Repsol And ONCE Foundation Sign Collaboration Framework Agreement

Repsol, the Repsol Foundation, ONCE and its Foundation have signed a Framework Agreement to continue developing the work they already carry out together and to add new projects including accessibility, integration into the workforce and university access for disabled people.

The agreement was signed by Repsol’s Chairman, Antonio Brufau, Vice Chairman of the Repsol Foundation, César Gallo, and the Chairman of ONCE and its Foundation, Miguel Carballeda.

The agreement will increase accessibility to Repsol facilities, products and services under the guidance of ONCE and its Foundation. Its implementation will include informative conferences, seminars, awareness campaigns, etc.

The new agreement strengthens the close collaboration for the integration of the disabled into the workforce, which Repsol and ONCE began in 2006. At that time, both organisations signed an Inserta Agreement that was renewed in February 2010 and which led to the employment of 263 disabled workers by Repsol. The company has also drawn up a White Paper for contracting disabled people, as well as a Guide to Accessible Service Stations, both benchmark publications on best practices in this field.

In collaboration with CERMI (The Spanish Committee of Representatives for the Disabled), the Repsol Foundation and the ONCE Foundation have set up a programme to increase access to university education for disabled people. The Learning without limits programme is directed at secondary school students with disabilities. To bring educational content closer to these students, they have used real-life experiences of disabled people who have successfully completed their higher education and are now working. The success of the pilot programme in the regions of Madrid and Extremadura will allow for the project to be implemented throughout Spain.

Repsol will collaborate in other programmes and specific projects organised by the ONCE Foundation for deaf-blind people (FOAPS); the ONCE Foundation for Latin America (FOAL); and the ONCE Foundation for Cooperation and Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities.

The agreement also considers the possibility of placing ONCE sales agents at certain Repsol stores. The Repsol service station network already forms part of the complementary sales channel used to sell ONCE lottery tickets, which may also use Repsol’s logistics to bring packets of tickets to the ONCE sales agents working in hard-to-reach areas.

Repsol’s commitment

Repsol has been actively working since 2005 on the integration of disabled people, facilitating their recruitment and training, as well as creating awareness among the rest of employees. The company’s work in this field has been acknowledged on several occasions, most recently in March when the company received the Discapnent award from the ONCE Foundation. In addition, in January of this year, Repsol won the Ability Award for Best Private Company, recognising the company’s significant global work on the development and integration of the disabled into the workforce.

The company currently employs 360 disabled people in Spain, 22% of whom hold technical posts, and has given over 30 occupational training courses over the last 4 years, directed at 480 professionals with disabilities. The company has a Diversity and Conciliation Committee made up of senior management and in which a group of disabled workers actively participate.

Repsol has also set the benchmark for other Spanish companies in terms of its continued efforts to maintain top accessibility standards in its service stations and offices.

ONCE and its Foundation

Employment and training as a way of opening up the labour market to the disabled is one of the main tasks of ONCE and its Foundation. More than 130,000 people depend either directly or indirectly on the organisation in terms of employment, and more than 105,000 of these people suffer from some kind of disability. In 2010, 5,700 new jobs were created and training was given to more than 40,000 people, mostly disabled, to improve their opportunities for accessing the job market.