AREVA is to recruit 100 young people from disadvantaged areas and have women make up 50% of its new hires across the board.
In signing the “Diversity in the workplace charter” on social cohesion, AREVA has made a commitment to promote the recruitment of young people from less advantaged neighborhoods, jobs for disabled workers, and gender equality.
To achieve this, the group has created a Diversity Mission and is looking to the recommendations of Fodé Sylla, former chairman of SOS Racisme. The main issues targeted are recruitment, jobs, training, ongoing employment and support initiatives.
Jobs for young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods
- AREVA will recruit 100 young people from these areas in 2006.
- AREVA is signatory to the national apprenticeship charter (May 2005) and the national framework agreement on providing jobs for young people, (professionnalization contract, September 2005).
- AREVA is preparing a partner agreement with the national council for Missions Locales (job centers for young people) which will focus on the regions where the group is present.
- AREVA is also preparing a partner agreement with the national job center, and particularly with Missions Locales, which will concentrate on taking action in the regions where the group operates.
Jobs for disabled workers
- AREVA took part in an initiative in June 2005, in association with the European Works Council, to examine this issue then draft an agreement for the thirteen European countries in which AREVA is present.
- AREVA signed in November 2005 the manifesto promoting jobs for disabled people, at the initiative of the AGEFIPH, the disabled people employment fund.
- In 2006, AREVA is an official partner of the 10th national jobs for the disabled week, organized by ADAPT (association for the social and professional insertion of handicapped people)
- AREVA has set up several national partnerships, and signed agreements with AFIJ (the association to facilitate the insertion into the workplace of young graduates) and UNEA (the national union of adapted companies).
- AREVA participates in the job-finding work of TREMPLIN, ADECCO and EXECO.
Gender equality in the workplace
- The group has set itself the objective of having women make up 50% of its new hires, across the board.
- An initiative to examine this subject has been entered into with the European Works Council, to establish an agreement on gender equality.
- Various collective agreements have been signed within the group, making particular allowance for:
- Continuing to award pay rises during maternity, adoption or parental leave, calculated as the average for the individual's category.
- Setting up careers interviews on returning from these types of leave.
- An undertaking to look into major discrepancies in remuneration between men and women, and to curb these within four years.
Philippe Vivien, Senior Vice President, Human Resources for the group, described AREVA's intention as being “to combat any and all forms of exclusion and thus get involved in the social challenges facing us today.”
Fodé Sylla remarked that "several French companies have signed the Diversity Charter, to make progress in France. Other companies must now follow AREVA and take concrete steps to provide jobs for young people from troubled neighborhoods at all levels of their organization.”
He continued: “If a global cutting-edge industrial group like AREVA is capable of integrating minority young people, giving jobs to disabled people and promoting gender equality, that proves that all French companies can adopt the same practices."
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