EDF SA publishes a 90-point equality index for 2022

This result, which has remained stable compared to the index posted for 2021, is in line with those reported in previous years (95/100 in 2019, 95/100 in 2020, 90/100 in 2021). It bears witness to the momentum that was initiated, and subsequently bolstered, through several company agreements signed with social partners since 2004.

Over a number of years, the company has strengthened its management and inspection systems to guarantee equal opportunities for the women and men in the organisation.

Equal pay is one of the key conditions for equality between women and men, but other criteria that are just as important are also the focus of action by EDF: equal opportunities in career paths, gender diversity in professions and in technical roles in particular, gender diversity in key positions and in management, work-life balance, attitude change through the fight against gender stereotyping and sexist misconduct, and more generally, against all forms of discrimination and violence.

The EDF Group’s ambition for gender inclusiveness

EDF has set itself a challenging ambition for gender inclusiveness

In 2019, for the first time, EDF’s Executive Committee defined a Group-wide gender inclusiveness ambition, with a view to setting a benchmark for the industry. This ambition is focused on three aspects :

• Breaking the glass ceiling, up to the highest levels of responsibility and governance.
• Encouraging entry into technical professions
• Guaranteeing non-sexist communication , that promotes balanced gender representation.

In 2021, following the encouraging results achieved in the first two years, the Executive Committee took the decision to further reinforce this commitment, with the targets:

• 33% of women by 2026
• 36 to 40% of women by 2030

at all levels of the company (workforce, managers, and governing bodies).

Representation of women in the company’s governing bodies

Law No. 2021-1774, known as the Rixain law, adopted on 24 December 2021 and published in the Official Journal on 26 December 2021, to speed up economic and professional equality, set out the gradual introduction by 2029 of a quota for a balanced representation between women and men in management positions and governing bodies of companies with 1,000 or more employees (Article 14 of the law). Within this framework, it also establishes an obligation for companies to publish yearly, from 1 March 2022, the inequalities in representation between women and men in the company’s management teams and governing bodies.

At the end of 2022, the figures for EDF SA were as follows :

• 30% of women in its overall workforce
• 30.7% of women in management roles
• 31.1% of women in its management committees[1]
• 24.1% of women among its senior staff
• 15.4% of women in its governing body[2]

As a reminder, the proportion of women managers and that of women members of governing bodies has improved by over 50% between 2011 and 2022.

Other key numbers

What is the male/female equality index?

The law on "Freedom to Choose One's Professional Future" puts forward new measures to support gender equality. How can this equality be measured? By using a male/female equality index, which companies with over 50 employees must calculate and publish every year. Companies now have an obligation based on results achieved rather than means used.

The equality index is calculated out of a possible 100 points, using 5 performance indicators that are weighted according to the following criteria (decree of 8 January 2019:

By law, companies have 3 years from the publication of their first index result to reach a score of 75 points out of 100. Failing that, they must introduce corrective measures, and in particular close the wave gap for women. For 2022, EDF reported a score of 90 points, which was unchanged since the previous year. The detailed results for the 5 indicators are set out below. :

• For indicator No.1, which relates to the elimination of gaps in average pay between women and men (basic salary + variable compensation) for comparable positions and ages,,EDF achieved 40 points out of the maximum 40. In this calculation, the company kept the 4 age groups suggested in the law, and drew on the concept of socioprofessional categories (execution, supervision, management) that are the key categories used in corporate equal opportunities analyses (see the comparison reports from 2004 onwards).

• For indicator No. 2, which aims to ensure that women and men have the same opportunities for wage rises (higher salary levels, excluding promotions), EDF has a score of 20 out of a possible 20 points, bearing in mind that the average gap with a weighting for employee numbers in each socioprofessional category remains within the threshold of significance of +/-2 points as defined in the decree. A breakdown of this performance by socioprofessional category at the end of 2022 indicates a fairly balanced distribution in management, a slight gap in favour of women in supervision and, contrary to the previous year, a slightly more significant gap to the disadvantage of women in the execution category (despite the fact that this population represents less than 6% of the overall workforce). For this indicator, and likewise for the remaining 3 below, it is still appropriate to have implemented management systems and milestone monitoring, so as to ensure compliance with the target numbers of women and men in the distribution of company wage increases.

• For indicator No.3, which is equivalent to the second indicator but applies to promotions changes in job descriptions), EDF has once again scored 15 out of 15. At the end of 2022, all the disparities identified in the socioprofessional categories remained within the threshold of significance of +/-2 points as defined in the decree. The breakdown by socioprofessional category confirmed that, although they vary from year to year, in favour of or to the disadvantage of women, the results were under control. For example, in 2022, most of the disparity occurred in the execution category, contrary to the findings the year before for that same category. Overall, the sum total of these disparities has once more dropped from year to year, which is quite a positive verdict on the awareness-raising and management measures that have been implemented.

• For indicator No.4 relating to gender-neutrality in terms of salary for maternity or adoption leave, EDF was able to award itself 15 points out a possible 15, at the end 2021. There is now a mechanism for systematic review of the salaries of female employees who have had a child in the past year (704 such cases analysed in 2022), which in particular enables the allocation of salary levels, based on national quotas, to prevent any potential unjustified discrepancies. This indicator is now managed centrally by the Group’s HR Division to ensure the comprehensiveness of measures taken and the availability of a replica mechanism for statutory female employees, and to ensure appropriate corrective measures in particular circumstances (e.g. parental leave followed by full-time childcare leave, etc.)

• Lastly, for indicator No.5 relating to the nnumber of women among the 10 most highly paid company employees, this year EDF has not scored any of the 10 possible points (with only 1 woman inf the 10 top-earners). Once again this year, it is this last indicator that has resulted in a slight lowering of the EDF SA index, given that the maximum score of 10 would have required 4 women or more. This challenge of securing better representation of women in governance bodies and company management has now been referred up to the highest level of the company, in particular with the Executive Committee’s decision in July 2021 to strengthen the Group’s ambition for gender inclusiveness and achieve a ratio of 36 to 40% women at all levels of the organisation by 2030.