It is organised around a Bureau, a select committee that meets as and when required and at least three times a year. The Bureau’s remit includes preparing the Group Works Council meetings. It draws up the agenda for plenary meetings in conjunction with the management team. The Bureau is responsible for the administration of the Group Works Council between its annual meetings.
Two plenary meetings are organised each year. To enable the Group Works Council to fulfil its mandate, management provides it with information beforehand about the Group’s activity, financial position, employment trends and forecasts, as well as:
The Group Works Council is provided with information prior to any significant decision concerning the Group’s scope or its legal or financial structure, as well as its potential impacts on employment.
In addition to plenary meetings, an annual training session is held for representatives, covering all the members, based on a programme set by the Bureau. These actions, which are also funded by VINCI, train members on key issues relating to the Group’s strategy, with a focus on building constructive social dialogue. In 2024, these training sessions looked at value sharing, gender equality, healthcare costs and social insurance, as well as the issues involved in restructuring operations.
In 2023, three agreements were negotiated and signed between management and the Group’s trade union representatives. Firstly, three negotiation meetings were initiated with the representative trade unions at Group level to renew the agreement on the scope, role and operation of the Group Works Council. Following these negotiations, a new agreement was signed with most of the trade unions for the 2023-2027 term. A second agreement was approved to change the approach for the employee savings funds set up in connection with the Group’s collective retirement savings plan in France, in particular to include “green” funds.
Lastly, an open-ended agreement was renegotiated to promote social dialogue in France.
Agreement to promote social dialogue in France
Renegotiated in 2023, the agreement to promote social dialogue aims to define a core framework of actions to create the conditions for efficient social dialogue at Group companies in France. It was set up on an open-ended basis, with a clause for it to be reviewed every four years. Apart from meeting legal obligations, this agreement defines various aspects to be emphasised, including occupational health and safety, gender equality (including steps to combat sexist behaviour, promote the representation of women and support intergenerational dynamics), and the environment.
The practical recommendations set out in this agreement include:
The European Works Council (EWC) covers the Group’s subsidiaries located in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, representing 73% of the Group’s total workforce at 31 December 2024. The EWC comprises 31 full members and 31 alternate members from 15 countries where the Group has more than 500 employees. All the members are either elected representatives or trade union delegates. Group management is represented by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Vice-President for Human Resources and the Director of Social Affairs. The preamble of the agreement renewed in 2022 states that the signatories share the conviction that effective and active employee representation is crucial to the success of VINCI Group companies and their employees.
The EWC provides a unique space for information and dialogue with employee representatives at the European level. Its primary purpose is to improve the rights of workers to information and consultation. It is an essential element in the policy to promote social dialogue across all the Group’s European subsidiaries. The EWC is intended to address transnational issues. As such, it may also be called on to look at international matters that extend beyond the European context. From among its members, the EWC designates one of the two employee representatives to serve on the Group’s Board of Directors.
An ordinary plenary meeting is organised each year and one or more extraordinary meetings may be convened if required by the Group’s developments. The agenda for this plenary meeting is drawn up jointly by management and the EWC’s Secretary. The EWC is consulted on all of these matters during the plenary session. Prior to this meeting, the EWC members receive information from management regarding the Group’s structure, economic and financial position, development forecasts for its activities and investments, expected employment trends and the resulting workforce adjustment measures, potential social impacts of acquisitions or disposals of companies, and the workforce-related, social and environmental commitments set out in the Manifesto.
The EWC must be consulted for certain disposals or acquisitions of companies or if the Group develops a new strategy with major impacts on employment and its organisation. For instance, the EWC was invited to deliberate on the acquisition of Edinburgh airport.
The European Works Council is also organised around a Bureau, which meets four times a year. During these meetings, the representatives discuss the Group’s latest developments with management, as well as its workforce-related and economic data, its disposals and acquisitions, and its health and safety results.
