5. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN BUSINESS, 5.3. Promoting diversity
5.3. Promoting diversity
[GRI 3-3] [GRI 2-10] [GRI 405-2] [ESRS S1-1] [ESRS S1-16]
Diversity issues are clearly regulated in corporate documents that apply to all companies in the Budimex Group. These include the Company’s Responsibility Policy Principles, developed at the Ferrovial Group level. They obligate all the company’s employees to, among other things, respect basic human rights, foster equality and diversity, and maintain a work-life balance. The second document that applies throughout the Ferrovial Group is the Human Rights Policy, which deals with avoiding discrimination, promoting equal employment opportunities, and recognizing the value of diversity in the workplace. The Budimex Group’s Code of Conduct, in turn, implements the principles of the policies indicated and counteracts employment discrimination. In addition, the Anti-Mobbing and Discrimination instruction is in effect at the individual company level.
The Diversity Policy implemented by Budimex SA and Mostostal Kraków SA focuses on:
- proactively managing diversity as part of its human resource management policy,
- creating an open and diverse work environment,
- countering all forms of discrimination,
- ensuring equal opportunities in access to education and promotion,
- ensuring fair and objective employee evaluations,
- ensuring equal opportunity to access information on the Group’s ethical standards,
- achieving pay equality as measured by the gender pay gap index,
- maintaining the level of women’s representation in the total number of Budimex SA employees at a level above the average for the construction sector,
- maintaining the level of women’s representation in senior management and among managers at a level at least equal to the level of women’s representation in the total number of Budimex Group employees,
- promoting diversity and education in cooperation with the organization’s stakeholders.
The document’s provisions also cover the areas of recruitment, compensation, work-life balance, and protection against mobbing, discrimination and unjustified dismissal. In order to efficiently manage the aforementioned policy, the so-called anti-discrimination and anti-mobbing monitoring was introduced, as well as a system of educational tools, training and workshops. Every year, the results of its implementation are reported to Budimex SA’s Management Board.
The diversity policy applies to the entire employment structure of the Budimex Group. Given the importance of the impact on the rest of the staff of adhering to diversity principles at the highest levels of the organization, in 2021 the Diversity Policy of the Budimex SA Management Board was adopted. Its purpose is to ensure that the principles of equal treatment and diversity are observed at the management level of the Budimex Group. The policy guides the organization’s efforts to meet best practices in diversity, including those enshrined in the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s Best Practices for Companies Listed on the WSE 2021. The Diversity Policy of the Budimex SA Management Board introduces a minimum level of gender representation in the recruitment process for positions on the Management Board of 30% of all persons approaching the final stage of the recruitment process, if such persons are represented in the pool of candidates applying for the position and their competencies are at least equal to those of other candidates.
In addition, since 2022. the Diversity Policy of the Budimex SA Supervisory Board [1] has been in effect. Its goal is:
- taking into account diversity principles in the process of selecting the company’s Supervisory Board,
- obligating the Shareholder Meeting to be guided by objective selection criteria in the process of appointing Supervisory Board members,
- supporting the implementation of initiatives seeking to ensure equal opportunities in access to training. promotions and benefits,
- use of objective criteria for evaluating the actions of the Supervisory Board.
The Budimex Group is breaking down barriers related to employee health by hiring people with disabilities. The myBenefit system provides additional benefits for employees with a disability certificate and employees who have a family member with a disability.
Our company is a signatory to the international Diversity Charter – a voluntary commitment to treat all employees equally, prevent any form of discrimination in the workplace, and create an environment conducive to diversity. The document expresses the organization’s willingness to involve all groups of its stakeholders in efforts to protect and promote diversity.
Table: Results of unadjusted wage gap calculation for Budimex Group for 2023 (total compensation)
[GRI 405-2]
* Comparative analysis on total compensation basis including bonuses per FTE.
In 2023, Diversity Weeks were organized at Budimex SA. The purpose of the events was to spread knowledge and promote topics related to specific aspects of diversity. Each included webinars. contests and other activities for employees. The 2023 Diversity Weeks focused on gender differences, intergenerational differences, disability (organized in cooperation with the TAKpełnosprawni Foundation) and intercultural differences.
Confirmation of the quality of Budimex SA’s diversity management practices comes from the results of a global study commissioned by the Financial Times in November 2023 on companies’ support for diversity and women’s professional development. In the Diversity Leader 2024 ranking, based on employee surveys and HR indicators such as the number of women in leadership positions and diversity communication in the organization, our company scored 71.6 out of a possible 100 points. Thus, Budimex SA overtook many of the leading players in the international market and was ranked 10th among construction companies worldwide and 363rd overall (out of 850 companies included in the survey).
It is worth mentioning that according to data as of 31 December 2023, at Budimex SA, women account for as many as 55% of those employed as construction engineers – in 2012 the percentage was 31%.
Preventing discrimination against women
The Budimex Group actively prevents gender discrimination. To this end, it regularly analyzes the level of the GPGR, gender pay gap ratio (unadjusted wage gap), reflecting the pay gap between people employed in the organization. It represents the difference in average pay between men and women in each position group and is calculated in accordance with the methodology established for the Ferrovial Group as a whole, based on total pay, including bonuses, as well as on fixed pay. In 2023, the GPGR calculated based on total compensation including bonuses reached -1.7%, compared to -1.9% in 2022. From the perspective of base salary and fixed salary components. in 2023 there was no wage gap (it was exactly 0.02%).
The Diversity Policy provides for an obligation to achieve a fully equal pay in particular groups over the next years. To attain this goal, pay rises are granted in the Budimex Group taking into account the gender equality principle, and starting from 2023 all companies allocate part of their pay rise budgets directly for pay rises aimed at equalizing salaries.
We also attach a lot of importance to non-discrimination, among others based on gender, in the recruitment process, as well as to the transparency of decisions to select specific candidates. Other actions aimed at equalizing career opportunities for women include the Ironclad Success development program (described in more detail in subsection 5.1.6.) and the Mother on Maternity Leave program.
Table: Results of unadjusted wage gap calculation for Budimex Group for 2023 (fixed salary components)
* Benchmarking based on fixed salary components (i.e. without non-basic bonuses and awards. allowances and overtime payments. per FTE).
[1] All three of the company’s implemented diversity policies can be found on the website: https://www.budimex.pl/en/about-budimex/corporate-governance
