RENAULT RENEWS AGREEMENT TO SUPPORT DISABLED PEOPLE

 

* On 8 July 2013, Renault s.a.s.* and all the French trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT and FO) signed a sixth agreement to support people with disabilities. The agreement has been approved by the Regional Departments for Business, Competition, Consumption, Labor and Employment (DIRECCTE)**. * The three-year agreement broadens eligibility, increases financial aid, promotes manager training, and expands contracts with the disability employment sector. * Renault s.a.s. has an annual disability budget of over €4 million and a total disabled employment rate of 8.33%, higher than the legal requirement of 6%.

 

Commenting, Marie-Françoise Damesin, Executive Vice President, Human Resources at the Renault group, said: “This sixth agreement, signed by all the trade union organizations, is still more proof of our determination to fight all forms of discrimination and of the consistency of our initiatives on disabilities. Despite an often difficult economic and financial environment, we have never deviated from our line. We now want to focus on the issue of initial training and the skills that these young people need to acquire to integrate the job world.”   

 

The sixth agreement renews the provisions of the previous agreements: integrating disabled people, maintaining disabled people in employment, expanding contracts with the disability employment sector, providing financial aid, and raising awareness through special events and training.

 

It also contains new features:

* Broadening eligibility so more employees and employees’ children can benefit. 

* Increasing financial aid: from €750 to €1,000 for purchasing special equipment, and from €750 to €1,000 for employees with disabled children who need to attend special vacation camps. In 2012, more than 100 grants were awarded to Renault s.a.s. employees. 

* Training for managers and people who work closely with disabled employees. Co-run with the Handisport National Training Center, these sessions are designed to break down stereotyped views of disability, to explain different types of visible and invisible disabilities, and to inform participants about current legislation and company policy. 

 

* Expanding use of the disability employment sector by diversifying the services outsourced and by organizing, in the longer term, a transfer of skills so these potential partners can respond effectively to invitations to tender.

In 1995, ten years before the French Disability Act of 11 February 2005, Renault was one of the first French companies to sign an agreement with all the trade unions to support the occupational and social integration of people with disabilities.