News

France: Aviva France signs an agreement for older employees

10 May, 2010

Aviva France, a major player in life insurance and long-term savings, asset management and non-life insurance, announces the signing of a three-year agreement on the employment of older people. According to this agreement, which has been entered into with the French trade union groups CFE-CGC, CFDT and CFTC and came into force on 1 January 2010, Aviva France undertakes to ensure that at least 12% of its employees are aged 55 or over throughout 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Jean-Pierre Menanteau, CEO of Aviva France, commented: "Given the outlook for pension plans, there has been a welcome break in our country, after more than 30 years of uncertainty concerning the employment of older people. In this context, the signing of the over-55s agreement on 18 December last year by Aviva France, a major savings and pensions player, is entirely in keeping with our commitment to corporate social responsibility, through which we strive to generate social innovation and think in the long term.

"Thanks to the quality of the work carried out with the social partners, this is an ambitious agreement to develop skills, qualifications and access to training, make arrangements for the end of people's careers and the transition from work to retirement, improve working conditions, avoid strenuous situations, and promote the transmission of knowledge and skills.

"It will be a real challenge for the company, but is fully in line with our strategic goals of developing manpower and skill planning and increasing possibilities for internal mobility."

1 - Developing skills, qualifications and access to training with:

• A latter-career review, from the age of 50, during which employees will be encouraged to seek Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in order to obtain a professional diploma or qualification without having to complete additional training or go back to college;
• Access to a three-year individual training plan, including at least one training course of up to 20 hours, in line with the French annual Individual Right to Training;
• A Training Passport designed to allow older employees to identify and develop their knowledge and skills, irrespective of the context in which they were acquired.

2 - End-of-career arrangements and the transition from work to retirement

For older employees wanting flexible working hours, the agreement offers:

• The choice of working 70%, 80% or 90% of the full hours; the 80% option benefits from a 5% employer's contribution on €40,000 gross/year (maximum €2,000/year), while offering the possibility of paying into an old-age pension on the basis of full-time employment.

With regard to early retirement, the agreement establishing a Time Savings Account (TSA) can be used to finance this leave in two ways:

• Building up the TSA (a maximum of 10 days' time in lieu or paid leave per year, limited to a total of 50 days);
• Debiting up to 50 days per year from the CET, without affecting the calculation of profit shares.

3 - Improving working conditions and avoiding strenuous situations includes:

• Conducting studies into ergonomics and adapting workstations;
• Stepping-up health monitoring by offering medical check-ups every year instead of every two years;
• Improving procedures for redeployment, if necessary in the opinion of an occupational health officer.

4 - Transmission of knowledge and skills

In order to facilitate the professional integration of newcomers and the harmonious coexistence of different generations, transmission of the knowledge and skills of older employees will be encouraged through:

• A tutoring scheme with the payment of an exceptional annual bonus of €500 to the tutor at the end of the scheme;
• Adviser-trainer schemes (contributing to working groups, leading training sessions, drafting procedures, testing training content).

In addition, in order to facilitate the handover of commercial portfolios within the sales adviser networks, a solution-seeking study will be conducted in 2010, in conjunction with representatives of the employees concerned.

This agreement has been approved by the Department of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training of Hauts-de-Seine.

-ends-

Press contacts:
Dominique Eluau (Aviva) 
Telephone: +33 (0)1 7662 6719 
E-mail: dominique_eluau@aviva.fr

Valérie Dudoit (HDL Communication)
Telephone: +33 (0)1 5865 2016 
E-mail: vdudoit@hdlcom.com

Notes to editors:

About Aviva
Aviva is the world's fifth-largest insurance group*, with more than 53 million customers throughout Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region. Aviva’s principal business activities are: life insurance and long-term savings, fund management and general insurance.

At 31 December 2009, Aviva had turnover of €51.3 billion, with €426 billion of assets under management. Aviva is the largest insurer in the UK and one of the main providers of life insurance and pension products in Europe.

A selection of images as well as all the press releases and product information from the Aviva Group are available in the press area www.aviva.com/media. Videos can be downloaded from http://www.aviva.com/media/video/. Follow Aviva on Twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc.

With more than 180 years’ experience in France, Aviva is among the top ten players in the insurance market. Aviva France operates a balanced multi-distribution model based on a comprehensive range of products, mainly intended for individuals and SMEs.

Some 900 general agents, 1,800 branch staff, 400 life insurance advisers, almost 900 wealth management advisers (Union Financière de France) and more than 1,000 active partner brokers are at the service of three million clients every day.

Aviva has developed unique expertise in building effective partnerships for the benefit of its clients, particularly with AFER, the largest savings association in France, and the Crédit du Nord, Société Générale and Ford groups. Specialising in unit-linked products, Aviva is recognised for the excellent performance of its long-term funds, the quality and innovation of its products, and solid commitment to its customers through its Good Advice approach.

Aviva France is a socially responsible company and has developed initiatives that include reducing and neutralising its CO2 emissions, supporting more than 250 projects to help children and the elderly through the Aviva Foundation, and implementing an acclaimed diversity policy.

The Aviva Group directly employs more than 4,700 staff in France.

At 31 December 2009, Aviva France reported consolidated sales of €6.7 billion and an IFRS-based net profit of €390 million. The company managed assets worth €77.4 billion at 31 December 2009.

* Based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2008.