Universal Registration Document 2025

4.3.8 Rewarding and sharing value [S1-36, S1-38 (a) to (d), S1-40 (a) & (b), S1-4-43]

4.3.8.1 Compensation and equal pay

Payroll (or personnel expenses) stood at euro (9,194) million in 2025, including salaries, social contributions and freelance pay. Trends are shown in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements for the 2025 financial year.

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; and (3) where appropriate, strengthen safeguards.

All of the information pertaining to the compensation of Publicis Groupe senior executives is detailed in Section 3.2 of this document. Specific criteria are set out for the various components of this compensation, including CSR.

a) Adequate wage

The work to define the adequate wage was managed by the Groupe HR Operations Department under the supervision of the Secretary General, with the help of an external firm and the use of the Wage Indicator database. In November 2023, the following definition was presented to the Compensation Committee of the Board:

“Adequate wage, based on the base wage and supplemented by recurring indirect benefits and long-term recurring benefits such as health and welfare plans and supplementary pension plans, enable employees to purchase the goods and services necessary for them and their families to maintain a healthy and comfortable standard of living. They must cover their needs in terms of food, health, clothing, housing, education and transportation.”

The adequate wage thresholds from the Wage Indicator database, defined at city level, are compared with the legal minimum wages. The highest threshold is used as a reference for the analysis of employees’ fixed compensation (base salary and fixed indemnities).

In 2025, the analysis shows that 99.88% of employees receive fixed compensation higher than or equal to the threshold chosen. For the remaining 0.12%:

• 0.06% have a specific compensation structure: their fixed compensation is below the threshold adopted, but their total compensation (including specific recurring additional items) is higher than the threshold adopted;
• 0.06% of employees have a compensation below the threshold set and action plans are being rolled out to adjust their remuneration within a maximum period of 12 months.

Almost all of the Groupe’s employees are professionals who have benefited from extensive initial training and qualifications, and their compensation is therefore generally well above the adequate wage thresholds in all countries. [S1-10-69, S1-10-70]

/ Adequate Wage: Roadmap 2024-2027 [S1-10-69, S1-10-70]