BIC - 2019 Universal Registration Document

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Our social responsibility to our teammembers [NFPS]

3.4.8

SOCIAL DIALOGUE

strives, insofar as its resources allow, to improve working conditions by offering wages above the legal minimums, through superior team member benefits, or through investments to improve the working environment. These types of social progress are a subject of prior dialog, and the team members and their representatives are kept informed to ensure optimal communication. Progress made in 2019 ❯ The topics discussed in the negotiations are related either to local obligations or to the previously mentioned management points. For example, many mechanisms to promote safety and health in the workplace have been initiated through social dialog. The following table gives a few examples of such agreements.

Challenges ❯ BIC strives to use all the means available to engage in dialog with its team members. In this spirit, it sets up the initiatives on listening to team members as mentioned on page 98. To maintain its team members’ engagement and remain attentive to their expectations, the Group strives to cultivate a high-quality social dialog, either directly with the management or with the team members themselves, their representatives, or labor union representatives at unionized sites.

Approach ❯

In every country where the Group has operations, it complies with all applicable collective agreements. In addition, each subsidiary

Perimeter

Topics

France, all entities

In compliance with new French legislation, in 2019 a single staff representative body was designated for each legal entity concerned. Called the Social and Economic Committee (“CSE” in French), it combines all of the previous committees – including the works council (“CE”), the workplace health, safety and working conditions committee (“CHSCT”) and staff delegates (“DP”) – and unites all of their missions and prerogatives. The negotiations with social partners for effecting this change, as well as the elections for choosing representatives, took place throughout the year in the different companies within the Group. Research and innovation are increasingly important challenges for BIC. In order to foster innovation, the compensation policy for researchers was reviewed in order to simplify it, make it clearer and fairer, and ensure that it effectively encourages inventiveness and creativity. A five-year agreement signed with all union organizations representing BIC teammembers in all French entities has enabled the Group to achieve this key goal. As a result of the Invent the Future project and the impact of the related reorganizations on the BIC Services teams, a majority collective agreement was signed in 2019 concerning the implementation of the economic redundancy plan. The labor unions and BIC signed an agreement on the conditions for supporting teammembers affected by the reorganization. For the sake of collective performance and individual development, while ensuring consistency across the Company, BIC decided to extend the new Performance Evaluation process to teammembers covered by the BIC Australia Pty. Ltd. Enterprise Agreement. BIC Australia has presented the process to the National Unions of Workers and held discussions with them on a question/answer mode for implementing it. In order to meet production needs, it was necessary to modify the working time agreement in force with the aim of having around 200 teammembers work on different shift patterns. After lengthy discussions, an agreement was reached to meet the Group’s needs, while guaranteeing progress for the teammembers concerned.

France

Clichy (France)

Australia (Consumer Products)

Mexico (Stationery)

Performance ❯ An audit conducted in 2014 showed that nearly 63% of Group team members were covered by a form of employee representation through Works Councils or committees, Health and Safety Committees, trade unions and collective agreements or equivalent. This representation takes place through regular meetings presenting the monthly or annual financial results, describing the Company’s strategy, answering questions, etc. Team members in Manaus (Brazil) can make their observations and expectations known through the “HR & You” program. This new communication channel allows team members to dialog with human resources staff via a questionnaire focusing on leadership effectiveness, communication, remuneration and engagement. The Leadership members are also questioned in order to highlight any convergences or gaps that might arise between the two groups. Action plans are then defined to address the critical points thus identified.

Perspectives ❯ This culture of remaining attentive to its personnel and taking collective requests into consideration is vital for the Group and will be maintained in the years to come through contacts with both labor unions and employee representatives. In 2020, the Group plans to: renegotiate the three-year agreements now in force for BIC ● Iberia (Spain) and Milford (United States); following the reorganization of BIC Services, continue ● negotiations on important issues such as the quality of life at work, gender equality, etc.; open negotiations for a new profit-sharing agreement for ● DAPE74, the previous agreement having expired on December 31, 2019. Lastly, the Group also intends to review and update the staff representation systems in all of its entities.

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• BIC GROUP - 2019 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •