Find Comprehensive Datasets on Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) on Dataful
One of the sub-sections in the BRSR format mandates companies to submit data on the total number of employees, workers, gender breakup and data on persons with disability among the employed. The data shows that the share of women across all categories of employment is less than 25%.
In the first story, we looked at how the concept of responsible business reporting has evolved since the year 2009 and has eventually taken the shape of Business Responsibility and Sustainable Reporting (BRSR) in the year 2021. As mentioned previously, the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated the top 1000 companies, listed by Market Capitalization, to provide their performance reports on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) aspects. These reports have to be submitted by the top 1000 companies of each year to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE)
In the subsequent story, we looked at grievances received by these companies from various stakeholders and their disposal rate.
In this story, we look at the employment scenario in the companies which have reported data in BRSR formats during the period of 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Methodology and Notes
- Data is sourced from Dataful, which compiled the BRSR data and made available a collection of Datasets
- The companies which have reported BRSR data did not follow any particular standard yearly format. While some companies reported data in the calendar year format i.e. from 01 January to 31 December of a particular year, other companies have reported in the financial year format i.e. from 01 April of a particular year to 31 March of next year.
Because of these variations, we have considered data for a particular period for analysis. In other words, from 01 January of a particular year to 31 March of next year, which is a period of 15 months is considered as one data period. Instead of year, it is referred to as one data period.
SEBI’s Guidance Note defined Categories of Employment, for companies reporting BRSR
In a guidance note published in May 2021, SEBI stipulated the following definitions for different categories of employment, for companies to report BRSR data accordingly:
| Employment Category | Definition |
| Employee | As defined in Sec 2(l) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020: Any person (other than an apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act, 1961), employed on wages by an establishment to do any skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, manual, operational, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, and also includes a person declared to be an employee by the appropriate Government, but does not include any member of the Armed Forces of the Union |
| Worker | As defined in Sec 2(zr) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020: any person (except an apprentice as defined under clause (aa) of section 2 of the Apprentices Act, 1961) employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical, or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied and includes working journalists, sales promotion employees, those involved in industrial disputes, etc. |
| Permanent Employee/Worker | Any employee or worker, employed for full-time or part-time work, for an indeterminate period. |
| Other than Permanent Employee/Worker | Any employee or worker who is employed for a fixed term that ends when a specific time period expires, or on completion of a specific task or an event such as the end of a project or return of a replaced employee. They could be employed directly by the entity or through third-party contractors. |
| Persons with Disabilities | As defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act: Any person with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others |
| Board of Directors | As defined under Sec 2(10) of the Companies Act 2013: The collective body of the directors of the company. |
Total Employment in BRSR reporting companies during 2022-23 period is 1.1 Crore
As mentioned, the streamlined process of reporting by BRSR companies began in the year 2021. As per the data, during the period 2021-22 (15 months period), each of the about 166 companies who submitted data have reported employent related figures. In the next period of 2022-23, a total of 1122 companies have reported the same data as of March 2024.
As per the data, the total employment during the period 2021-22 was 48,27,778 and the total employment during the period 2022-23 was 1,19,85,473 or about 1.1 crores.
| Period | No. of Companies Reported | Total Employment |
| 2021-22 | 166 | 48,27,778 |
| 2022-23 | 1122 | 1,19,85,473 |
Total Number of Employees are more than Workers
As per SEBI’s definition, the term ‘Employee’ applies to those employed in Establishments and the term ‘Worker’ applies to those engaged specifically in Industries. Among the total employed during both 2021-22 and 2022-23, the number of Employees was higher than the number of Workers in the BRSR reporting companies. The total number of Employees and Workers during the period 2021-22 were 37,41,140 and 10,86,638, respectively. In the next period 2022-23, the total number of Employees and Workers were 70,22,406 and 49,63,067, respectively.
| Period | No. of Employees | No. of Workers | Ratio of Employees to Workers |
| 2021-22 | 37,41,140 | 10,86,638 | 77:23 |
| 2022-23 | 70,22,406 | 49,63,067 | 59:41 |
Therefore, the total number of Employees is higher than the Workers during both periods in the BRSR-listed companies. However, it remains to be examined if there is an increase in the number of companies that submitted BRSR in 2022-23 that are industrial in nature (factories, etc).
Total Number of Permanent Employees are more than Temporary Employees, but the Total Number of Temporary Workers are more than Permanent Workers
As per the data, the total number of Permanent Employees during the periods 2021-22 and 2022-23 are 33,73,963 and 63,33,899 respectively. For the same periods, the total number of Temporary Employees is 3,50,377 and 6,56,799 respectively. Therefore, during both periods, the number of Permanent Employees is way higher than the number of Temporary Employees, with a ratio of 90:10 during both periods.
However, this ratio shows a contrasting picture when it comes to Workers. The number of Permanent Workers during the same periods 2021-22 and 2022-23 are 2,92,560 and 20,03,093 respectively, and the total number of Temporary Workers during the same periods are 7,94,821 and 29,37,763 respectively. Therefore, during both periods, the number of Permanent Employees is fewer than the Temporary Employees, with a ratio of 27:73 for 2021-22 and 40:60 for 2022-23.
| Period | Employment Category | Total Employed | Share |
| 2021-22 | Permanent Employee | 33,73,963 | 90% |
| 2021-22 | Temporary Employee | 3,50,377 | 10% |
| 2021-22 | Permanent Worker | 2,92,560 | 27% |
| 2021-22 | Temporary Worker | 7,94,821 | 73% |
| 2022-23 | Permanent Employee | 63,33,899 | 90% |
| 2022-23 | Temporary Employee | 6,56,799 | 10% |
| 2022-23 | Permanent Worker | 20,03,093 | 40% |
| 2022-23 | Temporary Worker | 29,37,763 | 60% |
Therefore, the data indicates that in the companies that have submitted the BRSR data, there is a greater number of Temporary workers than Permanent workers.
Share of Women in all Categories of Employment is below 25%
The data also shows that share of women employed in all categories of employment for both 2021-22 and 2022-23 periods is below 25%. Out of the total employed in the 166 companies during the period 2021-22, the total women employed are 9,93,610 which is about 20% of total persons employed. In the period 2022-23, their total employment is 21,39,965 which is 18% of total persons employed. The share of men employed during both these periods is 80% and 82%, respectively. Further, the share of men among all categories of employment is significantly higher than women as noted in the table below.
| Period | Employment Category | Total Men Employed | Total Women Employed | Men to Women Ratio |
| 2021-22 | Total Employed | 38,33,856 | 9,93,610 | 80:20 |
| 2021-22 | Permanent Employee | 25,45,998 | 8,27,831 | 75:25 |
| 2021-22 | Temporary Employee | 2,83,375 | 66,832 | 81:19 |
| 2021-22 | Permanent Worker | 2,45,027 | 47,533 | 83:17 |
| 2021-22 | Temporary Worker | 7,43,721 | 48,098 | 94:6 |
| 2021-22 | Board of Directors | 2,382 | 282 | 88:12 |
| 2022-23 | Total Employed | 98,32,906 | 21,39,965 | 82:18 |
| 2022-23 | Permanent Employee | 49,11,781 | 1,42,848 | 77:23 |
| 2022-23 | Temporary Employee | 4,95,136 | 1,61,290 | 75:25 |
| 2022-23 | Permanent Worker | 16,67,262 | 3,35,755 | 83:17 |
| 2022-23 | Temporary Worker | 27,22,123 | 2,13,917 | 93:7 |
| 2022-23 | Board of Directors | 9,852 | 1,829 | 82:18 |
Data shows that among none of the categories of employment, the share of women has gone above 25%. Their highest share was in the permanent and temporary employee category with 25% each during the periods 2021-22 and 2022-23. Even among the Board of Directors, the share of women was only 12% and 18%, respectively, during the same periods among the companies that reported BRSR data.
PWDs constitute less than 1% of the Total Employed; Share of Women is below 20%
Out of the total employed during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 periods, the total number of ‘Persons with Disabilities’ (PWDs) employed is 38,114 and 1,15,274 respectively. Their share in the total persons employed during the same period is about 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. During the same periods, the total number of disabled women who are employed are 6,632 and 16,108 respectively. Therefore, even among the PWDs, the total women employed are only 18% and 14%, respectively.
Further, when one analyses the share of women among PWDs among different categories of employment, as listed above, their average share is around 18%.
BRSR data shows that over 80% of these companies have a turnover above Rs. 100 crores each year. However, the average employment ratio of women is low at less than 25%. Factly’s previous story on women and employment has also highlighted the lower share of women in other sectors of employment compared to men. The same situation is observed even among the top-listed companies. There needs to be a concerted effort to increase the share of women in employment across categories and sectors.
