Alexandre Rousseau, the Chief Executive of Société Générale Private Banking in Monaco during the first wave of the covid pandemic, is also Vice-President of the AMAF and chairs the Commission for Social Affairs.
How does the Commission for Social Affairs operate?
It includes seven members of the AMAF, as well as a Social Observatory made up of eleven Directors of Human Resources from the main banks in the Monaco financial sector. Three times a year, it joins forces with the Social Observatory to review social and HR issues relating to financial activities in Monaco.
At the request of social partners (trade unions and employers’ organisations), we organise joint committees with the SEGCB (Syndicat des Employés, Gradés et Cadres de Banques - Union for Banking Employees, Officers and Executives) on subjects such as the classification of jobs, or how to define short-term positions. We regularly meet with the Département des Affaires Sociales et de la Santé (Department of Social Affairs and Health), the Direction du Travail (Department of Employment) and the Direction des Affaires juridiques (Department of Legal Affairs).
Can you specify what the role of the Social Observatory is?
The Social Observatory was set up by the AMAF to enable a regular and wide-ranging discussion on practices in the financial sector relating to all aspects of employment, including employment contracts in Monaco: permanent and fixed-term contracts, internships and in-work training. A salary survey is carried out every two years so as to set a reference benchmark for different categories of jobs. It is also useful for sharing different points of view on the advantages of direct or indirect social benefits.
Which areas do you work on?
We are currently working on a project to modernise founding texts relating to the existence of trade unions to adapt them to developments in working conditions and the international conventions ratified by the Principality of Monaco.
Furthermore, in November, we signed a Charter for workplace gender equality with the Department of Social Affairs and Health.
The financial sector took part in an investigation into harassment and violence at work carried out by the Department of Work. As for more technical areas, we have worked on tax and social charge exemptions for overtime, as well as the digitisation of payslips. Digitisation affects the entire Financial Sector, which, for that matter, is very satisfied with the new Digital Economy legislation.
Does your work also touch on training?
The members of the Association are very involved in banking certification, in-work training schemes, and the Finance Master’s degree at the International University of Monaco, whose programme they have validated.
Have any new areas of study emerged as a result of the pandemic?
We continue to work on developing and reviewing certain articles in the collective bargaining agreement for banks. This work involves an ongoing conversation into the modernisation of certain laws, including laws on remote work. In 2019, we carried out a survey on the implementation of remote work for staff in support roles. The pandemic sped everything up. We are currently working on bringing greater flexibility to regulations authorising remote working in Monaco.
