Unlike most European and other countries, the North-American accounting
and exchange regulations do not generally require disclosure of labor and
related costs as a separate item in the financial statements and companies
choose to voluntarily disclose such operating costs usually in the footnotes
to the financial statements. Although there is an extensive list of accounting
and securities exchange regulations regarding some aspects of human capital
and labor-related expenses (such as stock-based compensation and post-retirement
benefits), the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA, 2003)
in Canada and the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the United States
(FASB) as well as the securities exchange disclosure requirements in both countries
do not mandate the disclosure of labor-related expenses.