Veolia’s commitment to gender equity
Gender equity is an important part of Veolia’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. We proudly welcome and celebrate all cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and abilities, acknowledging that this breadth of diversity allows us to have a stronger and safer workplace, and to deliver more for our customers.
As Australia’s leading environmental company, with more than two thirds (68%) of our workforce being operational, we place an increased focus on gender equity. This is because our blue collar jobs are traditionally sought after and filled by males.
Driven by our executive leadership team, which is made up of 50% women, we deploy the following policies and initiatives to help close the gender gap:
- Ensuring equal pay for all genders in the same or comparable roles
- Offering flexible work arrangements
- Conducting recruitment campaigns targeting women
- Providing Women in Leadership training
- Implementing operational training programs like Women on Wheels (a driver training initiative), to create new pathways into male dominated operational roles
- Gender equity is also a key focus area for our internal Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Veolia’s Gender Pay Gap
Veolia’s 2023/24 WGEA reporting shows a Median Total Remuneration Gender Pay Gap (GPG) of 22.8%, an improvement from 26% in the previous year. Our Median Base Salary GPG is reported as 7.7%, a slight improvement from 9.9% in the previous year.
With an increased focus on the gender pay gap over the past 12 months, we are proud to report that Veolia has made improvements to 11 of the 12 reportable categories, including (but not limited to) General Managers, Clericals and Administration, Technicians and Trades, and Machinery Operators and Drivers. These pay gap decreases range from 2% and 20%.
Why we have a Gender Pay Gap at Veolia
Several factors contribute to our gender pay gap:
- Our sector is traditionally male dominated
- Overtime is the primary factor that drives our gender gap. 80% of overtime performed in this period was completed by men, predominantly in operational roles.
- Despite our initiatives to attract diverse talent, the majority of applicants for roles across our Australian business in 2024 were men. Again, this is largely driven by less women applying for traditionally male dominated roles such as drivers, diesel mechanics and weighbridge operators.
It is important to note that at Veolia we work hard to ensure pay equality for the same roles. This gives our employees and our clients certainty that there are no unexplainable pay gaps. This focus is particularly emphasised in the annual salary review process that has recently been completed and where identified gaps have been further closed.
We understand that closing the gender pay gap takes the time and commitment of everyone. We are dedicated to playing our part by continuing to strengthen our existing policies and deploying more female focused initiatives, as well as undertaking regular reviews of our performance, education, and training and development, to continue to improve on today’s situation.