APC 2014 Annual Report Download - page 91

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTED TO AND ON BEHALF OF EMPLOYEES
The employee shareholding at December31, 2014 represented: Information sessions on this fund are held on a regular basis,
providing the opportunity for employees in France to learn about
4.01% of Schneider ElectricSE’s capital and 6.26% of the
l
and contribute to the ideas and actions of Schneider Electric
votingrights; outlined in its Access to Energy program (see pages91-95).
over 62% of the employees worldwide.
l
Investment in this fund has reached EUR9million, thereby enabling
In2015, the Group expects to launch a new global Plan which will 5,000employees to take part in social welfare projects in France
cover 120,000employees in 33countries. and abroad which have been developed as part of the Access to
Socially responsible investment fund
Energy program.
In November2009, Schneider Electric created the «Fund
2
Schneider Énergie Solidaire» (a dedicated mutual fund).
Social dialogue and relations 4.8
Approach
powers and means, and introduced the participation of European
employee representatives at board of directors’ level. It replaced
Schneider Electric considers freedom of association and collective the existing European Works Council.
bargaining as fundamental rights that must be respected This European channel for dialogue aims at enabling the
everywhere and therefore commits in its «Principles of management to make more efficient decisions by giving employee
Responsibility» to complying with local law in every country where representatives the opportunity to be informed of such decisions
it operates. Updated in 2013, this common reference shared with and to understand their reasons, as well as to put forward
all Schneider Electric’s employees worldwide relies on the 10 proposals to supplement or improve them.
principles of the Global Compact, the corporate governance
principles, the Guiding Principles of the Organization for Economic
It has also fostered the emergence of a strong identity, combining
Cooperation and Development, the Universal Declaration of
different cultures and having the common aim of working towards
Human Rights and the International Labor Standards.
social and economic progress within the companies in the Group at
European level. The European Works Council covers all European
The respect of trade union right is expressly mentioned on page10
Economic Area countries (hence all EU member states) and
of the Principles of Responsibility, through Principle 3 of the Global
Switzerland, for a total employee number of more than 50,000.
Compact: «Businesses should uphold the freedom of association
and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining». In 2014, the European Works Councils (before and after the
The «Principles of Responsibility» is communicated on a global transformation into a European Company) met eleven times,
basis to all employees of Schneider Electric. including nine Core Council meetings and two plenary sessions.
This allowed an active social dialogue at European level all along
Social dialogue is managed at country level by the HR leaders with the year, as well as in-depth discussion on key topics. The June
the employee representative bodies and unions, and at plenary session hosted presentations by five Executive Committee
transnational level with the European Works Council which covers members among which Schneider Electric’s CEO.
most of geographical Europe. Social dialogue is also taken into
consideration by our social reporting system, where local HR
Group Works Council, France
teams report the presence of trade unions, works councils and
Health and Safety Committees every year. Schneider Electric’s French Group Works Council is a forum for
economic, financial and social dialogue between senior
While changing the corporate form of its parent company, management and the representatives of the employees from all
Schneider Electric SA, into a European Company («Société French subsidiaries.
Européenne»), Schneider Electric negotiated an agreement with
employee representatives of European countries about the In 2014, the Group Works Council for France enhanced its
involvement of these countries’ employees in the company’s transversal information and understanding of business stakes and
decision-making processes, thus reaffirming its commitment to strategy of Schneider Electric, through six meetings during the year
promote social dialogue at international level. which dealt, among other topics, with Schneider Electric’s
industrial policy and organization.
Action plans in major localizations
For the same purposes, the Group Works Council also visited
Rectiphase plant near Annecy and 38LL site in Grenoble.
European Works Council (EWC) Social dialogue in the United States
In 2014, Schneider Electric General Meeting of Shareholders In North America, regular communication takes place with both
decided to transform the corporate form of Schneider Electric SA union and non-union employees on key business topics and trends
into a European Company. This change of corporate form, which affecting their jobs. Company officials meet on a semi-annual basis
eventually occurred in June2014, was made possible after the with key international union leaders to inform them of competitive
negotiation of the «Agreement on the information, consultation issues impacting the company’s business, and to ensure alignment
and participation of Schneider Electric employees in Europe», with with the company’s business strategies and challenges, on a local,
employee representatives from all European countries. regional and global basis.
This agreement, which was approved by a vast majority of
negotiators, set out a new European Works Council with extended
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2014 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC