- Training on responsible purchasing
The Group believes that training for its employees is vital, and it takes various actions to further strengthen their responsible purchasing expertise and skills. An e-learning course is available in five languages for all employees to help them absorb the content of the Group’s practical guide on responsible purchasing and raise their awareness of the related issues. At 31 December 2022, more than 3,500 employees had completed this course. In addition, a more in-depth course for the Group’s purchasing teams was provided throughout 2022, covering more than 100 employees in key positions for the Group’s purchases. Around 30 ambassador-trainers in the various business lines completed a course to become trainers with a view to rolling out the tools and methodologies within their scope. In 2022, 80 new employees were trained on responsible purchasing by these ambassadors.
- Responsible subcontracting approach
The Group’s priority is to retain and expand its in-house technical expertise and activities. However, the many public procurement contracts won by some companies, together with the Group’s growing presence in general contracting for projects demanding highly technical and specialised skill sets, may require the use of a certain percentage of subcontractors. VINCI makes every effort to ensure that its subcontractors comply with the regulations in force in the countries where these companies operate.
VINCI’s Subcontractor Relations Guidelines, rolled out in 2014, sets out the Group’s commitments in terms of subcontracting: safety conditions of subcontractors’ employees that are comparable to those of the Group’s personnel, sustainable business relationships, fair bidding processes, transparency in business dealings, cooperation with local companies and compliance with VINCI’s core values. To further strengthen its vigilance and control over workforce-related risks in subcontracting, VINCI has launched various initiatives since 2018 to assess the practices in place and identify areas for progress (see paragraph 4.3.4, “Assessing the situation of subsidiaries, subcontractors and suppliers”, of the Group’s duty of vigilance plan, pages 265 to 266).
2.3 Respect for human rights
VINCI’s human rights approach and actions are presented in detail in the section on the Group’s duty of vigilance plan (see paragraph 4.3, “Duty of vigilance with regard to human rights”, page 267).
VINCI joined the UN Global Compact in 2003 and is committed to supporting and promoting respect for human rights within its sphere of influence, and to ensuring that Group companies are not involved in human rights abuses. To define its strategy, VINCI refers to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation and the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Within this framework, VINCI has adopted these principles in line with its activities and analysed the risks to which third parties may be exposed in connection 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.
Drawn up in 2017, VINCI’s Guide on Human Rights is a Group-wide reference document that sets out the issues identified and their implications for the Group’s companies. It also presents a shared set of guidelines, indicating the specific approaches to be adopted to prevent the key risks in each of these 17 areas. 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.
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 27 countries with support from an external provider and 81 subsidiaries or active projects have been assessed in 32 countries, covering a total of over 23,000 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), Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG), and the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment. These collaborative initiatives and tools are described in detail in paragraph 4.3, “Duty of vigilance with regard to human rights”, of the Group’s duty of vigilance plan, page 267.