Society

All Allreal employees receive an annual evaluation of their performance combined with target settingfor the following year. This standardised process has been logged digitally since the last revision in 2019. This ensures a high level of transparency and fairness. Furthermore, an anonymous employee survey conducted every six months ensures that potential conflicts at the team level are recognised early on so that corresponding measures can be defined and implemented. In addition, an extended employee survey is conducted every two years – the last was in spring 2019. Group Management analyses the findings of these surveys and implements appropriate measures for improvement in a timely manner.

On 31 December 2020, the staff headcount stood at 218 employees, corresponding to 206 full-time equivalents. There was also one apprentice completing their training as a Swiss certified commercial employee at Allreal. The proportion of women across the entire workforce is 31.2% and has been continuously increasing in recent years. This development is set to continue in the same direction in the coming years. On the Board of Directors, the proportion of women stands at 14%. The turnover rate was 12.7% in the year under review. Although this is a slight increase on last year’s rate, it is still in line with the long-term average.

In summer 2020, Allreal commissioned its first-ever equal pay audit in line with the provisions of the Swiss Gender Equality Act (GIG). The audit conducted by an independent consultancy firm and a separate audit office took the month of July 2020 as its point of reference and looked into data relating to 223 employees in total (68 women and 155 men). Taking differences in personal qualifications and other criteria relating to specific roles into account, the wage gap is 2.1% in favour of the women. The final report states that this statistical difference is negligible, meaning that men and women receive equal pay at Allreal in line with the provisions of the Swiss Gender Equality Act (GIG).

Workplace safety is a top priority for Allreal, with extra focus on construction sites. Project and site managers support and monitor contractors in planning and implementing all measures to prevent accidents. Emergency response officers are also on hand as the first line of response in any emergency situation at the office sites. They receive training in various safety topics several times a year to ensure that they are fit for this job. A total of nine incidents took place in 2020. Thanks to these measures, the company has more than halved the number of significant safety risks recorded per audit since the introduction of safety audit monitoring in 2016.The direct costs for workplace health and safety, including safety equipment, training and checks, amounted to CHF 23,344 in the period under review.

During the course of the year under review, the individuals responsible for workplace health and safety conducted a total of 13 unannounced site audits and recorded their findings. In addition, they provided planning assistance to project teams working on different construction sites on three occasions. There was no need for any follow-up inspections owing to serious shortcomings relating to health and safety in the workplace. On the whole, there was a slight increase in the number of minor breaches at Allreal, but the number of serious shortcomings decreased further to an extremely low level.

In 2020, Allreal did not record any fatal or serious accidents on its construction sites. All in all, two females and four males suffered minor injuries during working hours, corresponding to 2.75% of the entire workforce. The six accidents resulted in a total of 20.3 days of absence. Accident figures for Allreal contractors are not collated along with the other statistics.

In February 2020, the Office of Economy and Labour for the canton of Zurich conducted a workplace health and safety audit on Allreal. The result of the audit came back as excellent and the suggestions for improvements were implemented within the time frame specified.

When the company moved into its new head office on Glattpark, the emergency response protocols were fully revisited on site and the emergency response officers trained accordingly. As the building is so large, at least one defibrillator has now been installed on each floor in case of cardiac arrest. The other tenants in the building were also consulted when the emergency response protocols were being drawn up. An app is now used in the event that the building has to be evacuated, making it much easier to notify the emergency services properly.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, the individuals responsible for workplace health and safety have drawn up a pandemic plan, which has been adjusted in line with any changes to the government guidance. Group Management has used the plan as the basis for implementing a number of measures, which reached their initial peak in the middle of March 2020 when all employees were asked to work from home unless they were required to supervise construction sites directly. The second wave of the pandemic forced the entire company to start working from home again on 20 October 2020.

The workplace safety coordinators have worked hard throughout the pandemic, coming up with a plan for ordering materials during a pandemic, adapting the sites and equipment in line with the pandemic plan, and so much more.

All employees with any symptoms have been required to inform a central internal department since the very start of the pandemic. A total of 88 cases were reported in the year under review, covering general cases of sickness, employees having to self-isolate after coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19, and employees testing positive for coronavirus themselves. As of 31 December 2020, Allreal had recorded 16 positive COVID-19 cases amongst its employees. Everyone affected has now recovered, having only suffered mild symptoms.