In many companies, the start of the new school year has been marked by power struggles: according to the study of the start of the school year by the National Association of HRDs (carried out among 462 members among the 5,000 in the association ), 39% of HRDs anticipate “a deterioration of social relations” in their business. “There is a relatively tense climate, not just because of inflation, but because of the washing machine in which we have been evolving for three years, from Covid to the war in Ukraine, including recruitment difficulties.recalls Benoît Serre, deputy vice-president of the ANDRH. On the HRD side, the pressure on wages is real, especially for a month and especially among the lowest paid employees. »
In response to galloping inflation, HR departments are accelerating the frequency of salary negotiations: a strategy that remains one of small steps, where increases follow one another every three or six months. Some companies have brought forward their mandatory annual negotiations (NAO, 18% according to the ANDRH study), and those that have not done so have often introduced “review clauses” to discuss again during the year the agreements decided at the beginning of 2022. Franck Bodikian, HRD France of the interim giant Manpower Group, makes the same observation: “No sector can escape the wage issue, all the HRDs of companies with whom we work are discussing an increase with the unions. No one is content to drop a one-sided bounty and wait for the next NAO anymore. »
Exceptional character
General increases (GA) are the most common solution to remedy inflation. At the National Old-Age Insurance Fund (CNAV), an employer governed by private law but operating on public funds, it is a professional branch agreement (the Union of National Social Security Funds, which includes 150,000 employees) that raised wages by 3.5% on 1er october. “We did with the means at hand, the CGT is already asking to reopen negotiations, but a general increase at this level is exceptional”underlines Jérôme Friteau, HRD of the CNAV.
“Be careful, when you keep increasing low salaries, the others have the feeling of being overtaken by them” Franck Bodikian, HRD France of Manpower Group
The exceptional nature of the situation is also explained by the unanimity of the unions on the question of general increases: “All the unions have demands, and do not want to appear to be lagging behind on the subject of inflation, in particular because many professional elections are approaching, judge Benoît Serre. Even the most reformist unions and executive unions of the CFE-CGC type. »
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