PO2: Social Policies
Maximum Score
1.5 points
Input Method
Assessment Portal
Prefill
Eligible
Scoring method
Static
Validation
Evidence and other answer are manually validated
2026 Updates
None
Does the entity have a policy/policies on social issues?
Assessment Instructions
Intent: What is the purpose of this indicator?
This indicator evaluates whether the entity has policies that address key social issues and the breadth of those policies. Clear social policies help organizations integrate sustainability considerations into their operations and support responsible business practices.
Input: How do I complete this indicator?
Select yes or no. If yes, select all applicable sub-options.
Terminology
Child labor
Work that children should not be doing because they are too young, or, if they have reached the minimum age, because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them.
Community development
Actions to minimize, mitigate, or compensate for adverse social and/or economic impacts, and/or to identify opportunities or actions to enhance positive impacts on individuals/groups living or working in areas that are affected/could be affected by the organization's activities.
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is one measure of an entity's sensitivity to its customers’ needs and preferences and, from an organizational perspective, is essential for long-term success. In the context of sustainability, customer satisfaction provides insight into how the entity approaches its relationship with one stakeholder group (customers).
Human capital
Human capital refers to the knowledge, culture, skills, experience, and overall contributions of an organization’s workforce. It encompasses strategies for fairly attracting, developing, and retaining talent, fostering a productive and engaged workplace, and ensuring fair and effective workforce management. Many organizational approaches can contribute to human capital objectives, including talent development & advancement; skills-based hiring & development; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Employee engagement
An employee's involvement with, commitment to, and satisfaction with the entity.
Employee health & well-being
The health & well-being of employees responsible for the entity.
Employee remuneration
Remuneration is payment or compensation received for services or employment. This includes a basic salary plus additional amounts such as those based on years of service, bonuses including cash and equity such as stocks and shares, benefit payments, overtime, time owed, and any additional allowances (such as transportation, living and childcare allowances).
Forced or compulsory labor
All work or service which is expected from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.
Freedom of association
Right of employers and workers to form, to join and to run their own organizations without prior authorization or interference by the state or any other entity.
Health & safety: community
The health & safety of the community surrounding the entity.
Health and safety: contractors
The health and safety of the entity's contractors.
Health and safety: employees
The health and safety of employees responsible for the entity.
Health & safety: tenant/customer
The health & safety of tenants and customers of the entity.
Human rights
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever their nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language or any other status.
Labor standards and working conditions
Labor standards and working conditions are at the core of paid work and employment relationships. Working conditions cover a broad range of topics and issues, from working time (hours of work, rest periods, and work schedules) to remuneration, as well as the physical conditions and mental demands that exist in the workplace.
Policy
Defines a commitment, direction or intention as formally adopted by the entity.
Social enterprise partnering
Entity’s partnerships with organizations that have social objectives which serve as the primary purpose of the organization.
Stakeholder relations
Stakeholder relations is the practice of forging mutually beneficial connections with third-party groups and individuals that have a stake in common interest.
Validation: What evidence is required?
Evidence
The evidence provided will be subject to manual validation.
The provided evidence must demonstrate the existence of formal policy document(s) that address(es) each of the selected social issues and not simply a list of general goals and/or commitments.
A policy is a guide for action which can serve the purpose of:
Outlining rules and procedures
Providing principles that guide action
Setting roles and responsibilities
Describing values and beliefs
Stating an intention to act or achieve defined goals and/or company vision
Acceptable evidence may include, but is not limited to, a social policy document, official documents or links to online resources describing the entity's social policy(ies). References such as bullet points or passages within a policy, can be provided to describe the goals or ambition for each issue.
The evidence should support each of the selected issues with a relevant document such as an employee health & wellbeing policy, human rights policy, code of conduct, or community investment statement. Note that overarching social policy documents covering multiple issues must have separate sections/clauses relevant to each of the selected issues
Exemption criteria
For PO1–3, GRESB recognizes that an entity’s policies typically remain consistent from year to year and across multiple reporting periods.
Therefore, entities that either (1) achieved full points in the previous submission or (2) achieved partial points but do not wish to modify their responses or supporting evidence can pre-fill this indicator and leave it unchanged in the current assessment cycle.
So long as the indicator response and documentation remain consistent (i.e., the entity does not modify its selections or evidence), GRESB will automatically reapply the previous year's validation decision. GRESB recommends that participants simply note that the documents apply to the current reporting year to ensure the evidence remains year-agnostic.
Scenario (1) - Entities that previously earned full points: changing any selections or evidence will not affect the validation decision. In practice, this means that an entity could:
Leave the same links to policy documents, even if some links are no longer active,
Replace last year’s links with inactive ones, or
Replace last year’s documents with blank files — and still receive full acceptance for 2025.
However, an entity cannot:
Remove the previously provided links and supply no evidence this year. Once an entity selects 'Yes’ for PO1–3, the portal will continue requiring supporting documentation.
Scenario (2) - Entities that previously earned partial points: changing the indicator response and/or documentation will prompt GRESB to re-validate the indicator.
Please note that GRESB encourages participants to update their evidence if there have been any material changes to the policy that the entity wishes to present to investors.
Other Answer
The other answer(s) provided will be subject to manual validation.
List applicable social issues that apply to the entity but are not already listed. Ensure that the ‘Other’ answer provided is not a duplicate or subset of another option (e.g. “Collective bargaining agreements” when “‘Freedom of association” is selected). It is possible to report multiple ‘Other’ answers. If multiple ‘Other’ answers are acceptable, only one will be counted in scoring.
Scoring
Scoring: How does GRESB score this indicator?
The scoring of this indicator is equal to the fraction assigned to the selected option, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.
Evidence: The evidence is manually validated and assigned a multiplier, according to the table below. The evidence must support the validation requirements.
If any requirements are not met, the evidence may be partially accepted or not accepted depending on the level of alignment with the requirements.
Accepted
2/2
Partially Accepted
1/2
Not Accepted
0
Other: The 'Other' answer is manually validated and assigned a score which is used as a multiplying factor, as per the table below:
Accepted
1/1
Not Accepted
0
Duplicate
0
Frequently Asked Questions
I have the relevant policies, but they are not on our website. Can I still answer "Yes" to these indicators for PO1-3?
Yes. Public disclosure is not required. If you have the policies documented and implemented within your organization you can answer "Yes" regardless of whether they are publicly available.
My company rebranded during the reporting year. Which version of policies should we submit for PO1-3?
GRESB recommends uploading the most recent (post-rebranding) versions of your documents, as these will be used to pre-fill some indicators in your next assessment. However, GRESB accepts policies that were in effect at any time during the reporting year (Fiscal year or Calendar year, as selected in indicator EC4). This means you can upload either the pre-rebranding policy, the post-rebranding policy, or both. Please use the open text box to explain that the rebranding occurred, and the entity name changed during the year.
My entity recently updated our internal policies. Can I submit these as evidence?
Yes, as long as the policy was in place at some point during the reporting year (Fiscal year or Calendar year, as selected in indicator EC4).
However, if a policy update was released after the reporting year ended, it will not be accepted, since the policy was not applicable at any point during the reporting year.
For the PO1-3 'Exemption Criteria' to apply, do I need to pre-fill my indicator response, or will GRESB do this automatically?
If participants wish to use the PO1-3 exemption, they must select the pre-filling option to carry the previous year's responses to PO1-3 into the current assessment. GRESB will not pre-populate anything on an entity's behalf.
References
EPRA Best Practices Recommendations on Sustainability Reporting, 3rd version, September 2017: 7.9, Narrative on performance
GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (2016): GRI, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307; GRI, 416
ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
Get Support: Solution Providers
GRESB Solution Providers are independent, third-party organizations within the GRESB Partner network that offer specialized products, tools, and services to support sustainability performance outside the GRESB Assessment process.
The organizations below deliver commercially available solutions designed to help drive improvement for this indicator. Engagement is managed directly between the reporting entity and the Solution Provider.
GRESB will continue to update this section as the GRESB Solution Provider network grows. Please check back regularly to find GRESB Solution Providers who can support your sustainability performance.
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