A social commitment on a global scale
On 18 September 2018, BNP Paribas and UNI Global Union, the international union for workers in the services sector, signed a comprehensive and ambitious agreement.
With this agreement, BNP Paribas committed to consolidating fundamental labour rights and to establishing a shared, global social framework for its 193,000 employees based on the following main topics:
- Human rights, social dialogue and trade union rights
- Social and environmental responsibility
- Employment management and change management
- Gender equality in the workplace
- Promotion of diversity and inclusion
- Preventing and combating psychological and sexual harassment
- Health and quality of life at work
Implementing an agreement of this kind was the result of considerable preparation carried out by HR teams of BNP Paribas’ primary entities around the world and negotiations with trade unions. It also represents a culmination of the strong tradition of social dialogue within the Group at a European level, through the signing of 3 European agreements (Employment, Gender Equality, and Stress Prevention at Work).
Maternity leave, health insurance... significant breakthroughs
In 2021, all 193,000 Group employees will be benefiting from this shared global social framework. The global agreement has led to some significant breakthroughs in labour issues in many of our countries and will help to improve current measures or establish new rights.
The greatest progress was made in the field of “Health and quality of life at work”. All female workers will now be entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave. In 2021, all Group employees will benefit from health, life and disability insurance, whether these ensue from government programmes, insurance schemes or a combination of the two.
See the key figures from the global agreement’s assessment: view the infographic
“By laying down a global framework, BNP Paribas has opened the way to improve or create rights in many of the countries where the Group is present. The period in which we are living with the current health crisis has shown us how important this is for the quality of life and protection of employees.”
Sofia Merlo, Head of Human Resources
Social dialogue upheld and strengthened throughout the agreement
The agreement is in line with the active practice of social dialogue within the Group where 355 collective bargaining agreements were signed in 2020.
Since the beginning of the health crisis, social dialogue has also played a key role in many countries. During regular remote meetings, Management and staff representatives continued to talk about measures taken with regard to the management of the crisis. The quality of these measures and their ongoing improvement, as well as the staff representatives’ participation in establishing and deploying them, have been highlighted by the representatives themselves in many bodies including that of the European Committee.