In addition to using its experience in Qatar to reinforce policies and internal practices across the Group, VINCI collaborates with many stakeholders to help improve practices in the ecosystem.
VINCI is present in Qatar via Qatari Diar VINCI Construction (QDVC). Since 2007, QDVC has taken concrete measures to improve migrant workers’ living and working conditions and to prevent the risk of forced labour at every stage in the migration cycle.
To eliminate debt bondage and contract substitution, which are major contributing factors to the vulnerability of migrant workers in Qatar, QDVC has set up processes to monitor recruitment agencies in countries of origin (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, etc.), with specific rules governing the costs covered by QDVC. A full 100% of the contracts signed prohibit agencies from charging recruitment fees and include a reference to the Employer Pays Principle (https://www.ihrb.org/employerpays/the-employer-pays-principle) supported by VINCI, along with strict clauses to ensure its application, and the obligation to monitor downstream compliance.
QDVC employees have visited agencies in home countries on several occasions to verify compliance with rules, spread the information among applicants that recruitment is free, examine the actual working conditions offered and participate directly in recruitment interviews.
QDVC carries out human rights audits of subcontractors, during which it inspects sites, verifies records and documents and interviews workers. In 2022, QDVC conducted audits of its 62 subcontractors and temporary employment agencies on site at the end of 2022. Of these, 35 examined working conditions (covering 40% of the temporary employment agencies and subcontractors on site) and 68 looked at living conditions (covering 82% of these companies). The subcontractors’ average score for the CSR audit, which combines the assessments for living conditions and working conditions, was 72%, a 35-point improvement over the results of their first audit, when they began working for QDVC.
For the early prevention of any risks to workers’ rights related to subcontracting, audits are also carried out during the pre-qualification and selection phases, in addition to during contract execution. Accordingly, QDVC conducted 124 pre-qualification audits of 85 companies in 2022. They led to the selection of 55 subcontractors for work with QDVC (30 companies, or 35%, were eliminated for not meeting CSR criteria).
QDVC also carried out spot checks on more than 1,000 of its subcontractors’ workers, during which its teams made unannounced on-site visits to verify that workers were in possession of their passport and a valid work permit, that they were receiving their salary in full in their bank account, that they had health insurance, that working hours were complied with, that their housing was satisfactory and that they were not asked to pay a recruitment fee to come work in Qatar.
99 % of QDVC’s temporary workers and subcontractors’ employees were covered by an audit of working and living conditions
In 2022, CSR due diligence in the value chain was further reinforced, for example by expanding auditing procedures to include sales development and contract acquisition activities and by applying stricter CSR criteria in selecting partners, customers and projects.
As a complement to the audits, the company conducts anonymous surveys of workers, at different periods of time, to encourage honest feedback and assess their well-being and the effectiveness of QDVC’s measures. These anonymous surveys administered by the CSR Department provide a channel for workers to openly share both positive and negative feedback about the company’s practices. The management creates an action plan after analysing the results. In 2022, 151 workers (out of 300) responded to the survey. The majority considered that QDVC performs well overall in terms of QHSE and CSR (71%) and are satisfied with how QDVC managed the Covid-19 pandemic (93%). A large majority are satisfied with their life in Qatar (86%) and with their current employment (88%). Most also stated that their professional and personal lives were well balanced (82%), would recommend QDVC to a friend (89%) and planned to stay on longer with QDVC (76%).
QDVC’s recruitment process, the risk prevention measures taken and a list of the recruitment agencies used are detailed in VINCI’s public response to the survey conducted by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/vinciqdvc-response-to-2018-construction-survey-re-migrantworkers/). The latest report by the Centre (https:/media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/files/BHRRC-Shaky-Ground-Construction-Briefing-v1.1.pdf) ranks VINCI/QDVC first among Gulf companies, based on its transparency regarding recruitment practices, remuneration, living conditions, freedom of movement, health and safety, workers’ representation, prevention of subcontracting risks and consultation and grievance procedures.
