Putting workers’ rights at the heart of corporate accountability
Published date: 10 December 2025
All stakeholders invited to shape labor standards that address systemic human rights challenges
Standards to illuminate how organizations respond to disclosure expectations on crucial labor rights issues across the value chain are being updated, with a global consultation now underway.
Launched on International Human Rights Day, this public comment period will conclude GRI’s review of all labor-related disclosures and is open until 9 March 2026. Following approval by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), feedback is sought on updates to four Topic Standards that span workers’ rights and protections:
- Workers in Business Relationships (GRI 414)
- Forced Labor (GRI 409)
- Child Labor (GRI 408)
- Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining (GRI 407)
The revamp responds to persistent challenges in labor markets worldwide – including worker poverty, rising informal work, entrenched gender inequalities, and slow progress in ending child and forced labor. They also reflect growing demands for organizations to tackle negative impacts on workers in their value chains.
The exposure drafts increase coverage on labor rights and working conditions, including due diligence processes, incident reporting, grievance mechanisms, and engagement with worker representatives. New disclosures are proposed on policies and assessments that span an organization’s activities and business relationships, with stronger requirements for incidents reporting, prevention, and remediation actions.
Respect for workers’ rights is non-negotiable for any organization that claims to do business responsibly. Our revised Standards aim to set clearer expectations for how companies identify their labor-related impacts and risks, involve workers, and make improvements in their own operations and across value chains. We encourage all stakeholders to share their views through the public comment, so the final Standards are ambitious, effective, and fully grounded in international best practices.
Harold Pauwels, GRI Standards DirectorThe key changes to the draft Standards will be shared, with opportunities for Q&A, through two global webinars. Registration is open for sessions in English on 16 December 2025 (09:00 CET) and 18 February 2026 (17:00 CET, with Spanish and Portuguese translation).
The GRI Labor Project is being completed in four phases. Public comment periods have already taken place for phase 1 (employment conditions and practices), phase 2 (working life and career development), and phase 3 (inclusion and equal opportunities at work). The current consultation, on workers’ rights and protection, is the final phase of gathering feedback on the full set of revised labor-related Standards.
The proposed changes take account of authoritative intergovernmental instruments and the latest expectations for transparency and responsible business practices, grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO Tripartite Declaration, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
The development of these exposure drafts has been guided by a Technical Committee, appointed by the GSSB, which includes tripartite representation from organizations representing workers, employers and labor unions, supported by a multi-stakeholder Advisory Group.