ESG Enforcement Tracker

A subsidiary of the French construction group Vinci is under investigation in France over allegations it violated the rights of migrant workers in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Following an unsuccessful initial complaint in 2015, an NGO, Sherpa, and the committee against modern slavery (CCEM), filed a further complaint in March 2019 alongside 11 individuals formerly employed by the Vinci subsidiary.

In July 2024, the judges of the Versailles investigating chamber confirmed the indictment against Vinci Constructions Grands Projets for allegations of forced labour, inadequate working and housing conditions, and exploitation.

The company had argued that the indictment should be quashed on procedural grounds and the absence of sufficient evidence.

It is alleged that, from 2011, on construction sites managed by Vinci Constructions Grands Projets subsidiary in Qatar, the subsidiary is said to have employed significant numbers of migrant workers under poor working conditions.

The Sherpa association, which filed the complaint with the civil parties and former workers, visited the site in 2014 and collected testimonies from workers describing work “in over 45 degree heat”, without water or shade, but also “the retention of passports, insufficient access to showers and toilets in the accommodation, barely edible food”. The workers, most of whom were heavily indebted, were then forced to work for the manufacturer’s subsidiary, in a situation akin to forced labour.

In July 2024, the judges of the Versailles investigating chamber confirmed the indictment against Vinci for allegations of forced labour, inadequate working and housing conditions, and exploitation. The company had argued that the indictment should be quashed on procedural grounds and the absence of sufficient evidence.

In May 2025, the French Supreme Court rejected the company’s further appeal, thereby confirming the decision of the investigating chamber. The company sought to argue that the indictment should be annulled on the grounds that the investigating judge had exceeded his powers and that there was no substantive evidence that the French company, as opposed to its Qatar subsidiary, had committed the alleged offences; those arguments were ultimately unsuccessful.

The matter will now be investigated by a judge.