Carrefour : Round-up of disability initiatives around the world

Carrefour, a partner of the 2018 European Disability Employment Week which runs from 19 to 25 November, has been implementing far-reaching initiatives in France since 1999 designed to help disabled people get onto the job market.

Once again this year, Carrefour is actively taking part in European Disability Employment Week (19-25 November), which for 22 years has been organised by the association for the social and occupational integration of persons with disabilities. Over the past five years, the group has increased the number of people with disabilities that it employs by 20% in Europe - it now employs more than 12,500.

The Mission Handicap agreement
In France, Carrefour employs 6900 people with disabilities. The 'Mission Handicap' agreement has already been renewed seven times and Carrefour stores have surpassed the 6% legal threshold. The 'Mission Handicap' agreement raises employee awareness and supports disabled workers every day.
In addition, every year Carrefour Supply Chain takes part in the 'Free Handy's Trophy', a relay race in which able-bodied and disabled employees pair up to complete a course of more than 700 km.

Carrefour's commitment to supporting people with disabilities can also be seen at European and world level. The number of disabled employees working across the Group has increased by 45% since 2011.

In Poland, the retailer works with the Ekon association, which has led to 340 disabled people being hired. In Romania, Carrefour introduced an action plan in 2016 to hire 100 disabled people by the end of 2017. This involved a recruitment poster campaign in all stores, a referral programme and partnerships with specialist associations.

An award for Carrefour Spain
In Spain, Carrefour has signed agreements with the local authorities and associations to promote the employment of people with disabilities. Thanks to the various initiatives undertaken, Carrefour Spain received the European prize for best company in terms of workplace integration in 2017. This prize, awarded by the EAPSD (European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities), recognises a company's initiatives to integrate people with disabilities into the workplace.

In Italy, Carrefour has made disability one of the four key priorities of its Diversity strategy. The retailer employs more than 600 disabled people in the country.

In Brazil, 2.8% of the people who work for Carrefour are disabled - that's nearly 1200 people. Every year, retailer Atacadao promotes the employment of disabled people by organising meetings across the region, implementing awareness-raising initiatives and ensuring an ongoing dialogue with the Brazilian National Confederation of Commerce Workers.

An action plan for China and Taiwan
In Asia, 2018 saw Carrefour China joining forces with the International Labour Organisation to promote the employment of people with disabilities, implement concrete initiatives on a day-to-day basis and make doing so a key component of its social strategy. By the end of 2017, 1.9% of the people employed by Carrefour China were disabled - that's 720 disabled workers. Carrefour Taiwan is continuing with its policy of employing people with disabilities: it employed 245 as of the end of 2017. A detailed action plan was produced for 2018 focusing on recruitment, working environment and career development.