With Great Place To Work to ESRS S1 Compliance

What do CSRD and ESRS mean?

Many listed companies, banks and insurance companies are already obliged to publish a report on non-financial matters. The EU Directive Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require all companies with more than 10 employees to report from 2026.

As a framework, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) which, in addition to general standards, also contain topic-specific environmental, social and governance standards. It is therefore about much more than just environmental sustainability.

For HR managers, of course, the Standard ESRS S1 "Own workforce" central.

Standard ESRS S1 "Own workforce"

Organizations must disclose information on working conditions, basic employee rights and equality. Specifically, this concerns the following topics:

Working conditions, including: 

• Training and development
• Health and safety
• Working hours
• Work-life balance
• Appropriate remuneration
• Social security

Access to equal opportunities, including:

• Discrimination on the grounds of gender, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
• Equal remuneration
• Access to secure jobs
• Equal treatment in terms of working conditions, access to social protection and training
• Inclusion of people with disabilities

Other employment-related rights, including rights relating to:

• Freedom of association and collective bargaining
• Social dialog

With Great Place To Work to ESRS S1 Compliance

The topics of the ESRS S1 "Own Workforce" standard correspond to a good workplace culture as defined by Great Place To Work. With 30 years of research in this field, we are the global authority on workplace culture. Our employee survey Trust Index© directly covers the topics required by ESRS.

Instead of just documenting the topics superficially, you can also quantify and prove ESRS S1 compliance: Independent certification by Great Place To Work confirms the effectiveness of your measures!

Certification in the sustainability report

The real estate company PSP Swiss Property and the fintech company Leonteq are already actively using the Great Place To Work certification in their sustainability reports. In doing so, they demonstrate to the public that, as good employers, sustainability is also a very important issue for their own employees. Leonteq has even set itself a Trust Index© score of 72% as an explicit ESG target by 2026.

"The employee survey and certification as a Great Place To Work are both internal and external confirmation of our efforts in the area of social sustainability."

- Giacomo Balzarini, Chief Executive Officer, PSP Swiss Property Ltd

To the PSP Swiss Property case study

Take the first step towards ESRS S1 compliance

• Start with Great Place To Work certification to credibly demonstrate your ESRS S1 compliance.
• Communicate internally and externally that sustainability is important to you.
• Use the results of the employee survey to further improve your workplace culture.