This document specifies requirements for a human resource (HR) management system, which enables an organization to:

• create stakeholder value through effective application and continual improvement of the HR management system, which includes the attraction, development and deployment of workers;
• integrate the HR management system into the organization’s overall management system, including risk management;
• demonstrate its ability to consistently manage its workers in a way that contributes to meeting stakeholder needs, including the achievement of organizational objectives and consideration of the needs of workers and employers;
• positively influence human capital (the collective knowledge, skills and abilities of the organization’s workforce).

This document is applicable to organizations of all sizes, growth phases and sectors, whether public or private, for profit or not for profit. This document does not determine the organization’s strategies and objectives.

This document does not serve to replace the instruments of agreed collective codetermination, most prominently that of collective bargaining, as established in many countries and practised by, for example, employers, workers unions, employee representatives and their respective associations.