Company
EDF Group
Date of signature
29 January 2025
Signatories
EDF CEO, Industriall Global Union and PSI (Public Services International) General Secretaries, representatives from national union oranisations present in the group
Key objectives
“This Agreement marks the continuation of the collective social, societal and environmental commitment built - in a spirit of trust and transparency - on the experience in social responsibility jointly gained over the last 19 years. It embodies the fundamental principles of a common base of social responsibility for all Group companies, driven by the Group's corporate values of respect, solidarity and responsibility.
(…)
The signatories hereby reassert their commitments in terms of respecting human rights, integrity, empowerment of men and women, and support to communities and regions. “
Duration
5 years
Applicable law
“On the initiative of the Management, this agreement will undergo notification, filing and publication formalities in accordance with the French Labour Code. “
Implementation and dissemination
‘The signatories undertake to implement governance of the agreement, both at the level of each company controlled by the Group and at a global level, with a view to ensuring the respect of the commitments contained therein.
Within EDF Group companies controlled by EDF SA, the agreement and the terms and conditions of its implementation will be presented to and discussed within their governance body, according to each company's own rules.
- Ensuring the signatories’ commitment in order to succeed together
The parties recognise and agree that it is essential to raise all employees’ awareness of the content of the agreement. The shared aim is to ensure that it has been understood throughout the Group, at every level.
EDF Group organises communication campaigns for all employees and specific information for managers to ensure that they can lead and support their teams in the implementation of this agreement.
The signatories also drive joint initiatives to raise awareness and implement the agreement within the Group companies and with their suppliers and subcontractors.
- Promoting local implementation
EDF Group will make every effort to ensure the implementation of this agreement with all employees, by ensuring joint support by the members of EDF Group’s Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility (CMDRSE) and Management representatives, and in cooperation with union representatives.
- As such, throughout the agreement term, a network of correspondents belonging, as a minimum, to each company directly controlled by EDF SA will be organised focussing on the implementation of the agreement.
- For their part, the employee representatives sitting on EDF Group’s CMDRSE will also ensure that they set up and manage their own network of local employee representatives to facilitate agreement implementation and monitoring.
In order to foster the implementation of the agreement, EDF Group will, in particular:
- Ensure that this agreement is translated into the official languages of its countries of operation, provided at least 50 people are employed by that establishment.
- Ensure that the agreement and the terms and conditions of its implementation within each company directly controlled by EDF SA are presented to and discussed within at least the governance bodies of the companies directly controlled by EDF SA within 12 months of entering into the agreement.
- Draft and circulate materials presenting the agreement’s provisions to the networks of executive officers and employee representatives sitting on the CMDRSE, by all appropriate means, so as to make all HR managers, managers and employees aware of them.
- Ensure that a copy of the agreement is made available to every employee, in particular by posting it on the Group’s intranet and internet sites and by any means appropriate to the local context.
- Incorporate, in the Corporate Sustainable Development Charter between EDF and its suppliers and subcontractors, this agreement’s commitments that relate to them, so that they become aware of them.
Ensure that IndustriALL Global Union and PSI post the agreement on their respective websites and distribute it to their affiliates.”
Review and monitoring
- “Monitoring local implementation
Locally, dialogue between Management and employee representatives will be implemented to enable discussion on the initiatives to be taken, action plans, and the terms and conditions of implementation of this agreement, as part of a continuous improvement approach. These must take the local economic, cultural, professional and regulatory characteristics into account.
This local dialogue will take place at least once a year between Management and trade union/employee representatives, at the initiative of either of the parties.
- Monitoring global implementation
This agreement reinforces and extends the Group’s corporate practices. It is not intended as a substitute for any dialogue or negotiation processes conducted at local, national or European level, but constitutes a reference in the framework of these exchanges.
Agreement implementation will be monitored at a global level by a monitoring committee, the Group's Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility (CMDRSE), organised by representatives of the Group’s Management and composed of employee representatives and representatives of the global trade union federations, according to the terms and conditions laid down in the appendix. It will be chaired by the Chairman of EDF Group or his/her duly authorised representative.
The global committee will meet once a year to assess agreement implementation and propose appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure compliance. The parties will correspond with one another continuously between meetings through the Secretary of the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility, in order to pursue this implementation, its application, promote the agreement and identify mutually acceptable solutions to any problems that may arise.
The purpose of monitoring is to:
• Check agreement implementation conditions,
• Analyse the Group review in terms of application, particularly regarding the sustainability report published from 2025 in application of the European CSRD8 Directive, and the annual Vigilance Plan,
• Identify deviations where they are observed and areas for improvement, and, as part of a continuous improvement approach, help to develop the action plan linked to the Vigilance Plan for the current year,
• Contribute to the promotion of good practices
The list of themes and indicators for agreement monitoring will be prepared jointly and adopted by the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility. They may be adjusted during plenary meetings.
On a regular and ongoing basis, EDF Group will provide the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility with any relevant information about the implementation of the agreement within its subsidiaries.
Preparatory meetings prior to the plenary meeting of the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility may be organised between the main HR Directors of EDF Group companies and members of the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility.
The Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility can make proposals to Management to carry out missions on an ad hoc basis to observe corporate responsibility practices in the field. “
Dispute settlement and sanctions
“Only the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility has jurisdiction to answer any interpretation and clarification issues raised by the application of the agreement.
In the event of disputes regarding the interpretation of or non-compliance with the agreement, the signatories undertake to promptly mutually notify each another in order to work together to find an effective and constructive solution that is in the interests of all parties, through dialogue and within a reasonable time. These discussions must be held before any of the parties disclose information about the dispute.
They agree that:
If an employee or another relevant person claims that this agreement has not been complied with, the following procedure applies:
For local issues, every effort will be made to try to resolve them locally. If they so wish, an employee may seek assistance from a representative of a local trade union. The Group undertakes to ensure a proper evaluation of the dispute in cooperation with local union(s)/employee representatives. The signatories will be kept informed.
If the issue is not settled locally, it will be referred to Management and the social partners concerned at national level, then to the Head Office of the Group's parent company.
If the issue is not resolved nationally, the dispute will be referred to the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility, after a period of at least four weeks from referral to the Head Office. A dispute should be resolved within a maximum period of three months from its occurrence.
Failing resolution, the signatories may jointly appoint a mediator to facilitate the dispute's settlement.
As a last resort, the signatories will have the possibility, individually or collectively, of referring the matter to the competent court within whose jurisdiction EDF’s registered office is located.
All issues addressed and solutions adopted will be reported in the next meeting of the Global Dialogue Committee on Social and Environmental Responsibility. “
Related texts
Global framework agreement on the EDF Group's corporate social responsibililty (2018)
Main topics
Fundamental labour rights, due diligence / duty of care and vigilance plan, freedom of association and collective bargaining, health, safety and working conditions, equality, diversity, and non-discrimination, prevention of harassment and violence at work, skills, training, and employability, just transition supply chain