Our HR commitments: human resources policy at BRGM

At BRGM, the gender equality index provided for by the Act of 5 September 2018 on freedom of choice in professional careers, scored 94/100 in 2023.

The score is calculated from five indicators:

1. Concerning equal pay, the salary gap between men and women at BRGM was 0.7% more favourable to men (in 2022 it was 1.1% more favourable to men).
2. Concerning pay rises, the overall rate of increase was 1.5% greater for men (in 2022, the rate was 1% greater for men).
3. Concerning promotions, a total of 0.1% more men were promoted than women (in 2022, the rate was 0.5% more favourable to men).
4. One hundred percent of women returning from maternity leave received the pay increases they were entitled to during their absence (this was also the case in 2022).
5. Two women among the ten highest salaries (as in 2022).

The Equality Officer reports to the BRGM Human Resources Director. Following the signing of a new professional equality agreement between women and men at work, signed in April 2021 by the General Management of BRGM and its three trade unions, for a period of 3 years (2021-2024), the role of the Equality Officer is to steer the equality policy towards real equality between women and men at work, particularly for the scientific population of our research establishment, which is made up of one third women and two thirds men (average proportion in the Earth sciences in France).

In order to achieve this overall objective, his function is to put into action and ensure the follow-up (quantitative indicator) of this ambitious agreement through the implementation of "positive actions", responding to 7 challenges:

• gender parity in the geoscientific professions and mixing of very unbalanced professions;
• enabling women's access to executive positions;
• reconciling work, personal life and parenthood;
• access to international assignments for young parents and women;
• equal pay for women and men;
• building a genuine culture of equality ;
• preventing and fighting against all forms of sexism at work.

In this regard, he is in charge of combating sexual harassment and sexist acts at BRGM.

This position of Equality Officer is part-time at the rate of one day per week for a period of 3 years (duration of the agreement). It is provided by the Diversity & Inclusion manager who began his assignment in September 2015.

Since January 2020, BRGM has undertaken to combat occupational sexist and sexual violence. Several measures have been implemented since 2020 such as:

• the appointment of 4 in-house coordinators to combat sexist behaviour and sexual harassment, to register complaints by victims and to determine the nature of any inappropriate behaviour;
• the setting-up of a reporting system including a generic email address and a psychological-support unit staffed by a pair of coordinators;
• the distribution of a flyer to all staff to raise awareness of the different types of sexist and sexual violence and to publicise the reporting system for occupational sexist and sexual violence situations and measures taken to deal with them;
• the creation of a training MOOC, within the framework of a European project, with BRGM as the pilot company in partnership with PSYTEL;
• the setting-up of prevention sessions, particularly for new managers and new recruits;
• a talk by Natacha Henry, for BRGM staff, entitled “Stop sexist violence at work”, held on 8 March 2021. Since then, preventive awareness-raising sessions have been organised for each division as required, with the support of Natacha Henry.