Vetoquinol Universal Registration Document 2019

2 STATEMENT OF NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Overall health, safety and environmental policy 40   Vetoquinol  Universal Registration Document 2019  Financial report 2.4.2.5 Compliance with ILO fundamental conventions All Group locations undertake to comply with the Inter- national Labour Organization (ILO) declaration relating to basic labor rights and principles including: • Rejection of slavery and forced labor, • Rejection of child labor, • Ban on mental or physical harassment, • Ban on all work-related discrimination (gender equa- lity agreement), • Compliance with laws and industry standards regar- ding working hours, • Non-discrimination and equal opportunities. 2.4.3 Attractiveness as an employer Vetoquinol’s corporate culture, staff management phi- losophy and long-standing family ownership structure are major factors that encourage staff to stay with the company. The cultivation of healthy management-staff relations in all companies contributes strongly to the implementa- tion of company policy. When Vetoquinol acquires overseas companies, the Group is highly attentive to the quality and sustainability of incumbent management teams. 2.4.3.1 Staff turnover Vetoquinol consolidates all staff movements across all companies on a monthly basis, mainly in order to track staff turnover rates. The 2019 Group staff voluntary departure rate was 11.3%, similar to the 2018 rate. This is a key indicator: • Excluding India, the rate was 6.5% in 2019, slightly over the 2018 rate of 6%. This rate appears to be sound and probably lower than many other companies. • In India, the voluntary departure rate dipped from 34% in 2018 to around 32%. The measures taken in previous years need to be continued and stepped up. The job market remains extremely volatile. According to our information, our 2019 rate is close to that of our direct competitors. 2.4.3.2 Absenteeism Vetoquinol monitors absenteeism in all Group entities. The Company pays close attention to short and frequent absenteeism indicators, as this may generally be symp- tomatic of low staff morale and can disrupt operations. The overall Group absenteeism rate was 4.8% compared to 4.6% in 2018. Excluding parental leave the rate was 3.8%, as in 2018. Figures vary from country to country without ever rea- ching a level that could cause concern. Production plants have historically posted a higher rate of absenteeism than the sales subsidiaries. Absence due to parental leave increased by 0.6 percen- tage points from 0.78% in 2018 to 1.04% in 2019, mainly due to the following increases in the number of days of maternity leave: 770 in Canada (manufacturing and sales facility), 500 in Poland (manufacturing and sales facility) and just under 400 in France. In France, all new fathers exercised their right to pater- nity leave in 2019. Absenteeism results are analyzed in consultation with executives and human resources managers at the sub- sidiaries concerned and, where applicable, corrective action plans are formulated and implemented.