Which companies does the employee count even matter for?
Since the Omnibus I Directive (Directive (EU) 2026/470) entered into force on 18 March 2026, only companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than €450 million in revenue are required to report under CSRD. Correctly calculating the employee count is therefore a key first step in determining whether your company falls under the CSRD at all.
Is there a single EU-wide standard for calculating the number of employees?
No. The EU does not prescribe a single calculation method. Instead, the European Commission refers to national law. This is already reflected in the German government draft bill for the CSRD transposition law of 3 September 2025. Where national legislation provides no rule, companies may apply Article 5 of EU Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
What does EU Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (Article 5) say?
The Commission recommendation states: "The staff headcount corresponds to the number of annual work units (AWU), i.e. the number of persons who worked full-time within the enterprise, or on its behalf, during the entire reference year in question."
The following applies:
- Part-time and seasonal workers are counted as fractions of an AWU
- The headcount includes:
(a) Employees;
(b) Persons subordinated to the company and regarded as employees under national law;
(c) Managing partners;
(d) Partners regularly active in the company who derive financial benefits from it
- Not included are:
(a) Apprentices and interns with a training contract;
(b) Persons on maternity or parental leave
How is the employee count determined in Germany ?
Since the CSRD has not yet been transposed into applicable German law, there are still no final, binding national rules for calculating the employee count under the CSRD. The government draft bill for the CSRD transposition law of 3 September 2025 was supplemented by a joint amendment from the SPD and CDU/CSU coalition factions on 31 March 2026, which integrates the simplifications of the EU Omnibus I package into the law. Following a hearing in the Legal Affairs Committee on 13 April 2026, final passage in the Bundestag is still pending. The government draft already references, in Art. 1 para. 6, Section 267 (3) sentence 1 and (4) to (5) of the German Commercial Code (HGB). The latter, Section 267 (5) HGB, defines the average number of employees as "one quarter of the sum of the numbers of employees employed as of 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December, including employees employed abroad, but excluding those employed for the purpose of their vocational training." Under German law, the employee count is therefore calculated as a headcount rather than as AWU, unlike the EU Commission recommendation described above.
In practice, this means:
- Employee count is calculated based on four reference dates (see Haufe Online Redaktion: Wie die Zahl der Arbeitnehmer im Jahresdurchschnitt bestimmt wird)
- Employees abroad are included
- Trainees and members of the management board, managing directors, and supervisory board are excluded (see Haufe Online Redaktion: Zahl der beschäftigten Arbeitnehmer)
Should companies count only employees based in the EU, or all global employees?
All employees worldwide must be taken into account when assessing CSRD thresholds.
Do employees of subsidiaries need to be counted proportionally (e.g., in the case of a 90% stake)?
It is advisable to include all employees of subsidiaries in full. The reasoning follows the logic of revenue consolidation under Section 296 of the German Commercial Code (HGB): if a subsidiary is material to group revenue and fully consolidated in financial reporting, it should also be fully reflected in CSRD-related non-financial reporting.
Employee calculation of seasonal businesses in Germany
According to Haufe Online, for seasonal businesses, calculating the average number of employees based on month-end headcounts is advisable in order to avoid distortions. This means that instead of using the statutory quarterly method pursuant to § 267 (5) HGB, the employee figures at the end of each of the twelve months should be used to obtain a more accurate picture of the actual number of employees.
Should temporary agency workers be included in the number of employees?
Until the CSRD is fully transposed into German law (expected by the end of 2025), there is no definitive legal guidance on this point.
However, according to the EU Recommendation (2003/361/EC, Article 5), seasonal workers should be included on a pro-rata basis. This logic can reasonably be extended to temporary agency workers. Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) requires that agency workers be fully counted (i.e., one headcount per person) if they significantly contribute to the size of the company. This is the case when they have worked for the company for more than six months within a year. The most robust approach is likely a proportional calculation based on full-time equivalents (FTEs). When in doubt, it’s best to consult your auditor.
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