Analyzes & Data

On 11 September 2023, Veolia, the French water, waste management and energy services group, presented a global social protection base for its 213,000 employees. Isabelle Calvez, Group HR Director, kindly spoke with mind RH about the genesis of the ‘Veolia Cares’ programme and the objectives that prompted the transnational company to launch it. The programme also provides Veolia with added attractiveness at a time when it is undergoing radical change amid a challenging recruitment environment.

Highlighting a company’s HR and/or CSR policy, enhancing an employer’s brand and credibility with external stakeholders, displaying a company’s committment to continuous improvement in its social, environmental and governance practices; such are some of the many advantages that come with obtaining an international HR/CSR label. However, navigating through the current profusion of rating systems can be a confusing process. mind RH has examined the 9 most internationally recognised generalist HR and CSR labels, in order to better understand the purpose and methodology of each.

Despite stubbornly high inflation, only three European Union Member States have raised their minimum wages since the start of 2023. Over the space of a year however, minimum wage levels have risen sharply almost everywhere, and Cyprus has joined the list of countries where minimum wages are compulsory.

Since the start of 2023, corporate due diligence is no longer the preserve of the French statute books with German legislation now entering into force and discussions over the adoption of an EU Directive set for before the end of the year. While corporate vigilance plans are often incomplete and due diligence is slow to become effective, an growing number of stakeholders are nonetheless taking the issue on board. Indeed the topic is now becoming both an area for inter-corporate co-operation as well as a topic for intra-company social dialogue. Below, we provide some feedback from major names including Engie, Vinci, and Carrefour.

With the first wave of due diligence related lawsuits now appearing in the  courts, mind RH has attempted to gauge just how much the 2017 landmark due diligence legislation has really changed the situation for the major corporate groups that come within the legislation’s scope. While almost all the relevant companies now comply with the mandatory publication of a vigilance plan, the real impact of the law remains limited for several reasons ranging from minimal compliance levels, to restricted appropriation (primarily just the CSR teams), and again to a paucity of jurisprudence.

Many countries now offer paid paternity leave, especially with such an allowance having become compulsory in the European Union, under the bloc's work-life balance directive, since 2 August 2022. mind RH has set out to assess how this leave allowance – reserved specifically for fathers, or second parents in countries where co-parenting is recognised – is implemented around the world. In some countries, notably in the Nordic region, such leave forms an integral part of the parental leave framework, rather than being an allowance in its own right.

Provisions relating to the European Whistleblower Directive as regards businesses with at least 250 employees, have now come into force in 19 EU Member states, albeit in some instances more than a year behind schedule. This text, which offers a common minimum level of protection to people within the EU who report breaches of European Union law, now applies to varying degrees in these different Member States.

Four-day week trials are being conducted in various countries, driven either by governments or the lobby group 4 Day Week Global. The various models that have been implemented tend to favour a reduction in weekly working hours while keeping pay at the same level, with the exception of Belgium, which has opted to redistribute weekly hours over four days without any reduction in overall working time. The table at the bottom of the page provides details of 12 countries trialling such models.

As of 01 January 2023, eighteen out of the twenty-two EU Member States with a statutory minimum wage have implemented an increase in their basic salary level. The aim is to protect low-wage earners in the face of record inflation. However, even though some of these increases exceed 20%, they are struggling to compensate for the erosion occurring  in employees’ purchasing power.

At a time when most Western countries are seeking to increase the legal retirement age – to reduce pension scheme deficits or, in some cases, to address skill shortages – mind RH has taken a closer look at the transnational company agreements signed by multinational firms with a view to fostering the employment of older workers within their foreign subsidiaries. Seven agreements have been picked out, most of them European, which focus on the employability and job retention of ageing employees.

At a time when France is debating an extension to the national retirement age, mind RH has sought to assess the impact of this policy lever on the employment rate in the over-55 age bracket. Our comparative study targets 31 European nations  and shows that over the past ten years while raising the legal retirement age has increased the number of older workers in the labour market, it has also increased their unemployment rate. Only those countries that have implemented proactive policies to keep them in employment have a relatively high percentage of older workers in employment.

Two and a half years on from the massive shift to remote work as lockdowns were put in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic, many European countries have introduced or updated their legislation on remote work or telework. From the differences of clauses in employment contracts, to unequal financial compensation and the implementation of the right to disconnect, mind RH has scrutinised the regulations introduced by the 27 European Union Member States.