2. Determine employee status from the employment relationship under applicable national law or practice, not from payroll or worksite presence alone. GRI 2-2 entity list, legal employer register, HRIS extract and payroll reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Total employees by gender Break the total employee population down by gender as specified by employees themselves. Preserve Other and Not disclosed where applicable and reconcile the categories to the total. HRIS self-identification extract, gender-category mapping and reconciliation to total employees. HR / People Analytics
Total employees by region Break the total employee population down by a consistently applied and meaningful region level, such as country, city, operating area or world region. HRIS location extract, documented regional mapping and reconciliation to total employees. HR / People Analytics
Permanent employees Report the total number of permanent employees, applying the relevant national-law or national-practice definition at country level. This is a contract duration measure based on indefinite employment. Country-level HRIS contract and working-time extracts, legal definition mapping and total reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Permanent employees by gender Break permanent employees down by gender as specified by employees themselves, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and self-identification extract with a reconciliation to the category total. HR / People Analytics
Permanent employees by region Break permanent employees down by the documented region level, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and location extract with a documented regional mapping and reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Temporary employees Report the total number of temporary employees, applying the relevant national-law or national-practice definition at country level. This is a contract duration measure based on limited-duration employment. Country-level HRIS contract and working-time extracts, legal definition mapping and total reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Temporary employees by gender Break temporary employees down by gender as specified by employees themselves, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and self-identification extract with a reconciliation to the category total. HR / People Analytics
Temporary employees by region Break temporary employees down by the documented region level, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and location extract with a documented regional mapping and reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Non-guaranteed hours employees Report the total number of non-guaranteed hours employees, applying the relevant national-law or national-practice definition at country level. This is a guaranteed-hours status measure based on no guaranteed minimum or fixed hours. Country-level HRIS contract and working-time extracts, legal definition mapping and total reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Non-guaranteed hours employees by gender Break non-guaranteed hours employees down by gender as specified by employees themselves, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and self-identification extract with a reconciliation to the category total. HR / People Analytics
Non-guaranteed hours employees by region Break non-guaranteed hours employees down by the documented region level, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and location extract with a documented regional mapping and reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Full-time employees Report the total number of full-time employees, applying the relevant national-law or national-practice definition at country level. This is a working-time arrangement measure based on full-time employment. Country-level HRIS contract and working-time extracts, legal definition mapping and total reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Full-time employees by gender Break full-time employees down by gender as specified by employees themselves, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and self-identification extract with a reconciliation to the category total. HR / People Analytics
Full-time employees by region Break full-time employees down by the documented region level, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and location extract with a documented regional mapping and reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Part-time employees Report the total number of part-time employees, applying the relevant national-law or national-practice definition at country level. This is a working-time arrangement measure based on part-time employment. Country-level HRIS contract and working-time extracts, legal definition mapping and total reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Part-time employees by gender Break part-time employees down by gender as specified by employees themselves, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and self-identification extract with a reconciliation to the category total. HR / People Analytics
Part-time employees by region Break part-time employees down by the documented region level, using the same employee population and category definition as the reported total. HRIS category and location extract with a documented regional mapping and reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Counting methodology State whether each figure is reported in headcount, FTE or another measure. Use a consistent method where practicable and identify and explain any different method. Approved headcount/FTE methodology, source-field definitions and calculation reconciliation. HR / People Analytics
Timing methodology State whether each figure is measured at period end, as an average across the period or using another timing approach, and explain any differences between tables. Extraction dates, monthly snapshots, averaging calculation and methodology approval. HR / People Analytics
Context necessary to understand the data Explain the employment model and differences between categories, genders or regions, including seasonal work, acquisitions, disposals, site changes or other factors needed to interpret the figures. HR commentary, workforce plans, deal and restructuring records, and approved reporting note. HR / People Analytics
Significant fluctuations Describe significant fluctuations during and between reporting periods, report the threshold used to determine significance and explain the principal drivers. State directly if none occurred. Documented threshold, monthly movement analysis, joiner/leaver data and acquisition, disposal, closure or restructuring records. HR / People Analytics
＋ Show GRI 2-7 sub-elements (LRA working checklist)

How to prepare it

Start with the GRI 2-2 reporting entity list. Identify employees through the employment relationship under national law or practice and separate agency workers, contractors and other non-employees for GRI 2-8 where applicable.
Build country-level mappings for permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time employees. Aggregate the country figures while retaining the national definitions and approvals.
Create separate data views for contract duration, guaranteed-hours status and working-time arrangement. Do not force non-guaranteed hours to be mutually exclusive with permanent or temporary status.
Prepare every employee measure by gender as specified by employees and separately by a meaningful, documented region level. Reconcile every row and column to its source population.
Document headcount, FTE or other measures; period-end, average or other timing; and any estimates. Explain any different methods rather than presenting them as directly comparable.
Add context, set and disclose the significant-fluctuation threshold, and reconcile principal movement drivers to the net change. State directly if no significant fluctuations occurred.
Report zero for absent categories. If required information cannot be reported, identify the exact requirement and use a permitted GRI 1 reason for omission with the required explanation and remediation timing where applicable.

Request the data

Request the employee population and GRI 2-7 breakdowns

Translate the disclosure into an internal business question — then adapt it to your organisation's own language.

Which individuals are employees of the GRI 2-2 reporting entities under national law or practice, and what are the required gender, region and employee-type figures, methodologies, context and significant fluctuations?

Ask for source-system fields and local labels, but require country HR teams to map them to national-law or national-practice definitions. Request agency workers and other non-employees separately for GRI 2-8; do not include them automatically as temporary employees.

Weak request

Please provide workforce numbers by contract type.

Why it fails: It does not identify the GRI 2-2 entities, distinguish employees from other workers, request both gender and region views, or capture national definitions, methodology and fluctuations.

Better request

Please provide the employee population for the GRI 2-2 entities and all six employee measures, each by gender and region, using country-level national definitions. Keep non-employees separate and include methodology, context, significant-fluctuation threshold and movement reconciliation.

Formal email template
Subject: GRI 2-7 employee data request for [period]

Dear [name/team],

Please provide employee data for every entity included in sustainability reporting under GRI 2-2. Identify employees using the employment relationship under applicable national law or practice; provide agency workers and other non-employees separately for GRI 2-8.

Please provide total employees and permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time employees, with each measure broken down separately by gender and by region. Include source-system references, country definition mappings, headcount/FTE and period-end/average methodology, estimates, context, the significant-fluctuation threshold and a reconciliation of significant movements.

If a category is absent, report zero. Flag unavailable information for formal reason-for-omission review rather than describing it as not material.

Many thanks,
[preparer name]
Short Teams / Slack version
Please send the GRI 2-7 employee pack for the GRI 2-2 entities: total plus all five employee categories, each by gender and region, with national definitions, methodology, context and significant-fluctuation analysis. Keep agency workers/non-employees separate for GRI 2-8.

Industry examples

Retail

Context. Stores in several countries with seasonal hiring.

Adapted request. Provide employees by contract duration, guaranteed-hours status and working-time arrangement for every in-scope store and entity, by gender and country, with monthly averages and seasonal movement context.

Example response. Country HR returns separate employee tables and a seasonal movement bridge; agency labour is routed to GRI 2-8.

Manufacturing

Context. Multi-site business using agency labour.

Adapted request. Provide permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time employees by gender and region. Provide agency workers and other non-employees in a separate GRI 2-8 file after employment-relationship review.

Example response. Plant HR returns employee-only tables, national definition mappings and a separate non-employee worker register.

Draft your disclosure

Notes that turn data into a disclosure

LRA training templates — adapt them to your organisation, and check the official source before sign-off.

Method note

State the GRI 2-2 entity scope, employee definition, national definition mapping, headcount/FTE measure, period-end/average timing and any estimates.

Context note

Explain why temporary, non-guaranteed hours and part-time employment are used and any meaningful gender or regional differences, seasonality or structural change.

Fluctuation statement

State the threshold for significant fluctuations, reconcile the principal drivers to the net movement and state directly if no fluctuation exceeded the threshold.

Content index entry

GRI 2-7 Employees — [location/page]. For any unmet requirement: [requirement] — [permitted reason for omission] — [required explanation].

Download Centre

Preparation tools & forms

Professional preparation tools for GRI 2-7 — free with an LRA Community membership. Register once (it's free) and every download unlocks, together with the Disclosure Library, templates and the LRA AI Assistant.

Free · Community members
01XLSPrep & Assurance workbookDatapoints, risks, evidence to check, owner and evidence pack.Get it free ↧ 02XLSData-request packRequest email, message template, response fields and sign-off structure.Get it free ↧ 03PDFLibrary CardPrintable one-page summary of this disclosure card.Get it free ↧

Assurance readiness

For each claim, check the evidence

Claim Risk Evidence to check
The employee population covers all GRI 2-2 reporting entities.An entity or employee population is omitted or an out-of-scope entity is included.GRI 2-2 entity list, legal employer register and entity-to-HRIS reconciliation.
Employees are distinguished from workers who are not employees.Agency workers or contractors are classified as temporary employees solely because of assignment length.Employment-relationship assessment and employee/non-employee classification.
Country classifications follow applicable national law or practice.A single corporate label overrides national employment definitions.Country-level legal definition mapping and HR sign-off.
Total employees are reported by gender and by region.One required breakdown is absent or does not reconcile.HRIS demographic and location extracts with reconciliations.
All five employee categories are reported by gender and by region.A category is omitted, labelled immaterial or reported with only one breakdown.Category-by-gender and category-by-region tables.
The counting method is stated and applied as described.Headcount, FTE and other measures are mixed without explanation.Approved methodology and calculation workbook.
The timing basis is stated and applied as described.Period-end and average figures are mixed without explanation.Dated extracts, monthly snapshots and averaging calculation.
Local definitions and mappings are documented.Internal labels cannot be traced to the reported categories.Country mapping table and local HR approvals.
Every table reconciles to primary HR data.Subtotals or tables do not tie to the employee population.HRIS/payroll reconciliation and exception log.
Overlapping categories are not added as mutually exclusive categories.Permanent, temporary and non-guaranteed hours are incorrectly forced to sum to total employees.Data model showing separate contract-duration, guaranteed-hours and working-time dimensions.
Significant fluctuations use a documented threshold.Fluctuations are selected arbitrarily after results are known.Approved threshold and period movement analysis.
Drivers of significant fluctuations reconcile to the net change.The narrative explains only part of the employee movement.Joiner/leaver bridge and deal, closure or restructuring records.
A direct statement is made when no significant fluctuations occurred.Silence is mistaken for a no-fluctuation statement.Approved disclosure draft and movement analysis.
Any missing information uses a permitted reason for omission.A category is omitted as not material or privacy aggregation removes a required breakdown.GRI content index, legal/privacy assessment and remediation plan where information is unavailable.

Evidence pack to prepare

Common reporting gaps

‘Workforce’ or ‘staff’ is used for the GRI 2-7 population, creating a risk that contractors or agency workers are included as employees.
Agency workers are treated as temporary employees without first assessing the employment relationship; non-employees belong under GRI 2-8 where applicable.
Only total headcount is reported, or the data are broken down by gender but not region (or vice versa).
‘Zero-hours employees’ is used instead of the broader required category of non-guaranteed hours employees.
Permanent, temporary and non-guaranteed hours employees are added as though all three categories were mutually exclusive.
Headcount versus FTE or period-end versus average is not stated.
A global corporate definition is used without applying national law or practice at country level.
Gender reporting is limited to Female and Male without explaining Other or Not disclosed categories and employee self-identification.
Seasonality, temporary employment or regional differences are presented without the context needed to understand them.
No threshold is reported for significant fluctuations, or ordinary employee movement is confused with a GRI 2-4 restatement.
A required category is omitted because it is said to be not material.
Privacy aggregation removes a required gender or regional breakdown without a formal reason for omission.

Common gaps

Mistakes to avoid when collecting the data

‘Workforce’ or ‘staff’ is used for the GRI 2-7 population, creating a risk that contractors or agency workers are included as employees‘Workforce’ or ‘staff’ is used for the GRI 2-7 population, creating a risk that contractors or agency workers are included as employees.
Agency workers are treated as temporary employees without first assessing the employment relationship; non-employees belong under GRI 2-8 where applicableAgency workers are treated as temporary employees without first assessing the employment relationship; non-employees belong under GRI 2-8 where applicable.
Only total headcount is reported, or the data are broken down by gender but not region (or vice versa)Only total headcount is reported, or the data are broken down by gender but not region (or vice versa).
＋ Show 5 more

Where judgement is often needed

Different national definitionsApply national law or practice at country level, aggregate the resulting figures and explain the approach.
Agency and contingent labourAssess the employment relationship first; route workers who are not employees to GRI 2-8 where applicable.
Overlapping categoriesKeep non-guaranteed hours separate from contract duration so an employee can be represented correctly in both dimensions.
＋ Show 4 more

Examples

Illustrative examples

Synthetic, written by LRA — not from a company report, not text from any standard.

Illustrative (synthetic) example — employees by gender

The figures are headcount at 31 December 2025. Gender is shown as specified by employees. Contract duration, guaranteed-hours status and working-time arrangement are separate dimensions; non-guaranteed hours employees overlap with permanent or temporary employees and must not be added to those two rows.

The organisation uses a 10% or 50-employee threshold for significant fluctuations. Permanent plus temporary equals total employees; full-time plus part-time equals total employees; non-guaranteed hours is a separate, potentially overlapping measure. Seasonal production explains temporary and non-guaranteed hours arrangements. No fluctuation exceeded the stated threshold.

Employees by gender — headcount at 31 December 2025 (employees)

Employee measureFemaleMaleOtherNot disclosedTotal
Total employees4203601010800
Permanent employees35031587680
Temporary employees704523120
Non-guaranteed hours employees45402390
Full-time employees25024055500
Part-time employees17012055300
Illustrative (synthetic) example — employees by region

The figures are average monthly headcount for 2025, calculated from twelve month-end snapshots. Region means country cluster and is applied consistently. Non-guaranteed hours is a separate status that overlaps with contract duration.

Employee numbers fell from 540 to 500. The reconciled bridge is: site closure −100; new shared-service centre +60; net movement −40. The organisation’s significant-fluctuation threshold is 5% or 25 employees, so the fluctuation and its drivers are reported.

Employees by region — average monthly headcount for 2025 (employees)

Employee measureNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificTotal
Total employees220180100500
Permanent employees19015080420
Temporary employees30302080
Non-guaranteed hours employees2025550
Full-time employees18014080400
Part-time employees404020100

Company reports

How companies report GRI 2-7 in practice

Examples of full and partial reporting practice. These are evidence-led reviews, not exact disclosure templates to copy.

Real published reports
Aena S.M.E., S.A.
Air Transportation — Airport Services · Spain · 2025
Open report →
Aena is a strong GRI 2-7 example. Pages 213–214 report total, permanent, temporary, non-guaranteed hours, full-time and part-time employees by employee-specified gender and by country, state headcount at year end, and explain changes in temporary employment. An explicit threshold used to determine significant fluctuations was not confirmed, so 2-7-e is assessed as partial rather than assumed complete.
Firstsource Solutions Limited
Professional Services · India · 2025
Open report →
Firstsource provides related headcount and gender information, but the reviewed tables mix or juxtapose employees and workers and do not establish all five employee categories by both gender and region. Age, management level and diversity data are not treated as substitutes for GRI 2-7. Non-guaranteed hours, the complete full-time/part-time structure, regional breakdowns, methodology, timing and significant fluctuations remain unconfirmed.
Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co., Ltd.
Banks / Diverse Financials / Insurance · Taiwan · 2024
Open report →
No completeness conclusion is made without direct re-verification of the report PDF. Diversity, management composition, new hires and promotions relate to other disclosures and do not by themselves demonstrate total employees and all five employee categories by gender and region, methodology, context and significant fluctuations under GRI 2-7.

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Check your understanding

Scenarios to work through

Payroll lists 420 employees, 35 agency workers and 18 contractors.

QWho belongs in GRI 2-7?
Reveal model answer →

The draft treats permanent, temporary and non-guaranteed hours as three rows that must add to total employees.

QWhat is wrong?
Reveal model answer →

One table uses period-end headcount and another uses average FTE.

QCan both be reported?
Reveal model answer →

Employees fell from 540 to 470. A site closure removed 130 and a new centre added 60.

QWhat should the disclosure say?
Reveal model answer →

Framework references

Relevant GRI requirements and related disclosures

Available framework references and nearby disclosures relevant to preparing this requirement.

GRI

GRI 2-7

within GRI 2: General Disclosures

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Entities included in the organization’s sustainability reporting → CardWorkers who are not employees → CardAnnual total compensation ratio → CardCollective bargaining agreements → CardRestatements of information → Card Browse all disclosures →

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FAQ

Questions this page answers

Which entities and people belong in GRI 2-7?+
Are agency workers temporary employees?+
Are permanent, temporary and non-guaranteed hours mutually exclusive?+
What gender categories should I use?+
What does region mean?+
Can I omit a category because it is not material?+
Can I use estimates?+
Must every table use the same methodology?+
How do I report significant fluctuations?+
Is a year-on-year employee change a restatement?+

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