How to read a BRSR as a workplace document
The Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report is usually read for emissions. It also holds some of the best public evidence on how a listed Indian company treats its people.
By WCRC Culture Crest Research Desk
Method note · Evidence · 10 October 2026 · 3 min read
Key findings
- The 1,000 largest listed companies by market capitalisation file a BRSR with their annual report.
- Section A and Principles 3 and 5 contain the workforce disclosures: headcount by gender, differently abled employees, turnover, parental leave, grievance mechanisms, training, safety and complaints.
- A BRSR shows that systems exist and what they recorded. It does not show how employees experience them.
- In the Founding Edition, the public disclosure audit, which includes the BRSR, carries 25% of every pillar score.
Since the financial year 2022-23, SEBI has required the 1,000 largest listed companies by market capitalisation to publish a Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report with their annual report. Most readers go straight to the environmental sections. For anyone trying to understand a workplace from the outside, the people sections are more useful, and they are the most consistent source of workforce data that large Indian companies publish.
In the Founding Edition of India's Most Loved 250 Workplaces, the public disclosure audit carries 25% of every pillar score. For listed companies, the BRSR is the core of that audit. This note sets out what we read in it and what we do not read into it.
Where the workforce evidence sits
| Where in the BRSR | What it discloses | Pillar it informs |
|---|---|---|
| Section A, employees and workers | Headcount by gender, permanent and other than permanent, including differently abled employees | Representation & Inclusion |
| Section A, women in leadership | Women on the board and in key managerial roles | Representation & Inclusion |
| Section A, turnover | Turnover rates for permanent employees and workers, by gender | Trust & Belonging |
| Principle 3, wellbeing and leave | Benefits coverage; return-to-work and retention after parental leave | Trust & Belonging, Equitable Opportunity |
| Principle 3, grievances | Whether a grievance mechanism exists for each category of staff | Psychological Safety |
| Principle 3, training and safety | Training coverage; health and safety systems; injuries and incidents | Equitable Opportunity, Trust & Belonging |
| Principle 5, human rights | Complaints on sexual harassment, discrimination and related issues, filed and pending; safeguards for complainants | Psychological Safety, Transparency & Accountability |
Three ways to read it well
- Read the gaps between categories. A company can report a grievance mechanism for permanent employees and not for contract workers. The difference says more than either line alone.
- Read the trend, not the year. One year of turnover or parental-leave retention is a data point. Three years show whether something is changing.
- Read complaints as a sign of a working channel. Zero complaints in a large organisation can mean a safe workplace or a channel nobody uses. On its own, the number cannot say which.
What a BRSR cannot tell you
A BRSR reports systems and outcomes. It does not report experience. It can say that a grievance mechanism exists and how many complaints it received. It cannot say whether employees believe raising a complaint is safe. It can report how many women sit in key managerial roles. It cannot say whether women further down the organisation see a route to those roles.
That is why disclosure is one of four evidence streams in the ranking and never the only one, and why a Culture Crest Workplace Analysis pairs every system with an employee survey and with outcome data from inside the organisation.
How this was measured
This note describes the BRSR format prescribed by SEBI for listed companies and how WCRC Culture Crest uses it in the public disclosure audit. Mapping of BRSR sections to Equity Index pillars is WCRC Culture Crest’s own. Unlisted companies and the India operations of multinationals do not file a BRSR; for them the audit relies on annual reports, sustainability reports and published policies.
Questions this story answers
Which companies must publish a BRSR?
The 1,000 largest listed companies in India by market capitalisation, as required by SEBI from the financial year 2022-23.
What workforce information is in a BRSR?
Headcount by gender and employment type, differently abled employees, women on the board and in key managerial roles, turnover, benefits and parental leave retention, grievance mechanisms, training, health and safety, and complaints including sexual harassment and discrimination.
How does Culture Crest use BRSR data?
As part of the public disclosure audit, which carries 25% of every pillar score in India’s Most Loved 250 Workplaces.
Cite as: WCRC Culture Crest Research Desk, "How to read a BRSR as a workplace document", WCRC Culture Crest, 10 October 2026. https://www.culturecrest.work/insights/reading-brsr-as-a-workplace-document
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