For several years, VINCI has set up a long-term incentive plan, in the form of performance shares that vest after three years provided the beneficiary has remained with the Group. Every year, nearly 10% of the Group’s managers benefit from these plans (see paragraph 5.2.1, “Existing performance share plans”, of chapter C, “Report on corporate governance”, page 152). The performance conditions for each of these plans, which are approved at the Shareholders’ General Meeting, specifically include VINCI’s stock market performance compared with that of a composite industry index and internal economic performance criteria. To engage employees in the Group’s CSR strategy, an environmental criterion was included in 2019, and two criteria – one on safety and one on the percentage of women in management were added in 2021.
Developing employee share ownership is the eighth commitment of the VINCI Manifesto: “Share the benefits of our performance”. The Group aims to give its employees the opportunity, in all countries where it is possible, to share in its success through employee share ownership plans and appropriate profit-sharing mechanisms. For many years, the Group has thus led a proactive employee share ownership policy, providing two parallel plans: the Castor France plan for employees in France and the Castor International plan for those abroad.
In France, VINCI has made three share offerings per year since 1995, with an advantageous employer contribution policy that enables employees to invest significantly, regardless of their income level.
The maximum annual employer contribution of €3,500 breaks down as follows:
The total employer’s contribution for the Castor France mutual fund was nearly €197.5 million for France in 2021, for an 82% subscription rate.
Initially implemented for French employees, the employee share ownership policy has been rolled out gradually worldwide since 2012 for employees of subsidiaries in which VINCI owns more than a 50% stake. Adjustments have been made to comply with regulations in each country concerned, while guaranteeing equal access to the plan, irrespective of the employee’s professional situation.
Employees’ subscriptions are matched with conditional awards of bonus shares granted as follows:
That means up to 80 bonus shares on top of the employee’s investment.
The total employer’s contribution for the Castor International mutual fund was €83 million in 2021 for a 26% subscription rate.
The Castor International plan has continuously grown in the 10 years since its inception. Starting with 14 countries in 2012, the plan covered 41 countries in 2021, adding Colombia and Hungary since 2020. This now enables 85% of Group employees outside France to become VINCI shareholders.
The proportion of employee shareholders is one of VINCI’s key non-financial performance indicators, as it helps increase employee retention and acts as a powerful incentive in attracting talent.
91% of Group employees are covered by the Castor share ownership programme (90% in 2020)
Given the Group’s highly decentralised organisation, employee share ownership has proved to be a valuable instrument in unifying employees around the VINCI brand. Castor achieves multiple goals. Apart from being a remuneration tool, it is a means of sharing the benefits of growth, while helping to attract and retain talent. It is also a vector of VINCI’s corporate culture worldwide, meeting with success both in France and internationally.
The importance that the Group attaches to employee share ownership is also reflected in the number and frequency of share offerings. More than 91% of employees worldwide are given the option of enrolling in the share ownership programme each year.
In addition to this employee share ownership programme, the Group offers other employee benefits, particularly in France, with multiple incentive plans and profit-sharing agreements. Thanks to these plans, a large majority of Group employees in France benefit directly from the performance of their local employer. At the end of 2021, 96.5% of employees in France benefited from incentive plans and/or profit-sharing agreements (96.5% in 2020). Due to the impact of the health crisis on the Group’s businesses, VINCI paid out lower amounts in France under profit-sharing and incentive plans than in the previous year (a total of €141.9 million in 2021, down from €181.6 million in 2020, as part of its policy to share the benefits of company growth).
In France, the Group’s collective retirement savings plan, Percol-G Archimède, enhances the range of savings plans offered by VINCI. First established to allow employees to offset reduced income from mandatory pension plans, the plan was revised to take advantage of new provisions introduced with France’s new Pacte law (an action plan for business growth and transformation), which took effect on 1 January 2021. The plan continues to enable employees to save for retirement under more attractive terms, with employer matching contributions of 100% for up to €400 per year. Employer contributions to the Group’s collective retirement savings plan totalled €8.9 million in 2021 for France, up 14% from the €7.8 million contributed in 2020.
