Promoting Diversity

In Casino Group, everyone gets a chance. What counts are the skills of the employees, far more than what they may have done before.

The Group uses different tools to ensure a recruitment based only on skills and it makes available to recruiters a “Good practice guide for recruitment”, recommending the use of a recruitment grid based only on skills. It uses a Simulation Method for Recruitment (SMR) and has signed many partnerships, especially with Pôle Emploi, Missions locales or even Mozaik RH to diversify its recruitments.

Committed since 1995 to the integration of disabled workers through an initial agreement signed with employee representative organizations, the Group reaffirmed its commitment in 2015 by signing the ILO (International Labor Organization) “Business and Disability” global network charter, and more recently by signing the manifesto for the inclusion of disabled people in economic life.

The Casino Group pursues a proactive policy on disability with three objectives:

• Recruitment and integration of people with disabilities: all positions are open to people with disabilities; new employees are supported from the moment they are hired (mentoring, workstation adjustments, etc.). Partnerships with players in the fields of professional integration, training and education continue to be developed.
• Training: building partnerships with prestigious schools, universities and vocational retraining centers to train and professionalize disabled people and give them access to training tailored to the needs of Group entities.
• Job retention for people who declare a disability during the course of their working lives: support with administrative procedures; anticipation of situations of unfitness; co-construction of professional projects; technical and organizational adjustments; making certain work premises and IT tools available to employees accessible.

Over and above the legal obligation alone, the Group has repeatedly affirmed its desire to perpetuate its commitment to disabled employees, as demonstrated by the signing of three-year agreements on the employment of disabled employees for the period 2023-2024-2025. This is the 9th such agreement for Casino, the 7th for Monoprix and the 1st for Franprix. Cdiscount is also pursuing its commitments through a 3rd agreement on the employment of disabled people.

In 2022, the Casino Group continued to welcome disabled people, and in France counted nearly 3,000 disabled employees among its workforce.

The Group is also stepping up its initiatives for customers with disabilities, notably with its “quiet time in stores” operation every Tuesday from 1pm to 5pm in Casino stores, to enable customers with autism to do their shopping in better conditions (reduced light and sound intensity). Group employees can also take part in a range of training modules designed to make it easier to welcome people with disabilities. These include a generic module, one dedicated to welcoming people with autism, and another on hearing disabilities and an introduction to French sign language.

Among the many associations supported by the Group is Handichiens since 2015, which thanks to this partnership has been able to finance the training of 30 assistance dogs subsequently given free of charge to people with disabilities.
By 2026, the Group and its brands are committed to:

• Recruit 220 new employees and welcome 180 disabled trainees,
• Accelerate the use of work-study programs in all our business lines,
• Manage job retention situations and support each employee throughout his or her career,
• Encourage and facilitate administrative procedures such as RQTH (Recognition of the status of disabled worker),
• Continue to raise employees’ awareness of hearing disabilities and finance sign language training,Deploy actions to facilitate digital accessibility,
• Pursue and develop initiatives to welcome customers with disabilities.

While France’s employment obligation for disabled workers is set at 6%, Casino banners employ 9.63% disabled people.

In 2013, Casino obtained the Professional Equality Award which was renewed in 2019.

Beyond the legal obligation, the Group has asserted many times its wish to sustain its commitment in favour of employees with a disability as proven by the signature of its 8th Handipacte agreement for the 2020-2022 period.

The Group’s commitments as regards professional equality are structured around 5 priority areas:

• Equal wages,
• Access to key positions for women,
• The fight against sexism,
• Parenthood,
• Partnerships.

Six strategic indicators are consolidated each semester in the Gender Equality Scorecard of the Group by the HR Depts of each branch and presented to the governance, CSR and Executive committee of the Group.

The Group is a signatory to the Parenthood Charter implemented by the Monitoring Centre for time balance and parenthood in the workplace in order to raise awareness and create optimal conditions for employed parents.

The feminisation of key positions means controlling the presence of women in recruitment and talent pools where they have represented 50% of the profiles identified over the past few years.

In 2020, Casino Group obtained a grade of 91/100 on the Index of Professional Equality, an official certified measurement which is over the legal minimal grade by 15 points.

In 1993, the Group signed its first national commitment called “Entreprises et Quartiers” (Companies and Neighbourhoods) which got renewed in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2018.

Casino Group is committed to recruiting each year over 800 workers living in sensitive Urban Zones. It also implements, every three years, tests requested in order to check that there are no discrepancies in the recruitment processes based on the supposed origin of the candidate.

In 2013, Casino Group signed the LGBT Commitment Charter. It aims at ensuring a non-discriminating environment for Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people. The Group watches out for equality of Rights and treatment between colleagues, whatever their sexual preferences may be.

Casino Group wished to offer a work environment based on the respect of differences and the living together in order to favour well-being and personal development.

Physical appearance is the second criteria mentioned by employees who say they have witnessed acts of discrimination, according to the barometer of the Commissioner for Human Rights in January 2014. If surveys and tests carried out in the past ten years show that this is a common discrimination criteria, this subject is seldom addressed in the workplace.

Physical appearance is therefore a stake in the workplace during recruitment and in business life on a daily basis.

The criteria of physical appearance is one of the 25 discrimination criteria recognised by Law. It is therefore integrated within the framework of the Policy for the promotion of Diversity and the fight against all types of discriminations.

The Group has implemented, since 2010, a guide designed for managers on the way to unite collective interest and the personal requests of staff as regards religious practices. It also provides elements relating to legal requirements, information to understand the different religious practices and examples of concrete situations.

France is a secular Republic: the Republic doesn’t recognise any religious cult. This principle of secularity translates into an obligation of neutrality for civil servants who cannot display their religious opinions in their position. In a private company, as reminded by the Law, the employer must make sure that no discrimination may arise because of the religious opinions of staff.

Casino Group wishes not only to respect the principles of non-discrimination linked to religious beliefs as defined by Law but also allow some arrangements compatible with running the company, living together and the safety of staff.

Casino Group wishes to offer a work environment based on the respect of differences, caring and team cohesion.

Casino implemented an agreement regarding knowledge transfer in order to boost employment within young people and seniors, as well as skill transfer and know-how. It employs over 2 200 alternants “students” and organises every year “the unmissable day for apprentices” in order to promote the role of mentors and apprentices. It is a partner with the organisation “Le Réseau” and “l’Institut de l’Engagement”. Within the Group, over 37% of the staff are under 30.

The Policy of Casino Group is based on a fundamental belief: stereotypes, in whichever way they are expressed, are at the root of all discriminations. Stereotypes are shared beliefs maintained on personal characteristics, personality traits or behaviours of the members of a group of people. They generalise and anchor a belief about them. They can therefore be applied to people belonging to the same generation, even though generations remain abstract categories which naturally gather very different individuals with their own characteristics.