Philippe Salle, Elior Group Chairman and CEO and President of Cancer@Work, has just received the 2017 Responsible Leader of the Year Trophy. Granted by a committee of experts, this prize is awarded to France’s top boss in the field of sustainable management for his or her outstanding track-record as regards commitment and best practices in sustainable development. Philippe Salle won this award notably for his efforts in addressing the problem of cancer in the workplace.

President of Cancer@Work since its creation in 2012, Philippe Salle declared: "Companies have a fundamental role to play when it comes to dealing with cancer, since they are one of the most powerful integration factors in society today; however much more could be done by companies to adapt their way of functioning to accommodate employees suffering from the disease."

Elior Group signed the Cancer@Work charter in February 2016 to support job security and the return to work for people suffering from cancer, and to enhance their quality of life in the workplace. Philippe Salle’s aim is to change the mindset of employees and the ways of dealing with the cancer issue at all levels of companies. Many awareness-raising actions have been undertaken, including conferences, discussion groups to find concrete solutions for reintegrating people suffering from cancer-related disorders, job-dating between the human resources department and job seekers suffering or having suffered from cancer or another chronic illness, meetings with casualties of life such as Paralympics champion Michaël Jérémiasz, flag-bearer for France at the Rio 2016 games.

In January 2017, Elior Group also launched a three-year “Pioneers” program for the employees of Arpège (Elior Group’s premium B&I brand in France). The two-pronged aim of this cancer-centered awareness project is to mobilize employees and implement an action plan promoting the organization of working time, the return to employment, training, and assignment reconfiguration.