Our impact on individuals
2.2.1
PEOPLE-CENTRICITY HAS BEEN CORE IN A CHALLENGING YEAR
While the situation has been very difficult, Sodexo has been wholly committed to supporting its employees around the world and doing everything possible to minimize the impact of the pandemic. In many countries, Sodexo provided counselling and emotional support, practical advice, guidance, training and financial support to employees.
Nevertheless, like many global companies, Sodexo has been impacted by the Covid-19 and the business had to react quickly to ensure operations were right-sized to meet the changing needs of clients. Inevitably, this had an impact on employees.
For those impacted, Sodexo put in place its Employee Relief Program, a fund of 30 million euro to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on employees. The Employee Relief Program was enabled by a contribution from the Company and by a reduction to the compensation of Group Senior Executives.
Meanwhile, Sodexo continued to focus on motivating and supporting employees who will be critical to the organization’s continued success.
Sodexo has taken a people-centric approach to the impact on health. Efforts have focused on adapting working practices and training to support the safe delivery of service on client sites as they re-open. Sodexo has ensured teams have been suitably equipped with personal protective equipment and informed on the topic of vaccines.
Sodexo took the position of endorsing vaccination programs as the way out of the crisis. Again, it adopted a people-centric approach providing employees with information to enable them to make informed decisions about their own personal health. Some Sodexo clients chose to mandate vaccinations and, in those situations, Sodexo worked with clients and employees to maintain the health and safety of all stakeholders and ensuring freedom of choice.
Throughout the pandemic, Sodexo has made it a duty to record cases of employees testing positive for Covid-19. As of August 31, there have been 31,000 Covid-19 cases reported by Sodexo employees, which reflects a substantially lower rate of infection than in the general population and demonstrates the impact of Sodexo’s protocols, focus on training and access to personal protective equipment.
