6.1 Human capital in figures

At the close of 2021, Madrileña Red de Gas had 126 employees (not including partial retirees). Men make up 63% of the workforce. Even though we have not achieved parity in the number of men and women on the workforce, there is a clear trend of the difference narrowing. In the past three years, the number of women has increased by 6%, from 39 women in 2019 (31%), to 46 women in 2021 (37%).

Of the staff with open-ended contracts, 99.14% have a full-time contract, and only one woman (0.8%) has a contract that is for less than full-time hours.

A total of 6% of the workforce has a temporary contract (four men and four women).

6.2 Human resources practices

Labour relations

At Madrileña Red de Gas we endeavour to negotiate and adapt working conditions to the needs of our staff.

The company is subject to a collective bargaining agreement that covers 30% of the workforce, excluding partial retirees. The remaining 70% fall under the Workers’ Statute. In 2017 the 2017-2021 II collective bargaining agreement was approved, which can be viewed in the digital document processing repository.

Employees’ right are respected at our company. And there is complete freedom of association. There is a works council that represents all workers, with the exception of the General Manager. The collective agreements reached with company representation can cover up to 99.26% of the workforce.

Any operation changes are usually notified at least two weeks in advance, and always in observance of any legally established requirement.

Any changes resulting from a collective bargaining negotiation are specified in the negotiation for the collective agreement, including any established notification timeframes.

Work-life balance

Madrileña Red de Gas is fully aware of the need to implement measures aimed at ensuring our staff have the most advantageous conditions to develop their career without harming their personal and professional life. To that end, our policy for a suitable balance between work, family and personal time allows for working hours to be altered when necessary, working from home, shortened working days, and paternity and maternity leave, within the framework of the provisions contained in the company’s social structures. In this way, our workers can make requests for their working day to be altered to achieve a work-life balance that best suits them at that time.

A good work-life balance means equality of opportunities and of development both at work and in one’s personal life. This means that all workers have the chance to enjoy time for their personal and family life so that it balances and is compatible with their career, without this having a negative influence on their health or wellbeing.

Measures implemented by Madrileña Red de Gas include our firm commitment to digitalisation and working from home for almost the entire workforce, while also maintaining a 24/7 emergency response service. In 2021 a full 99% of remote working agreements were reached in all areas of the company’s activity that came into effect as a result of COVID-19. To achieve this, we had to identify the positions that were suitable for remote working and define an agreement model to cover any possible problems, and implement new measures such as reducing the amount of physical office space and creating the new field services unit. But these efforts have clearly paid off.

Five MRG employees, four of whom are men, took time off for parental leave in 2021.

All staff that have taken some kind of leave have returned to their roles at the end of their leave with exactly the same conditions, with a 100% return-to-work and staff retention rate.

Benefits for Madrileña Red de Gas employees

At Madrileña Red de Gas we continue to promote the wellbeing of our workforce by offering initiatives that adapt to their needs and resources.

The main benefits offered are:

• Medical insurance
• Insurance premiums for savings and retirement.
• Restaurant voucher or meal allowance for staff working a split shift.
• Assistance for staff to take university studies.

As well as the help received through the Plan Mus or the Plan Movalt, workers also receive economic support to buy vehicles fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG). This is a much cheaper and environmentally cleaner fuel. It is currently considered a sustainable alternative to replace liquid fuels. In 2021, only one employee received help to buy a CBG vehicle, as occurred in the previous year. In 2019, ten employees received help (in a year in which additional public assistance was provided).

In relation to the savings products designed for private pension systems, Madrileña Red de Gas has a Pension Plan or a Guaranteed Provision Plan available to its staff, and life insurance for the whole of the workforce. How they work is defined in the regulatory specifications for each one.

As the pension and provision plans are a defined contribution, there is no requirement for a different fund into which contributions must be paid, which are limited to the set amount of the contributions made by the company.

6.3 Equality and diversity

At Madrileña Red de Gas we embrace equality and diversity in our place of work. We promote gender equality through internal promotions, selection and training, offering the same opportunities and implementing equality plans.

In 2021 the MRG Equality Negotiation Committee was formed and gave gender equality training to everyone on the Committee.

Governing bodies

• The Board of Directors is made up entirely of male members. In 2021, 67% of the board members were aged 30 to 50 years old, and 33% were over 50. The nine members of the board have the following nationalities: Spanish (2), French (2), Dutch (2), Chinese (1), Australian (1) and English (1).
• The Executive Committee consists of 29% women and 71% men. The only senior management role at Madrileña Red de Gas that is an employed position is that of General Manager. In 2021, 43% of senior management were aged 30 to 50 years old, and 57% were over 50. Only one of the seven members of the Committee is of foreign nationality (English).

Employees

The following table shows staff percentages by gender and age group in 2021 in each area of the company (Administration, Business Development, Management and Operations).

A total of 3.2% of the total workforce (excluding partial retirees) at Madrileña Red de Gas is of a nationality other than Spanish, specifically Italian, Colombian, English and Polish. By categories, Management has 9.5% with a non-Spanish nationality, and in the other categories combined 1.9% of the staff are of foreign nationality.

Remuneration

The salaries policy established by Madrileña Red de Gas focuses on pay based on skills and goals, and is linked to length of service and job category.

To calculate the pay scale, consideration is given, for example, to the fixed salary and to the cost to the company (excluding bonuses), and the average for 2021 for women and men is compared for each job category.

Employees are full time, and the pay of staff members working reduced hours or in partial retirement is calculated pro rata as though they worked full time. The Executive Committee is not included in this calculation.

In 2021 the total annual salary for the most highly paid employee is 1.46 times the median of all other employees.

Senior management is not included in the calculation of who is the highest paid person in the company. To make this calculation, the company cost of each employee was taken into consideration, excluding overtime and travel allowance, and calculating the full-time equivalent for employees with reduced hours.

The ratio of the percentage increase in total annual pay of the most highly paid person compared with the median of all other employees is 1.46.

Action on social inclusion

At the close of 2021, the MRG workforce has two employees with some form of disability, in compliance with the General Disability Law.

We also have foundations and companies that specialise in workplace inclusion and creating jobs for people with disabilities.

Selection process

We want to contribute to the impact that these aims have on equality of opportunity, decent work, and reducing inequalities.

One cannot talk of human resource management in this day and age without it being linked to sustainability, in which the highest priority is the company’s commitment and responsibility, with value creation, and attracting and retaining talent considered fundamental mainstays for a company’s success.

We establish the necessary courses of action to take to remove biases and barriers that might prevent equal access to professional opportunities. The company needs to ensure that staff selection is based on criteria of merit and ability, and ensuring equal treatment of all candidates.

6.4Talent management

Valuing internal talent and managing talent is an ever-present task at Madrileña Red de Gas. We try to present and guarantee a working environment and work activities that are of value, attractive and comprehensive, based on equality of opportunities, diversity and inclusion, with competitive pay, with opportunities for training and professional development, a healthy, diverse and inclusive working environment, and measures in place that help ensure an appropriate work-life balance can be struck.

Our strategy continues to focus on two main areas: a people-centred organisation, which is based on prioritising people’s wellbeing, and collective leadership, which focuses on obtaining results through the team’s motivation and commitment to tackle the challenges set.

The length of service of the Madrileña Red de Gas workforce (not including partial retirees) has dropped from 19 to 15 years over the past five years, and in 2021 the workforce had the shortest length of service in the company’s history.

In 2021 eight people were hired to work in the Madrid office, of which four are women (two under the age of 30, one aged 30-40 and one aged over 50). Of the four men hired, one was under 30 and three were aged 50-60).

Women accounted for 58% of the people joining the company over the past five years. In 2020 this figure was 100%, and in 2021 it was 50%.

These new members of staff bring experience and added value to the company. In 2021 the workforce was the highest qualified in the company’s history. Madrileña Red de Gas is committed to rejuvenating its workforce, making it more versatile and better trained. Of the people joining the company in 2021, 75% are educated to graduate level. This is helping young people gain access to their first job. We also continue to adapt to the new circumstances, for which we have gone about building a more agile and flexible workforce.

The current average age of the workforce is 44.97 years, not including partial retirees, and 46.26 when including them.

MRG is committed to working from home as a way of gaining greater access to talent, retaining qualified staff, lower office costs, improved metrics and lower emission levels, due to fewer journeys between work and home. For employees, working from home acts as leverage in terms of motivation and flexibility.

Training plan and development programmes

In 2021, 4,121 hours of training were given and €122,506 invested, among 506 participants, with an average of 32.71 hours per employee.

Emotionally intelligent organisations

If there is something positive to have come from these years of pandemic, it is that organisations have recovered their focus on their people. The need to look after and protect employees from a common enemy, such as COVID-19, has reaffirmed in many cases the relationship between company and staff. Since March 2020 Madrileña Red de Gas has made every effort to protect the health of its employees. In 2021 we continued to listen to our members of staff and to engage with them so that we all understand and share the situations that they have gone through, in the hope that this will help them to carry on and become even stronger. We organised as many as seven workshops on collaboration with a trusted consultancy company, devoting more than 200 hours to this goal.

Digitalisation

At MRG we continue working to become the best natural gas distributor for our customers. This is why in 2021 we also invested in training on “Digitalising Field Operations”, “Big Data” and “Cyber Security” in order to provide our customers with a service that is better, quicker, more comfortable and, above all, safer.

Equality

A hundred hours of training on equality were given, as part of MRG’s clear commitment to equality between women and men. For years the company has worked along various lines in an effort to become a leading example in this regard. In 2021, continuing with this best practice, we took a step further by incorporating training on this matter into our training plan.

Training and development

What 2020 gave us was the opportunity to reinvent ourselves at all levels and plant the seeds of projects aimed at managing the change that a global pandemic entails, and we gained ground on the uncertainty that concepts such as lockdown, vaccination or remote working caused among us all. This was directly due to the training that was provided and that continues to be provided in terms of job safety analysis and in workshops aimed at providing our employees with tools for a new way of working: Leading Change, Initiative and Being Proactive, Cooperation and Teamwork. As a result, in 2021 we strengthened this continuity in programmes of this kind while also moving forward in achieving important landmarks for the organisation with training in aspects such as equality, digitalisation and emotional intelligence at the business level.

Performance assessment

All members of NRG staff receive a tailored assessment of their performance at least once a year through personal interviews held with their managers.

When a new employee joins the company, for the first year the HR Department monitors the individual and their manager to ensure that the new employee has all the necessary resources to perform their role, determine how they fit in with their colleagues and their manager, and if they have adapted well to the company and the unit they are working in. Additionally, to gather feedback the manager is asked to complete a performance assessment test on the candidate, and is interviewed to ascertain how well the new employee is adapting, their ability to learn and their level of responsibility.

6.5 Health and safety

Madrileña Red de Gas has a health and safety management system implemented throughout the organisation that meets the ISO 45001:2018 standard. Work done in previous years meant that in 2021 once again the company was awarded certification for its compliance with this standard.

Madrileña Red de Gas also has an Industrial Safety and Risk Prevention Policy that addresses the organisation’s principles and commitments on health and safety issues.

The company has also entered into an agreement with an external risk prevention service as a way to organise its job safety analysis, as the company conducts activities listed in Appendix I of Royal Decree 39/97 as being particularly dangerous and for having a workforce of fewer than 250 people.

In 2021, we had to ensure the continuity of our prevention policies implemented as a result of how the COVID-19 pandemic was evolving, which in practical terms involved establishing working from home as the preferred option for office-based staff whose roles were suited to this way of organising their work, as well as a raft of other measures aimed at staff whose work is only partly office-based and who carry out work in the field.

In this context, a significant percentage of the company’s health and safety resources once again needed to be allocated to the various issues related to COVID-19.

Measures adopted in the Madrileña Red de Gas building

In 2021 health and safety materials were still being purchased to provide protection against COVID-19. These include alcohol-based gel dispensers, screens and information posters to be placed in areas of transit.

With working from home the norm, staff were provided with a screen and accessories in their homes to improve the ergonomics of their work.

In the last quarter of 2021, senior management decided to reduce the company’s office space by half, and work began to separate the prevention department, and the possible capacity in the two areas fitted out was studied in terms of climate control, following the air conditioning study conducted by the company Applus.

Work continued to ensure proper cleaning measures were in place with the company Biocidas Control de Plagas with a disinfection service (twice a week) in daily work areas such as the emergency control centre, changing rooms and vehicles used by Madrileña Red de Gas.

New centre opened

In the fourth quarter of 2021 a new work centre was opened at calle Valdemorillo, 60, Alcorcón, to transfer emergency operators and auxiliary facilities.

Monitoring prevention objectives

Regarding the three health and safety objectives set for 2021, their status is as follows:

• Objective nº 28 Reduce accidents. (100% assessed). A lower number of accidents was recorded than the previous year, achieving 75% of the objective.
• Objective nº 29 COVID-19 pandemic management. (100% assessed). The ratios indicated in the objectives were 88% reached.
• Objective nº 31 Maintain the SEVESO III management model for the prevention of serious accidents. A full 100% of the goals set has been achieved. Seven simulations of the emergency plan and five reviews of the regulations set out in article 21 of Royal Decree 840/15 were conducted.

Health and Safety Committee meetings

Four Health and Safety Committee meetings were held in 2021. The main issues addressed were as follows:

• COVID-19 monitoring, campaigns, testing, purchasing materials.
• Activities of the external prevention service. Review of the risk assessment of the centre and work positions.
• Survey to gather information to assess remote working positions.
• PPE, clothing.
• Suggestions on the works carried out at the Virgilio office.

The Health and Safety Committee visited the new place of work at calle Valdemorillo, 60 in Alcorcón, and held the last meeting of the year there, attended by all members.

External document processing and operational control services

The external document processing service, intended to coordinate business activities relating to job safety analysis, is monitoring the document processing of 127 contractor and subcontractor companies, as well as 831 of their workers, amount to almost 9,235 documents being checked.

The degree of compliance of contractor compliance is at 76.8%.

In 2021, and due to the ongoing pandemic, the following documents have been checked:

• Assessment of the biological risk involved if exposed to the coronavirus.
• COVID-19 coronavirus action protocol.

These document checks are made through direct supervisions in the field and which were initiated in previous years, and through which the effective application of various preventive measures, and that the correct documentation is provided, is verified.

In terms of operational control, work continued on the digital transformation of the different MRG processes, automating management processes by defining the work flows associated with each process. In particular, the process of visits paid to Operational Control, the Agreement on Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) report and various corrective measures were all developed. To that end, we have trained our staff to handle the management tool for IMS processes, as well as training officers from contracted companies related to this task.

In 2021, a total of 65 reports were produced of visits made by health and safety coordinators to the emergency services, as well as 61 reports of the visits made by the Nipsa officer, recorded in the management tool for IMS processes, with no breaches detected, and a few incidents recorded relating to a lack of extinguishers in vehicles or the need for some extinguishers to be checked.

Of the visits recorded in the management tool for IMS processes, the highest percentage of operational control visits were for the following activities:

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant dismantling.
• Maintenance of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants.
• Maintenance of regulation and metering stations (RMSs).
• Inspecting valves.
• Meter readings.
• Tracking leaks.

A new cycle was also implemented of regular visits by Agreement on Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) advisors to affected facilities, as well as operational prevention, environment and quality control visits to a broad range of our significant processes.

Explosive atmosphere checks

In relation to policies to prevent risks in activities involving the presence of potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX) in LPG plants, in 2021 57 general security checks were carried out against explosions, of which:

• Nineteen checks were correct, with protection against explosions document.
• The rest, in 38 plants, had minor defects that need to be corrected.

Accidents in the workplace among MRG staff

No fatalities recorded by MRG in the company’s history.
At MRG the most common accident in the workplace is to do with overexertion. In 2021 a drop in staff accidents was recorded in comparison with previous years, and as a result of a single recorded accident resulting in sick leave, we scored 3.86 on the accident frequency index. The voluntary legal health and safety audit was also conducted in 2021.

Incidents

Incidents that occurred in 2021 include, for example, the lack of heating due to frozen pipes, unsafe traffic conditions due to wind and appointments to customers’ homes deferred due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements.

Personal protective equipment

On matters relating to personal protective equipment (PPE), work continued in terms of the best practice of regular external checks on rescue tripods, safety harnesses and other related safety elements.

During this period, personal protective equipment continued to be purchased, such as FFP2 face masks, gloves, surgical masks and alcohol-based gel.

The Health and Safety Committee was kept informed of how the most relevant issues relating to personal protective equipment were being monitored.

Best practice was implemented to provide weekly information on stock levels so as to plan any purchases that may be necessary.

New employees joining Network Operations and Expansion continue to be provided with PPE.

Industrial and third-party accidents

In January 2021 two incidents were reported, one involving four people, who became intoxicated due to the poor condition of the boiler, and a second incident involving two people, who became intoxicated due to various factors: a poor combustion join with gypsum and lack of a proper seal in the combustion flue.

Another event was reported in December, when three people in the same home suffered intoxication from carbon monoxide. Although there were no serious injuries, they did have to go to hospital, where CO₂ intoxication was confirmed.

There have been no fatalities in any of the accidents reported over the past five years.

Dialogue with stakeholders

Accidents were reported to the labour authorities as established in current legislation.

Statistical information on workplace accidents was also provided to the Spanish Gas Association (SEDIGAS).

Health monitoring and risk assessment

With regard to monitoring workers’ health, a widespread campaign of medical check-ups was conducted in 2021, involving both initial and periodic-type check-ups.

In total, 95 medical check-ups were performed. All workers who underwent medical check-ups were classed as ‘suitable’ to perform their usual roles.

The campaign to identify workers vulnerable to infection by COVID-19 remained in place.

A campaign of COVID-19 testing and detection was carried out in February and March. After the campaign, these tests were provided to staff to be used individually, depending on circumstances (people with close contacts and in quarantine).

Workers’ questionnaires, job safety analysis

In May/June, all workers were sent a survey to gather information on job risks when working remotely, on working conditions in people’s homes (monitors, furniture, lighting, and so on), etc.

At MRG, 85 employees (67.4% of the workforce, excluding partial retirees) signed the remote working agreement.

The job safety analysis survey that was sent out focused on working remotely, as per the provisions in article 5 of Royal Legislative Decree 8/2020.

From the results obtained, the proposal was made to make notes or suggestions to avoid many of the deficiencies that workers found in their homes, such as how to avoid reflections, where to place the screen, order and cleanliness, etc.

Psychological assistance service

In February a reminder was sent with the offer of psychological support for all Madrileña Red de Gas workers. This consists of counselling sessions with a professional to resolve any doubts or concerns in this exceptional situation we are all still living in.

One employee expressed interest in the initiative in 2021.

Training

The following courses on prevention were given in 2021:

• Risks and preventive measures in offices. Course delivered online by Previlabor. No. of workers taking the course: 96.
• Course on Emergencies at Madrileña Red de Gas, delivered in person by Unisafe. No. of workers taking the course: 14.
• Course on confined spaces. Delivered in person by Ilunion. No. of workers taking the course: 12.
• First aid course. Delivered online by Previlabor. No. of workers taking the course: 16.
• Course on returning to work. Given online by Quironprevención. No. of workers taking the course: 1.
• Course on safety when working with gas. Delivered by: Ilunion. Delivered in person and online. No. of workers taking the course: 43.

Emergency training and simulations were also carried out at LPG plants, LNG plants and distribution networks.

Information campaigns

In keeping with its policy of providing job safety analysis information to the parties concerned, Madrileña Red de Gas continued to improve the content available on its prevention information channel using cloud-based technologies, making access available to MRG workers and to the main contractor companies, ensuring that access to the latest versions of the job safety analysis information is guaranteed.

All staff received various COVID-19 information campaigns, each one aimed at a specific group in the company.

In total 62 campaigns were sent out (one or two per week). This campaign is intended to provide information on preventive measures, the use of PPE, vaccination protocols and healthy habits in the pandemic through graphics and videos provided by the Ministry of Health, the regional government of Madrid, Fremap, and other insurance companies and prevention services.

COVID-19 criteria and measures implemented

In observance of the contingency and business continuity plan for COVID-19, there was a need to continue defining particular criteria and putting them into place, of which the most relevant were as follows:

• Ongoing monitoring and analysis of legislative developments published by the Ministry of Health and the other relevant authorities in this matter, and adapting / reviewing our business context accordingly.
• Defining the criteria for preventive measures relating to COVID-19 for emergencies, maintenance, expansion and customer operations, and for staff who remained working in the building.
• Defining COVID-19 information for the website and the wording of call centre literature.
• Implementing scaled access to changing rooms for emergency and maintenance staff in order to limit numbers.
• Adopting criteria to manage infections and quarantines resulting from COVID-19: protocols for solitary return to work, contrast testing, etc.
• Determining criteria for scaling back after the easing of lockdown restrictions.
• Defining the plan for returning to offices, which continued to be reviewed and updated according to available information and developments with the aim of ensuring the best possible health and safety procedures are in place to prevent COVID-19 infections. Determining the criteria to apply for the occasional use of office space, such as meetings, receptions and training, and for use of the changing rooms or cafeteria.
• Determining which criteria to apply when coordinating of business activities in terms of preventing the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace when encountering the contractors who carry out maintenance work on the building’s facilities.