Within this framework, VINCI has adopted these principles in line with its activities and analysed the potential risks associated with its operations. The key issues identified were grouped into five categories, themselves divided into 17 themes, covering the entire life cycle of projects (from responses to calls for tenders to entry into service and operations). These five categories are: (a) recruitment practices and migrant workers, (b) working conditions, (c) living conditions, (d) practices relating to human rights within the value chain, and (e) relations with local communities.
A Group-wide reference guide has been published: VINCI’s Guide on Human Rights. It provides an overview of the issues identified and their implications for the Group’s companies. The guide also presents a shared set of guidelines, indicating the specific approaches to be adopted concerning the key risks for each of these 17 themes. This guide, which applies to all Group employees and is available in more than 20 languages, was presented to the European Works Council and approved by VINCI’s Executive Committee.
Recruitment and migration
Working
conditions
Living
conditions
Value chain
Local
communities
This approach and its implementation are being led by a dedicated committee, set up in 2015, which brings together human resources directors from all the Group’s business lines and divisions. Each of its members is responsible for the rollout of the approach within their scope, taking into account the specific features of its activities and sites. A dedicated team in the Group Human Resources Department supports the business lines and divisions, develops mapping and assessment tools, and monitors emerging developments in various fields. This committee met several times to define a proposed benefits framework for all of the Group’s employees.
A range of tools support the operational implementation of this approach and assist the teams with the application of these guidelines. They include training modules, country-level risk maps and a performance assessment tool. To date, risk maps have been drawn up for 24 countries with support from an external provider and 70 subsidiaries or active projects have been assessed in 29 countries, covering a total of over 19,000 employees. Depending on the assessment’s findings, action plans are prepared and put in place as part of a continuous improvement approach.
To support its policy and raise the bar for the protection of human rights across its value chain, VINCI actively participates in various collaborative initiatives, including Building Responsibly, a global business initiative co-founded by the Group that serves the engineering and construction industry, Entreprises pour les Droits de l’Homme (EDH, Businesses for Human Rights), and the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment. These collaborative initiatives and tools are described in detail in section 4, “Duty of vigilance with regard to human rights”, page 242.
VINCI’s commitment to human rights is reflected in specific actions that are closely aligned with its operations and tailored to the level of risk. In Qatar for instance, where VINCI is present through Qatari Diar VINCI Construction (QDVC), employment and working conditions have been monitored more closely, particularly for employees of temporary employment agencies and subcontractors. This is presented on the Group’s website at: https://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/en/item/qatar.htm. Further details on the actions taken can be found in paragraph 4.4, “Duty of vigilance with regard to human rights”, page 242.
Tools developed by VINCI to “protect, respect and remedy” (*) the potential human rights impacts relating to its activities:
- ● VINCI’s Guide on Human Rights and its Supplement: a set of operational approaches and guidelines to be adopted for all VINCI activities in all the countries where it operates.
- ● Human rights e-learning module: a course to raise awareness and train employees on the Group’s commitment to human rights, the scope of its responsibilities, the human rights risks associated with its business lines and the possible repercussions of human rights violations.
- ● Country risk maps: analysis designed to help VINCI and its subsidiaries to identify and prioritise areas in which there are specific human rights risks linked to the regulatory, political, economic, social and environmental context in a given country.
- ● Performance assessment tool: tool with over 200 questions to carry out an objective, in-depth and qualitative assessment of entities, and support reviews on aspects such as recruitment, working conditions, living conditions, subcontracting and the community impact of projects. This tool will switch to a digital version in 2022.
(*) United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: https://bit.ly/3p3LHe8.