Social dialogue is included in the Janus Code of Conduct and Ethics. The aim is to foster staff/management exchanges and ensure freedom of expression for employees as a basic human right. With regard to the Groupe’s commitment to the UN Global Compact and its adherence to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention, the Groupe is committed to respecting freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to collective bargaining in the countries where it operates. Social dialogue takes place at agency level. The average size of the Groupe’s agencies worldwide ranges between 120 and 160 employees, with the exception of a few large entities with a staff of over 1,000 people in the United States and India. Publicis Groupe remains very decentralized, with operations in 100 or so countries. The aim in each entity is to promote direct, frequent discussions between managers and their teams regarding Company matters and current projects.
In France, the notion of collective agreement (which does not exist in this form in the communications industry in other countries) is a cornerstone of labor law. Agreements negotiated and signed previously are still in force and regularly updated, including the agreement relating to healthcare costs, including the responsible contract and to which an optional supplementary scheme has been added, as well as the collective bargaining agreement relating to the welfare plan. Negotiations with the Publicis Groupe union coordinators in France took place on Quality of Life at Work in order to renew the teleworking agreements and the sustainable mobility package, for a period of three years. The new agreements include a lump‑sum allowance of euro 3.50 per day of teleworking to cover the various costs incurred by teleworking, and a euro 40 per month sustainable mobility lump‑sum allowance to help finance employees' commuting journeys using alternative, sustainable modes of transportation. The collective agreement on the right to disconnect has been continued. Its objective is to define operating rules and methods of use of digital technologies in order to ensure the right to disconnect for everyone and to guarantee a balance between personal and professional life.
In July 2023, the Groupe and the social partners signed a first agreement on trade union communication in order to find a solution to adapt the distribution of information in each agency with the new “hybrid” working model. A deployment phase is underway and an assessment will be made subsequently to find out whether the system is used.
In several countries, particularly in the United States and India, the role of affinity groups (such as VivaWomen!, Égalité, enABLE and many others) or BRGs is important to lead to many changes in local policies benefiting all, in a very cooperative and constructive spirit.
The Groupe continued its commitment to Zero Tolerance of any form of harassment or discrimination within the Groupe through training and awareness‑raising programs for managers and HR/Talent teams. In this context, sexual harassment officers have been appointed by the CSEs in France; they received specific training, with regular reminder modules. Some agencies have kept more specific systems dedicated to listening to employees, such as “Les Bonnes Oreilles” at Publicis Conseil in France, where volunteer employees who are trained in listening ensure this relationship, or in the United Kingdom and the United States, where the Safe Conversations are organized by the agencies’ DEI teams, in particular following serious events such as racist or homophobic attacks, as in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. All employees in all countries are regularly reminded of the possibility of contacting the Group's ethics line at https://publicis.whispli.com/lp/ethicsconcerns, through messages from the Secretary General.
Payroll and personnel expenses stood at euro 8,514 million in 2023, including salaries, social charges and freelance pay. Trends are shown in Section 6.6, Note 5 of this document.
Compensation must respect the following three principles: 1) remain competitive and attractive locally and avoid disparities within the same market; 2) be in line with the Groupe’s practices, particularly in terms of gender equality and equity based on individual and collective performance in order to ensure fair and balanced compensation; 3) where appropriate, strengthen protective measures.
In 2022 and 2023, 90% of employees with at least two years of service with the Groupe received a salary increase.
Gender pay equality: country by country “Job Grading” is applied in the new Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Groupe tool, allowing for uniform understanding of positions and functions. This project is led by the Secretary General, coordinated by the HR Operations Department, with support from the teams in charge of compensation (Compensation & Benefits) and the HR/CTOs of countries. The Groupe remains vigilant on gender equality issues and in the event of disparities, it is up to the local management of the agencies to remedy them.
