Social Data Collection and Validation Services for ESG Platforms
Global ESG and CSRD regulations require consistent, transparent disclosures. Yet, critical social data often sits across scattered reports, regulatory filings, and HR policies—leaving ESG platforms and rating agencies with datasets that are inconsistent, hard to benchmark, and rarely validated. Data collection using AI tends to fail as well because of the complex, fragmented nature of ESG data, as well as the complexity of calculations and regulatory standards.
SunTec India addresses this challenge with expert-led social data collection services. We capture, cross-verify, and standardize critical social metrics—covering labor rights, DEI, employee well-being, safety incidents, and supply chain practices—into structured datasets. Each dataset is framework-mapped and compliance-ready, with every metric aligned with leading standards such as CSRD, GRI, and SASB. This eliminates the need for post-processing, making the data immediately usable for ESG rating agencies, ESG data providers, ESG software and platforms, ESG consulting companies, and similar organizations.
Ensuring Secure Social Data Management
Our robust security framework ensures confidential handling of sensitive workforce and supplier data while maintaining full compliance with international data protection standards.
GDPR & ISO-compliant data management
Encrypted data transmission (in transit and at rest)
Strict & restricted access controls & confidentiality protocols
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) signed with all resources
Social Data Collection Services We Offer
Get reliable, comparable datasets that you can use with confidence via our ESG-related social data collection services. We cover the complete range of workforce, community, and human rights metrics, fully aligned with global ESG frameworks.
Qualitative Social Data Collection
We gather text-based information from diverse sources, including corporate policies, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) commitments, and labor rights disclosures. Each disclosure is extracted from verifiable sources, classified, and standardized to deliver comparable data on any company’s approach to human capital, social equity, and stakeholder well-being.
Quantitative Social Data Collection
We specialize in collecting and normalizing measurable social metrics, including workforce diversity ratios, employee turnover rates, gender pay gaps, and health and safety records. Our process ensures these datasets are consistent across different industries and regions, making benchmarking and analysis straightforward.
Social Data Metric Calculation
Specific critical social metrics are rarely disclosed in a ready-to-use format, so we calculate them to derive key performance indicators. For example, converting headcount and exits into attrition rates, or incident reports into frequency ratios. This ensures that there is no gap in the final dataset.
Social Data Validation & Verification
Our validation and verification service ensures the integrity of your social data. Our subject matter experts meticulously validate every data point by cross-referencing public filings, CSR disclosures, and workforce audits. This rigorous process resolves inconsistencies, ensures accuracy, and delivers reliable, defensible datasets ready for use in ratings, compliance, and impact reporting.
Holistic Data Coverage for Social Metrics (within ESG)
Our social data collection service spans core metrics and disclosures covering workforce, diversity, human rights, health and safety, and customer responsibility.
Employee Diversity
- Women Employees: Share of female employees in the workforce across all levels
- Women Managers: Representation of women in managerial and leadership positions
Working Conditions & Employee Satisfaction
- Employees Turnover: Annual employee attrition and retention trends
- Lost Working Days: Total number of workdays lost due to absenteeism, strikes, or disputes
Health & Safety for Employees
- Employee Fatalities: Recorded cases of work-related fatalities across operations
- Total Injury Rate: Frequency and severity of employee injuries per reporting period
Society & Human Rights
- Trade Union Representation: Percentage of workforce represented by unions or associations
- Training Hours: Average hours of training provided per employee per year
Diversity
- Gender Pay Gap: Difference in average pay between male and female employees
Data Collection across Social Policies
We also collect and classify formal social policies that demonstrate a company’s commitments to human rights, labor protections, diversity, health and safety, and customer responsibility. Extracted directly from sustainability reports, regulatory filings, and other official disclosures, each policy datapoint is validated, source-linked, and structured to provide clients with clear visibility into organizational social responsibility data.
Society & Human Rights
- Policy Human Rights: Formal commitments to upholding human rights across operations
- Policy Human Rights Due Diligence: Processes for identifying and addressing human rights risks
- Whistleblower Protection: Mechanisms protecting employees who report misconduct
- Policy Grievance Process: A Structured framework for handling employee or stakeholder grievances
Human Rights & Ethical Principles for Suppliers
- Human Rights Contractor: Requirements for contractors to adhere to human rights principles
- Supply Chain Health and Safety: Standards ensuring worker safety in the supply chain
- Career Development: Policies promoting upskilling and growth opportunities for workers
- Day Care Services: Employer-provided childcare or dependent-care facilities
Health & Safety for Employees
- Policy Employee Health & Safety: Formalized commitments to employee health and safety standards
- Freedom of Association Policy: Protection of workers’ rights to form associations and unions
Diversity
- Targets Diversity and Opportunity: Organizational goals for inclusion and equitable opportunity across the workforce
Labor Rights
- Policy Child & Forced Labor: Explicit prohibition of child and forced labor practices
Product Responsibility
- Quality Management System: Implementation of policies ensuring product quality and safety
Customer Experience
- Policy Data Privacy: The Company’s formal measures to safeguard customer data and privacy rights
Data Alignment with Global ESG Reporting Standards
As part of our social data collection service, we systematically map every metric to leading global ESG and sustainability frameworks, ensuring that our datasets are aligned with established disclosure requirements.
Currently Supported Frameworks for Social Data Collection
Additional ESG Framework Compliance
In addition to the above, we also align social datasets with other relevant frameworks that may apply in specific contexts:
- SEC Climate Disclosure Rule (U.S.): Expected requirements for social and workforce-related disclosures within climate filings.
- Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards: Mandatory ESG reporting with emphasis on workforce and governance.
- IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards): Alignment of sustainability disclosures with global accounting standards.
- BRSR (Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting – India): Mandatory workforce, human rights, and community-related disclosures for top listed companies in India.
How We Deliver Your Data
Format Options
JSON, CSV, XML, or direct API integration into your systems
Delivery Frequency
Quarterly refreshes, annual cycles, or real-time event-driven data feeds
Global Coverage
Workforce and social data collection across industries, regions, and company sizes
Assurance
Secure cloud delivery or data integration into client systems with full audit trails
Our Proven Social Data Collection Process, Led by Experts
Collecting social metrics requires consistency, accuracy, and reliability. At SunTec India, we engage subject matter experts and adhere to a structured workflow to deliver ESG social datasets that are fully validated, framework-mapped, and ready for seamless integration into client systems.
-
Social Data Sourcing from Trusted Channels
We capture both quantitative and qualitative social information to build a comprehensive picture of a company’s workforce practices and community impact.
Key Sources Include:
- Annual sustainability and CSR reports with workforce statistics
- Labor compliance and employment-related SEC filings
- Corporate diversity, inclusion, and employee welfare policies
- Reputable third-party ESG databases (Bloomberg, Refinitiv, MSCI)
- Global standards and human rights watchlists (ILO, UNGC, OECD)
- Supplier labor audit findings and community impact assessments
-
Multi-Source Cross-Verification
To eliminate risks such as misreporting or “social-washing,” every datapoint is validated across multiple independent sources.
Our Verification Measures:
- Compare safety and injury data with official OSHA or regulator filings
- Match diversity disclosures with HR submissions and governance reports
- Check labor rights statements against supplier audits
- Validate leadership diversity with official governance documents
- Flag anomalies in pay equity, turnover, or DE&I reporting
-
SME-Led Social Data Validation
Our domain specialists review each verified metric to add context and reliability, ensuring that the data meets technical standards for ESG use.
Validation Insights Include:
- Review of labor rights compliance and supply chain sourcing claims
- Benchmarking DE&I performance against industry peers
- Assessment of employee safety, well-being, and retention practices
- Evaluation of board-level diversity and governance representation
- Social risk materiality mapping across global operations
-
Data Standardization for Comparability
To enable benchmarking across industries and geographies, we standardize collected data into globally recognized formats.
Standardization Examples:
- Workplace injury rates normalized per 1,000 employees
- Gender and diversity ratios at executive and board levels
- Annualized employee turnover percentages
- Pay equity ratios adjusted for role and region
- Supplier audits classified by labor rights severity
-
Framework Mapping of Social Metrics
Each standardized data point is mapped directly to global ESG disclosure frameworks, eliminating the need for manual post-processing.
Supported Frameworks:
- CSRD/ESRS (S1–S4: workforce, value chain workers, communities, consumers)
- GRI 400 Series (labor practices, diversity, human rights, social impact)
- SASB (industry-specific workforce and social materiality metrics)
- UN Global Compact Principles (human rights and labor commitments)
- ILO Core Conventions (child labor, forced labor, labor rights)
-
Delivery of Ready-to-Use Social Datasets
Clients receive fully validated, standardized, and framework-mapped social data packages, built for seamless ESG integration.
Delivery Package Includes:
- Full audit trail with supporting source evidence
- Technical metadata (definitions, methodologies, boundaries)
- Framework-mapped datasets compatible with ESG platforms
- Flexible formats: CSV, JSON, XML, or API integration
Example Workflow of Social Data Collection
| Social Data Metric | Collection | Validation | SME Review | Mapping | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce Safety | OSHA data, sustainability reports | Verified against incident filings | SME validates injury & fatality rates | CSRD ESRS S1, GRI 403 | Audit-ready, standardized datasets |
| Diversity & Inclusion | HR reports, governance filings | Cross-check board/exec composition | Expert benchmarks DE&I practices | CSRD S1, GRI 405 | CSV/API delivery with % ratios |
| Pay Equity | Annual reports, wage disclosures | Validate with internal HR/payroll audits | SME checks role & region comparability | CSRD S1, SASB | Ratios delivered with metadata |
| Labor Rights in Supply Chains | Supplier audits, NGO reports | Verified against ILO/OECD watchlists | SME assesses compliance & severity | CSRD S2, UNGC | Risk-flagged datasets with audit trail |
| Employee Turnover | HR data, sustainability reports | Verified with workforce filings | SME analyzes attrition trends | CSRD S1, GRI 401 | Trend analysis with standard turnover % |
| Community Impact | Impact assessments, CSR reports | Cross-verify with local community data | SME validates alignment with frameworks | CSRD S3, GRI 413 | Community impact datasets delivered with framework mapping and audit trails. |
Social Data Collection Services for Diverse Industry Needs
Every industry publishes social disclosures differently. Our social data collection services (in the context of ESG) are designed to extract and validate this information from official reports and filings, then structure it into framework-mapped datasets that maintain consistency, comparability, and traceability across sectors.
Why Choose Us for Social Data Collection Service
With over two decades of experience supporting Fortune 500 enterprises, ESG platforms, and sustainability technology providers, our ESG data collection company is trusted by over 8,530 clients worldwide. We provide reliable, framework-mapped ESG datasets that match any custom requirements. Choosing our team means access to verified, framework-aligned social ESG datasets delivered with consistent quality and reliable global coverage.
Featured by Gartner among Top Global Data Validation and Enrichment Vendors
Among the Top 10% Service Providers on Clutch
Supporting Multilingual Data Collection with 99.95% Accuracy
Among the top 500 global outsourcing providers
Recognized as the Global Leader for Data Services
Get Accurate, Auditable, ESG-Related Social Data
Share your requirements, and we will deliver compliance-aligned social datasets tailored to your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How do you collect ESG data points that are not directly disclosed but required under CSRD or GRI?
We derive missing indicators from the available data. For example, employee turnover can be derived from headcount and exit data, while safety incident frequency can be calculated from injury reports. This ensures there are no gaps in your dataset and every required disclosure is covered.
2. How do I know that the social data is accurate and not just copied from reports?
Every data point undergoes multi-source cross-verification, and we run them through SME review for contextual accuracy. The final dataset includes audit trails and source references, allowing you to verify the data's origin.
3. What happens if a company misreports or withholds data? How do you handle gaps?
We flag inconsistencies and fill gaps through alternative official sources, peer benchmarking, and calculated indicators. Where disclosure is entirely absent, we tag the metric as “Not Reported” with explanatory metadata, ensuring complete transparency into data availability and reliability.
4. What metadata do you provide alongside the social ESG data (source, methodology, definitions)?
Every dataset includes technical metadata such as:
- Source reference (document name, publication date, URL where available)
- Methodology used (direct disclosure, calculated, benchmarked)
- Metric definitions and boundaries (e.g., region, reporting period, workforce scope)
- Audit trail tags for traceability
5. How scalable is your social data collection service if we expand coverage to thousands of companies?
Data volume is not a constraint with our ESG social metrics collection service. With 25+ years of experience, ISO-certified processes, and a large team of trained data specialists & domain experts, we can scale to thousands of companies and millions of data points while maintaining 99.95% accuracy.
6. How will you tailor your social impact data collection approach to our custom needs?
We begin with a requirements scoping exercise where we map your reporting needs, frameworks, and platform formats. Based on this, we customize the data collection strategy to cover the exact disclosures, industries, geographies, and refresh cycles you require. Delivery is then aligned with your system (CSV, JSON, XML, API), ensuring datasets fit seamlessly into your workflows.
