bilan social

English translation: human resources report

13:04 Dec 3, 2010

French to English translations [PRO]
Business/Commerce (general) / CV

French term or phrase: bilan social

Hi

This has been asked as "company audit" but I doubt that fits here.

It's for the CV of a HR manager whose job involves:
évaluations des compétences
bilan social
évaluations de carrière

Does anyone know for sure what "bilan social" refers to here and possibly the equivalent in English?

Thank you very much!

Sandra Petch KudoZ activity Questions: 576 (none open) (86 closed without grading) Answers: 558
Local time: 07:44

English translation:human resources report

Explanation:
In line with writeaway's links given below this is a report which summarises and analyses changes in a company's labour force throughout the year.

I would suggest 'human resources report' to cover this - the number of people hired and fired, promoted, trained, health and safety.

See some examples of "human resources reports":

http://www.policiesprocedures.com/Human-Resources-Report-Pol...

http://www.policiesprocedures.com/Human-Resources-Report-Pol...

Hope this helps

Selected response from:

Irene McClure
Local time: 07:44

Grading comment

Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +2

survey of employment and working conditions, report on employment and working conditions

Sara Freitas

3 +3

human resources report

Irene McClure

Social report

Lidia Saragaço

3 +1

staff reports/personnel reports

AllegroTrans

4 -1

social audit

rkillings

3 -1

social balance sheet

MatthewLaSon

Summary of reference entries provided

explanations (in Fr)

writeaway

bilan social

Beila Goldberg

Discussion entries: 5

Answers

16 mins confidence:

Social report

Explanation:

here is an example, there are many others available

http://www.bnet.com/blog/harvard/making-the-annual-report-a-...

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Note added at 17 mins (2010-12-03 13:21:14 GMT)
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The HR department would be responsible for this task.

Lidia Saragaço
Portugal
Local time: 06:44
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks - this seems to be about corporate ethics, environmental policy, etc. It may fit here but on the basis of this one example I'm not sure.

32 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

human resources report

Irene McClure
Local time: 07:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Thank you.

8 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

social balance sheet

Explanation:
Hello,

The person is involved is in social balance sheet reporting.

was really a kind of social balance sheet comparing the contributions of their independent store to that of Amazon.com in the community. ...
www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/58080156.html

as well as the acquisition of public utility certificates; - Preparation of Social Balance Sheet and social responsibility reports; - Legal advisory ...
www.ronaldomartins.adv.br/practice_areas.htm

Among the most popular are the social balance sheet, which integrates financial and social reporting by assigning a dollar value to a company's social ...
www.jonentine.com/articles/taming_corp_beast.htm -

I hope this helps.

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 01:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 175

9 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

staff reports/personnel reports

Explanation:
another poss.

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 321

17 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

social audit

Explanation:
"Definition: social audit

a process for evaluating, reporting on, and improving an organization's performance and behavior, and for measuring its effects on society. The social audit can be used to produce a measure of the social responsibility of an organization. It takes into account any internal code of conduct as well as the views of all stakeholders and draws on best practice factors of total quality management and human resource development. Like internal auditing, social auditing requires an organization to identify what it is seeking to achieve, who the stakeholders are, and how it wants to measure performance."

Yes, it's a component of CSR, but it's one in which HR in particular has to be heavily involved whether it's conducted internally or by an outside consultant.

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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2010-12-04 19:45:38 GMT)
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Here's how BNP describes its bilan social:

"Le bilan social récapitule en un document unique les principales données chiffrées permettant d’apprécier la situation de l’entreprise dans le domaine social, d’enregistrer les réalisations effectuées et de mesurer les changements intervenus au cours de l’année écoulée et des deux années précédentes.

Le bilan social comporte des informations sur l’emploi, les rémunérations et charges accessoires, les conditions de santé et de sécurité, les autres conditions de travail, la formation, les relations professionnelles ainsi que sur les conditions de vie des salariés et de leurs familles dans la mesure où ces conditions dépendent de l’entreprise."

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Note added at 2 days10 hrs (2010-12-05 23:52:19 GMT)
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I am aware that a bilan social has been required by law for French companies since 1977. The question is what to call it in English. As a *translation* of a two-word title, the eleven-word explanation offered above is a non-starter.

You can duck the challenge leave the term in French. A respected legal source refers to it in English as “bilan social (social balance sheet)” – but glossing the term with such a literal translation hardly helps the reader, since the thing looks and works nothing like a balance sheet.

Or you can look at what major French companies are calling it in their translations. France’s largest bank, for one, publishes a glossy version in English titled “Social Audit”:
http://media-cms.bnpparibas.com/file/15/1/social-audit-2009....
(Perhaps a recent change of name. In the EN website directory structure, the label corresponding to FR ‘Bilans sociaux’ is still “Social reports”:
http://invest.bnpparibas.com/en/pid592/social-reports.html
And notice that they are indexed as a sub-category of “Financial reports”!)
Much of the more “social” information in BNPP’s bilan social reappears at some length in its Environmental and Social Responsibility report:
http://media-cms.bnpparibas.com/file/46/0/bnp_rse_2009_gb.10...
and again in a section of its annual report:
http://media-cms.bnpparibas.com/file/25/4/annual_report_2009...

The relation is CSR is not remote, and the English adjective “social” is fully justified for this document. Aside from employee numbers and pay, the topics that these reports address are nothing if not social: health and safety, gender equality, training, career development, workers with disabilities, retirement provision, housing, transportation, and so on, and on. In the English-speaking world (or should I say, “in the anglo-saxon capitalist world”?) these are all matters of corporate social responsibility, as distinct from financial reporting.

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Note added at 2 days10 hrs (2010-12-05 23:54:03 GMT)
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The relation with CSR. Sorry.

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Note added at 2 days10 hrs (2010-12-06 00:03:00 GMT)
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Disclaimer: I had no involvement in the BNPP English translations cited.

rkillings
United States
Local time: 22:44
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 278

36 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

survey of employment and working conditions, report on employment and working conditions

Explanation:
Usually these are comprehensive surveys of hiring, firing, jobs created, use of temp workers, occupational health and safety, can also include interviews with employees...the idea is to give an overall feel of the labor "climate" at a company.

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-12-03 14:53:00 GMT)
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Why would I need to "make it known" what I Tweet about? Twitter is public and anyone who wants to "know" can know very easily. Proz.com is also a public website and Kudoz pages are fully google-able and visible to the public...Why would you NOT want to broaden the terminology discussion? The second you post a Kudoz question your name, and possibly even the job you are working on, become public knowledge. Not sure what the problem is. I'm sure I'll be censored or restricted or something now...oh well.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-12-03 15:15:36 GMT)
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I guess the only solution is to have the question deleted, then. And to ask Proz to make a rule banning any incoming links to their website, but something tells me they won't be too keen on that (LOL).

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Note added at 20 hrs (2010-12-04 09:49:36 GMT)
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Re-posting writeaway's reference here, as everyone seems to be ignoring it... The "bilan social" is something very specific (companies of a certain size are required to do it) and it is about labor only, not about broader CSR issues (environment, community relations, etc.).

"
Le bilan social comporte des informations sur l'emploi, les rémunérations et charges accessoires, les conditions d'hygiène et de sécurité, les autres conditions de travail, la formation, les relations professionnelles ainsi que sur les conditions de vie des salariés et de leurs familles dans la mesure où ces conditions dépendent de l'entreprise.

Il doit être soumis annuellement par l’employeur au Comité d’entreprise dans les entreprises dont l’effectif est d’au moins 300 salariés."

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Note added at 20 hrs (2010-12-04 10:02:11 GMT)
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TOC from one of the dozen or so "bilans sociaux" I've translated over the past 8 years

EMPLOI

1. Effectif

2. Répartition hommes/femmes
3. Age/ancienneté
4. Répartition par nationalité
5. Structure de qualification
6. Personnel temporaire
7. Salariés à temps partiel
8. Embauches
9. Départs
10. Promotions
Absentéism
e
ALAIRES
S
CONDITIONS D’HYGIENE ET DE SECURITE
AUTRES CONDITIONS DE TRAVAIL
FORMATION PROFESSIONNELLE
RELATIONS PROFESSIONNELLES
AUTRES CONDITIONS DE VIE RELEVANT DE L’ENTREPRISE

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Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2010-12-05 07:26:05 GMT)
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Additional reference here http://www.infoce.fr/dossiers/social/le-bilan-social.html

Excerpt from definition :"Le bilan social regroupe des données chiffrées (emploi, rémunération, formation, etc.) qui permettent d’apprécier la situation de l’entreprise dans le domaine social. " (FR. "social" => EN. "labor/employment/hr" NOT "social" as in "CSR"). This is a specific document legally required in France for companies with more than 300 employees and has nothing to do with CSR reports.

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Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2010-12-05 07:28:49 GMT)
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And another reference to clear up the apparent confusion as to what the word "social" actually means here in French (i.e. "labor" or "employment" or even "HR") and to once again emphasize that the "bilan social" is a specific, legally required document (and thus not open to interpretation, it is neither an annual report or a CSR report).

http://www.rsenews.com/public/dossier_social/bilan_societal....

"Contrairement au ***bilan social*** (obligatoire pour les entreprises entrant dans le champ du décret), le ***bilan sociétal*** procède d’une démarche volontaire. Ce dernier a été mis au point par le CJDES (Centre des jeunes dirigeants et des acteurs de l’économie sociale) au cours de l’année 2002."

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Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2010-12-05 07:31:13 GMT)
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http://www.tessolidaire.com/PAR_TPL_IDENTIFIANT/101/TPL_CODE...

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Note added at 1 day18 hrs (2010-12-05 07:40:58 GMT)
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And, going straight to the source, the code du travail

http://www.lexinter.net/Legislation5/JURISOC2/bilan_social.h...

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Note added at 2 days17 hrs (2010-12-06 06:06:33 GMT)
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My answer is not eleven words long, it is a choice between two six-word phrases. If the number of words is an issue in your translation (you can't translate a two-word phrase by a six-word phrase for whatever reason...page layout?) then of course my answer would not work. But I maintain that the SCOPE of the BS and a CSR report are different. A BS is smaller and contains the legally-required chapters. A CSR report includes info about corporate citizenship, environmental responsibility, community relations, charitable giving, etc. To avoid confusion with CSR, I still recommend not using the word "social" in any EN translation.

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Note added at 2 days17 hrs (2010-12-06 06:09:41 GMT)
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Still looking and I have a yet to find a reference in English where something with "social" in it (social performance, scorecard, balance sheet, audit, etc.) does not refer to a scope that is MUCH BROADER than the French "bilan social".

Reference: http://www.sfmtraduction.com/blog/traduction-de-textes-rh-le...

Sara Freitas
France
Local time: 07:44
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 28

Notes to answerer

Asker: Sara - if you are going to post links on Twitter to ProZ questions I think you should make this known.

Asker: I'm aware ProZ can be googled. When you tweet, you make something directly available to followers, hence well beyond the translation community. One person has already hidden an answer because of this. I don't tweet, I'm not on Facebook and do not want to be on either one indirectly.

Reference comments

20 mins peer agreement (net): +2

Reference: explanations (in Fr)

Reference information:
Le bilan social est un document récapitulatif des principales données sociales chiffrées de votre entreprise. Il fournit des informations sur 3 ans, qui permettent d'apprécier la situation de votre entreprise, d'enregistrer les réalisations effectuées et de mesurer les changements intervenus au cours de l'année passée et des 2 années précédentes. Ce document vous intéresse directement, ainsi que l'inspecteur du travail, si votre effectif compte au moins 300 salariés.
http://www.editions-tissot.fr/droit-travail/content.aspx?idS...

Bilan social - Définition

Document unique rappelant les principales données chiffrées permettant d'apprécier la situation de l'entreprise dans le domaine social, d'enregistrer les réalisations effectuées et de mesurer les changements intervenus au cours de l'année écoulée et des deux années précédentes.

Le bilan social comporte des informations sur l'emploi, les rémunérations et charges accessoires, les conditions d'hygiène et de sécurité, les autres conditions de travail, la formation, les relations professionnelles ainsi que sur les conditions de vie des salariés et de leurs familles dans la mesure où ces conditions dépendent de l'entreprise.

Il doit être soumis annuellement par l’employeur au Comité d’entreprise dans les entreprises dont l’effectif est d’au moins 300 salariés.
http://www.guide-du-travail.com/lexique/b/bilan-social,,209....

writeaway
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 134

Note to reference poster

Asker: Very helpful, thanks.

1 day 4 hrs peer agreement (net): +1

Reference: bilan social

Reference information:
Le bilan social ne contient pas les mêmes informations en Belgique ou en France.
Mais ce sont des informations qui doivent être communiquées par l'entreprise.
Ce qui relevait sans doute de la responsabilité de cette personne.
Ceci pour compléter la référence de writeaway.
Le tout est de savoir si ce même type d'obligations existe ailleurs et dans le pays pour lequel le document doit être traduit.
En cas de doute, reprendre bilan social et entre parenthèses, ce qui en sera le plus proche.

Reference: http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/legifrance/61-code...
Reference: http://www.nbb.be/pub/03_00_00_00_00/03_04_00_00_00/03_04_01...

Beila Goldberg
Belgium
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French

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