2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

General and financial elements

Main collaborative initiatives in which VINCI participates
  • Building Responsibly (www.building-responsibly.org), of which VINCI is a founding member and a co-chair in 2023. Because the building industry faces specific challenges, this coalition of engineering and construction firms works to develop common approaches and tools, share practices, engage with all stakeholders in the value chain (customers, investors, etc.) and find concrete and collective solutions to the sector’s challenges. In addition to helping members improve their practices and risk prevention measures, the initiative aims to inspire the entire construction ecosystem to commit to promoting the rights of workers in the industry. In 2023, Building Responsibly published its first activity report, which can be found on its website. Working group meetings on topics like social protection or working hours were held. A three-day seminar took place in Singapore in October, during which two days were devoted to presentations of projects or tools by member companies, enabling them to trade experiences and share practical solutions. The third day was spent in discussions with external stakeholders (customers, investors, think tanks, civil society organisations, etc.) on the role of parties in the value chain with respect to the employment and working conditions of construction workers. The risks faced by the construction sector in south-east Asia were another topic of discussion.
  • Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment (www. ihrb. org/employerpays/leadership-group-for-responsible-recruitment), which welcomed VINCI to its steering committee in June 2017. This collaborative initiative between leading companies and expert organisations strives to promote responsible recruitment practices and combat forced labour.
  • Entreprises pour les Droits de l’Homme / Businesses for Human Rights (EDH, www.e-dh.org), of which VINCI is an executive board member. This association of leading French companies is a forum for discussion, initiatives and proposals by these businesses to improve the integration of human rights and duty of vigilance into business policies and practices. In 2023, it focused on vigilance measures, human rights indicators and human rights risks in the transport sector.
  • UN Global Compact (www.unglobalcompact.org), which VINCI signed in 2003. VINCI is a member of the Human Rights Club of the French network of the Global Compact. In 2023, VINCI also joined the working group on local communities, which will continue in 2024.
  • Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) (www.b4ig.org/), of which VINCI has been a member since 2020. A partner of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), B4IG is a coalition of global companies working together to promote inclusive growth, in particular by advancing human rights, building inclusive workplaces, implementing living wages and measuring impacts. VINCI co-chairs the working group on human rights. In 2023, B4IG published its Fair Recruitment Toolkit for Employers & Service Providers. VINCI participated actively, over several months, in the development of this toolkit. It draws from the Group’s experience in Qatar, especially the methodology used for the pilot project conducted with the local ILO Project Office (see paragraph 4.3.7, “Reinforced vigilance to fight forced labour and illegal work”, page 276). Thanks to VINCI’s collaboration with the other B4IG members, the tools and documents are now operational for use in any geographical area or business sector and available to all (www.b4ig.org/b4ig-publishes-its-human-rights-toolbox-on-agency-workers-and-service-providers).
4.3.6 Monitoring implementation and effectiveness

Through its Social Responsibility Department, the Group monitors and reports on policy implementation in its operations and conducts audits as required. Outcomes are presented to the Group’s top management, the Board of Directors and the European Works Council.

  • Monitoring implementation, especially in priority countries

The order of priority for subsidiary audits, conducted by the Social Responsibility Department and evaluators in business lines and divisions, is determined based on a consolidation of eight internationally recognised indicators (*) and the strength of the presence (workforce and revenue) of VINCI’s companies in a given country. For these assessments of the Group and its business lines and divisions, priority is given to countries where the Group’s presence is strong and human rights are deemed to be at risk. Because some VINCI company activities are project-based, this ranking and the accompanying road map are reviewed each year to account for changes in their geographical locations, level of activity, and external indicators. If needed, other country analyses may be developed to better identify issues and risks, for instance, when responding to a call for tenders.

Human rights assessments carried out across the Group (*)
  • Evaluators from the Group’s head offices, business lines and divisions have conducted assessments in 38 countries.
  • A total of 98 Group subsidiaries and active projects have been assessed (this count includes only subsidiaries and projects that are still active and in the Group).
  • These assessments cover nearly 30,000 employees in the Group, accounting for close to 24% of the Group’s workforce outside of France and 64% of its workforce in non OECD member countries (these figures are 18% and 45%, respectively, including the Cobra IS business line, which the Group is gradually integrating into its human rights framework and will continue to do so in 2024).
  • In the very high-priority countries identified by the Group in 2023, these assessments cover 82% of the workforce, with the goal to achieve 100% coverage.

(*) The 2023 action plan is based on data at 31 December 2022.

The Human Rights Steering Committee monitors implementation of the road map and discusses it with the Board of Directors’ Strategy and CSR Committee.

The Group’s business lines and divisions continued to use indicators to track the advancement of human rights assessments and report on progress to their management. For example, VINCI Construction Grands Projets developed a set of indicators that are monitored and presented monthly to the management committee. The indicators provide information on assessments, follow-up, progress, and the resolution of nonconformities. In 2023, a report on the assessments carried out in Sogea Satom’s subsidiaries was presented to the company’s expanded management committee for discussion. In the same manner, VINCI Energies International & Systems now systematically monitors its assessments and action plans and makes regular reports on results to its management.

(*) World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators – Rule of Law; Transparency International – Corruption Perceptions Index; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Human Development Index; World Economic Forum – Global Gender Gap Report; US Department of State – Trafficking in Persons Report; Ratification of the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO); Freedom House – Freedom in the World report; International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) – Global Rights Index.