Vilmorin & Cie - Annual report 2017-2018

ANNUAL REPORT Vilmorin & Cie 131 2017-2018 4 Report on agreements signed with regard to workplace health and safety During fiscal year 2017-2018, 16 ongoing company agreements concerning health, safety and working conditions and based on the Group's policies in terms of social protection and the safety of its employees, were validated and are now in application. There was greater emphasis on training devoted to health and safety during this past year, representing 22.5% of total training hours organized at Vilmorin & Cie, as opposed to 22.35% the previous year. Absenteeism Absenteeism is defined as being all the working days where staff are absent for reasons other than paid holidays, time in lieu, training courses, and union representation. In 2017-2018, the global absenteeism rate was 4.74% (1) . It was 3.44% (1) for managers and 5.30% (1) for non-managers, the same level as the previous year. 4.4.1.6. Committing to diversity The diversity of populations within Vilmorin & Cie is an integral part of the Company's ambition. “The Group is committed to treating its employees fairly and with an open mind, respecting their dignity and their physical and moral integrity. The Group’s employees are therefore recruited without discrimination in terms of gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical appearance, health condition, handicap, trade union membership or political opinions.” This commitment on respecting persons and their private life is an extract form the Code of Conduct . The Code of Conduct is part of the scope of several international texts of which the Group shares the principles, in particular the core conventions of the International Labor Organization concerning combating child labor and forced labor, health and safety of workers, combating discrimination, freedom of association, the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining. Similarly, collective agreements have been negotiated in favor of gender equality and intergenerational balance. Actions to reduce wage inequalities between women and men have also been deployed. Finally, strong measures have been taken towards employing and integrating the disabled in several of Vilmorin & Cie's Business Units. Moreover, commitments have been made for the recruitment process to integrate non-discriminatory practices. Measures taken to support gender equality Women represent 37.8% of Vilmorin & Cie's headcount. This proportion varies depending on activity sectors and professions. Professional equality represents a primary focus in human resources management in the company. In this context, an agreement was signed in 2012-2013, which was also in response to a new legal obligation in France. Renewed in 2017, this agreement, which involves French companies, concerns objectives and measures in favor of equality between women and men throughout their professional careers. Recruitment, professional promotion, compensation, balance between professional and personal life: these four areas for action have been adopted, with concrete commitments and measures to promote diversity and professional equality. These objectives and measures are accompanied by indicators calculated in each subsidiary, and then consolidated and tracked at Group level. Breakdown by gender of the group's executives 17-18 Total Men (%) Women (%) Top executives 25 85 15 Executive managers 166 80 20 Group’s global headcount 6,653 62.20 37.80 Measures taken to support intergenerational balance In order to encourage the sharing of values, communication between organizations and generations, and also creativity, a mentoring program was set up in 2016-2017 to enable young employees in the group to be accompanied for six months by a mentor from a different Business Unit and a different function from their own. This program highlights and takes advantage of the experience of “senior” employees. The mentoring campaign for 2017-2018 saw the launch of 11 mentor/mentored pairs across five Business Units, with the support of the Human Resources departments concerned. 39.3% of Vilmorin & Cie employees are over 45 years old. In order to guarantee better employability for employees in the second half of their career, and taking into account the fact that careers are getting longer, Vilmorin & Cie has for several years applied a specific agreement regarding employees working in the group's French companies. The object is to accompany all employees more actively in the second half of their professional lives, and encourage the transmission of their know-how and experience to the following generation as they approach retirement. The rate of keeping “seniors” in France (those 57 years old and above) in their jobs stands at 97.42%, higher than the objective fixed at 90% and up 2 percentage points compared with 2016-2017. Worldwide the rate stood at 94.24% Tutoring is also deployed to insure that skills are transmitted when “junior” employees are hired or move into a new position. In addition, mid-career and end-of-career interviews are also proposed to employees in order to anticipate career changes and promote the transition from paid employment to retirement. Employees over (1) Hazera Seeds LTD (6.2% of total headcount) was not included in the calculation of this rate. 4.4. Building new patterns of relationship and creating value Social, environmental and societal INFORMATION