Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life, reaffirms its whole-hearted commitment to its clients, consumers, suppliers and employees in the 67 countries in which the company operates, to combat the health, economic and social fallout from COVID-19.
From the very first signs of the December 2019 COVID-19 outbreak in China, Sodexo began mobilizing its resources to ensure its consumers stay safe and healthy and that its business continues to operate for its clients:
- Sodexo is on the front line with healthcare professionals and patients everywhere.
- The 95,000 Sodexo employees working in hospitals, senior residences and in areas of public administration under strain, are fully mobilized and have been supported by additional team members from sites with lower activity.
- In China, with strongly reinforced health measures, Sodexo staff were on the front line to support healthcare professionals and patients in the hospitals of Wuhan.
- In France, 40 Crèche Attitude nurseries have welcomed children of healthcare professionals and we have maintained the catering operations for schools that have remained open.
- Sodexo has ensured continuity of its operations according to local situations.
- In the United States despite many schools and universities closing, our teams continue to provide students with access to food by distributing 300,000 meals a day.
Everywhere, the health and safety of employees and consumers is Sodexo’s top priority. We have introduced enhanced measures in addition to social-distancing guidelines that all staff adhere to, including:
- Modification of the service offered in our restaurants linked to the requirements of social distancing;
- Creation of specific shortened menus to take into account the exceptional organization of the sites;
- Reinforcement of Food Health and Safety measures in kitchens and small communities by, for example, supplying staff in elderly care homes with disposable gowns that are changed every day, and cleaning or disinfecting all human contact points every four hours in all workplaces in France.
Mindful of the difficulties encountered by its suppliers, Sodexo has also adopted support measures:
- Taking into account the needs and constraints of suppliers as close as possible to the field: payment deadlines, logistics chain support, adaptation of our orders (volumes, consumption dates, etc.);
- Implementation of agile financing solutions, in particular for SMEs and local suppliers;
- Early redemption of vouchers to support restaurants affiliated in France.
In addition, Sodexo is demonstrating its unanimity in the current crisis:
- By supporting staff of health establishments:
- In France, donation of 1,200 meals offered by Lenôtre in Ile-de-France, donation of several hundred electronic tablets to maintain the link between hospitalized patients and their loved ones, and the donation of 26 tons to date of fruit and vegetables to more than a hundred health establishments and their staff in Ile-de-France and Grand Est.
- By supporting communities with what they need most:
- In France, donation of nearly 25 tons of food by the Schools & Universities segment to various associations; the equivalent of 43,000 meals.
- In the United States, significant donations to food aid associations including Feeding America, Food Recovery Network, Moves for Hunger and Food Rescue US.
Sodexo is extremely proud of its employees who do a great job in often tough circumstances, and in locations that are on the front line. Sodexo recognizes their dedication and professionalism and extends its heartfelt thanks.
Sodexo immediately responded to the pandemic’s economic impact by adapting its operational management. This included closing down sites, lowering service frequency and cancelling or postponing some services.
- Whenever possible, we have reassigned our people whose workplaces have closed to other sites urgently requiring additional team members.
- To date, almost 4,000 employees, primarily in North America and in Europe, have been reassigned to hospitals and retirement homes, which urgently required additional staff.
- For example, 40 employees, who normally work in New York airline lounges, have acted as reinforcements for our people working at the Maimonides Medical Center.
- Sodexo is working proactively with other business sectors like retailers, e-commerce and manufacturing firms to find jobs for our employees hit by the COVID-19 economic fallout, who cannot be placed with other clients.
Despite all our efforts, we know that this once-in-a-lifetime crisis currently confronting us will regrettably mean lay-offs for some of our on-site staff in some countries, while strictly adhering to local employment legislation. As a result, we have decided to establish a global Sodexo Employee Relief Program to help on-site staff, who face layoffs.
- The global program will be administered locally according to the specific needs of each country and support provided will depend on various factors, including the existence of government social protection programs.
- This €30 million program directed towards those facing lay-offs due to site closures will be funded by senior executives and the company as follows:
- Sodexo Chairwoman of the Board of Directors Sophie Bellon will waive 50% of her remuneration over the coming 6 months1,
- Group CEO Denis Machuel will waive 50% of his fixed remuneration over the next 6 months as well as his variable remuneration for Fiscal 2020,
- Group Executive Committee members will give up 10% of their fixed remuneration over the coming 6 months as well as their annual variable remuneration,
- The 200 senior executives from all segments and operations around the world will also waive their annual variable remuneration.
