The Michelin group has announced the introduction of a “decent wage” for all its 132 thousand employees, to which will be added a “universal social protection base” consisting of maternity leave of at least 14 weeks and four weeks of 100% paid paternity leave.
What is decent salary
“It is a logical commitment with respect to all the employees of the group”, the CEO of Michelin, Florent Menegaux, tells the France Presse news agency, adding that the employees ”consecrate time to developing and developing the company and us, in exchange, we give them the means at least for a family of four people (two parents and two children) so that a single salary allows them to get accommodation, food, but also entertainment, a little savings”.
The decent wage is a concept defined by the UN Global Compact, which establishes a series of parameters to calculate a remuneration that allows each worker to provide for the essential needs of their family (food, housing, transport, children’s education, health expenses , etc.) but also to build precautionary savings and acquire consumer goods. This wage, also called decent, can vary not only based on the members of the family unit or the country they belong to, but also within the same country based on the local cost of living. In France, for example, the decent salary amounts to almost 40 thousand euros gross per year in Paris, while in Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin’s headquarters, it is just over 25 thousand euros. Beyond the Alps the minimum wage is around 21 thousand euros.
Salaries of Italian employees
Michelin did not provide data for Italy, where about 3,200 employees work. According to estimates provided by Florianne Viala, the group’s remuneration director, “On average, the living wage represents between 1.5 and 3 times the minimum wage” of the country or sector concerned. In the case of the rubber and plastic sector, in Italy the minimum wage is around 1,530 euros. According to Viala, the living wage for Michelin employees should be between 2,300 and 4,500 euros.
Universal protection
Certainly, the group’s Italian workers will also be able to benefit from universal social protection which provides for the establishment of maternity/adoption leave of at least 14 weeks and paternity/adoption leave of at least 4 weeks, paid at 100%. Furthermore, in the event of the death of an employee, the payment to the family of an indemnity “equal to at least one year’s real salary and a school pension for the children until the end of high school and regardless of the seniority of the employee” is envisaged. “. Finally, “health coverage will be guaranteed that covers not only hospitalization or emergencies but also maternity care, visits and outpatient care”.
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