National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 30414:2025. It supersedes BS ISO 30414:2018, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee HCS/1, Human Capital.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2025.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 260, Human resource management.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 30414:2018), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

reallocation of metrics into two categories - requirements and recommendations;
enhanced alignment with sustainability reporting;
more explicit consideration of materiality including factors related to AI;
guidance on productivity and performance disclosures in for-profit, not-for-profit, and non-profit sectors;
reorganisation of human capital areas (HCAs) to align contexts, prioritize impact and workflow;
recommended disclosure reporting format [based on Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) governance, strategy, risk, and opportunities, and metrics framework];
addition of metrics on human rights, labour relations, productivity, ethics and well-being;
enhanced guidance on responsibilities regarding data collection, privacy and security;
updated guidance on business acumen for human capital reporting and disclosure in Annex B;
enhanced guidance on recommendations for small and medium-sized enterprises in Annex C;
expanded examples of human capital reports with combination metrics in Annex D;
added an example of a human capital disclosure report for a large organization in Annex E.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Human capital (HC) includes the cumulative knowledge, skills and abilities of an organization’s people and the impact on an organization’s long-term performance, as well as competitive advantage through optimizing organizational outcomes.

The measurement and reporting of human capital facilitate the ability of an organization to manage the risks or opportunities associated with one of its most critical resources, people. Research shows that an organization’s intangible assets, of which human capital is the primary driver, can represent over 90 % of an organization’s value^[1^]. Research also shows that organizations that do not proactively manage their human capital can damage their organization’s capability to generate long-term, sustainable value^[2^].

The introduction of regulations by major governance agencies requiring organizations to disclose essential workforce metrics has the effect of reclassifying human capital as an intangible asset investment rather than an organizational expense. The effective measurement, management and reporting of these investments have become vital for gauging their material impact on an organization’s outcomes and sustainability.

This document is guided by the principles of human rights at work^[3^], human governance (ISO 30408^[4^]) and materiality, distinguishing between required and recommended metrics. This document also offers guidelines for human capital data privacy, collection, measurement, analysis and consistency in reporting and disclosure.

The metrics and disclosure format outlined in this document consider a wide variety of sources, such as research organizations^[5^], expert knowledge^[6^], advisory groups^[7^], forums^[8^], industry coalitions^[9^], and related frameworks or standards [e.g. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)^[10^], Integrated Reporting Initiative^[11^], Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)^[12^], European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS) S1^[13^], International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS/ISSB) S1^[14^], Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)^[15^] and Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TFCD)^[16^]].

The domain of human capital is not limited to human resources (HR). Historically, HR excels in qualitative workforce relations, while finance excels in quantitative reporting for stakeholders. Yet, for human capital analysis and reporting to be effective, a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach is essential.

The benefits of a standardized approach to human capital reporting and disclosure (HCRD) include:

quantifying the sustainable drivers of organization value creation using generally accepted metrics in a manner that is both internally and externally comparable and consistent with governance expectations;
superior insights to workforce management processes that enable positive and constructive workforce relations;
enhanced transparency of the most impactful human capital drivers of sustainable organization performance;
superior insight on the correlation between investments in a workforce and sustainability (financial and non-financial) of selected performance indicators;
enhanced financial performance, organizational culture, workforce well-being and stakeholder value creation.

Figure 1 illustrates an outcomes-focused view of HCRD's purpose, its layered application and use case relationships. This document does not prescribe a fixed interpretation of materiality, rather it provides guidance to HCRD producers on how to determine human capital materiality based on the report’s intended audience, the organization’s sustainability objectives and the jurisdiction of application.

1 Scope

This document provides requirements and recommendations for human capital reporting and disclosure (HCRD). This document outlines a baseline for global and comprehensive internal and external HCRD applicable across organizations of all sizes and sectors, focusing on measuring factors that are within an organization's control.

This document provides requirement and recommendations on the following core human capital reporting areas (HCAs):

workforce composition;
diversity;
costs;
productivity;
health, safety, and well-being;
leadership, culture and engagement;
compliance, ethics, and workforce relations;
recruitment;
mobility and succession planning;
workforce turnover;
skills, capabilities, and development.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Human capital reporting and disclosure process

4.1 General

4.2 Guiding principles

4.3 Target groups and stakeholder relevance

4.4 HCRD framework, systems and units of workload

4.5 Tools, procedures and responsibilities for data collection

4.6 Reporting disclosure format, frequency and locations

4.7 Reporting areas

Bibliography

BS ISO 30414:2025

Human resource management. Requirements and recommendations for human capital reporting and disclosure

Current

Published:

31 Aug 2025