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GRI 404: Training and Education 2016

EFFECTIVE DATE: 1 JULY 2018

Introduction​

GRI 404: Training and Education 2016 contains disclosures for organizations to report information about their training and education-related impacts, and how they manage these impacts. The Standard is structured as follows:

  • Section 1 contains a requirement, which provides information about how the organization manages its training and education-related impacts.
  • Section 2 contains three disclosures, which provide information about the organization’s training and education-related impacts.
  • The Glossary contains defined terms with a specific meaning when used in the GRI Standards. The terms are underlined in the text of the GRI Standards and linked to the definitions.
  • The Bibliography lists authoritative intergovernmental instruments used in developing this Standard.

Background on the topic​

This Standard addresses the topic of training and education. This includes an organization’s approach to training and upgrading employee skills, and performance and career development reviews. It also includes transition assistance programs to facilitate continued employability, and the management of career endings due to retirement or termination. These concepts are covered in key instruments of the International Labour Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: see the Bibliography.

1. Topic management disclosures​

An organization reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards is required to report how it manages each of its material topics. An organization that has determined training and education to be a material topic is required to report how it manages the topic using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 (see clause 1.1 in this section). This section is therefore designed to supplement – and not replace – Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3.

REQUIREMENTS​

  • 1.1 The reporting organization shall report how it manages training and education using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021.

2. Topic disclosures​

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee​

REQUIREMENTS​

The reporting organization shall report the following information:

  • a. Average hours of training that the organization’s employees have undertaken during the reporting period, by:
    • i. gender;
    • ii. employee category.

RECOMMENDATIONS​

  • 2.1 When compiling the information specified in Disclosure 404-1, the reporting organization should:
    • 2.1.1 express employee numbers as either head count or full-time equivalent (FTE), and disclose and apply the approach consistently in the period, and between periods;
    • 2.1.2 use data from Disclosure 2-7 in GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021 to identify the total number of employees;
    • 2.1.3 draw from the information used for Disclosure 405-1 in GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016 to identify the total number of employees by employee category.

GUIDANCE​

Guidance for Disclosure 404-1
This disclosure provides insight into the scale of an organization’s investment in training, and the degree to which the investment is made across the entire employee base.

In the context of this Standard, ‘training’ refers to:

  • all types of vocational training and instruction;
  • paid educational leave provided by an organization for its employees;
  • training or education pursued externally and paid for in whole or in part by an organization;
  • training on specific topics.

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs​

REQUIREMENTS​

The reporting organization shall report the following information:

  • a. Type and scope of programs implemented and assistance provided to upgrade employee skills.​

  • b. Transition assistance programs provided to facilitate continued employability and the management of career endings resulting from retirement or termination of employment.​

Training does not include on-site coaching by supervisors.

To calculate the information in Disclosure 404-1, the reporting organization can use the following formulas:

Average training hours per employee = Total number of training hours provided to employees / Total number of employees

Average training hours per female = Total number of training hours provided to female employees / Total number of female employees

Average training hours per male = Total number of training hours provided to male employees / Total number of male employees

Average training hours per employee category = Total number of training hours provided to each category of employees / Total number of employees in category

A number of calculations can be undertaken to report on employee categories. These calculations are specific to each organization.

GUIDANCE​

Guidance for Disclosure 404-2
Employee training programs that aim to upgrade skills can include:

  • internal training courses;
  • funding support for external training or education;
  • the provision of sabbatical periods with guaranteed return to employment.

Transition assistance programs provided to support employees who are retiring or who have been terminated can include:

  • pre-retirement planning for intended retirees;
  • retraining for those intending to continue working;
  • severance pay, which can take into account employee age and years of service;
  • job placement services;
  • assistance (such as training, counselling) on transitioning to a non-working life.

Background
Programs for upgrading employee skills allow an organization to plan skills acquisition that equips employees to meet strategic targets in a changing work environment. More skilled employees enhance the organization’s human capital and contribute to employee satisfaction, which correlates strongly with improved performance. For those facing retirement, confidence and quality of work relations is improved by the knowledge that they are supported in their transition from work to retirement.

Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews​

REQUIREMENTS​

The reporting organization shall report the following information:

  • a. Percentage of total employees by gender and by employee category who received a regular performance and career development review during the reporting period.​

RECOMMENDATIONS​

  • 2.2 When compiling the information specified in Disclosure 404-3, the reporting organization should:
    • 2.2.1 use data from Disclosure 2-7 in GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021 to identify the total number of employees;
    • 2.2.2 draw from the information used for Disclosure 405-1 in GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016 to identify the total number of employees by employee category.

GUIDANCE​

Background
This disclosure measures the extent to which an organization regularly appraises employee performance. This aids the personal development of individual employees. It also contributes to skills management and to the development of human capital within the organization. This disclosure also demonstrates the extent to which this system is applied throughout the organization, and whether there is inequity of access to these opportunities.

Regular performance and career development reviews can also enhance employee satisfaction, which correlates with improved organizational performance. This disclosure helps demonstrate how an organization works to monitor and maintain the skill sets of its employees. When reported in conjunction with Disclosure 404-2, the disclosure also helps to illustrate how the organization approaches skills enhancement.

Bibliography​

This section lists authoritative intergovernmental instruments used in developing this Standard.

    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 140, ‘Paid Educational Leave Convention’, 1974.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 142, ‘Human Resources Development Convention’, 1975.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 155, ‘Occupational Safety and Health Convention’ and related Protocol 155, 1981.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 168, ‘Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention’, 1988.
    1. International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy’, 2006.
    1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 2011.

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