The countdown has begun!
There are only a few months left for buyers in the public sector to incorporate clauses promoting employment and social inclusion into the terms of execution for their public contracts exceeding European thresholds.
While several local authorities in France have prepared for this by establishing dedicated social clause facilitators, they remain in the minority. Montpellier Métropole is one of them. In fact, it has established a Social Clause Platform that ranks among the most structured in France.
A true single point of contact for the entire area, this platform is designed to mobilize public and private procurement as a vehicle for social inclusion, in order to combat unemployment and assist people facing difficulties in the labor market.
In this effort to make sure no one is left behind, Montpellier Métropole has established several mechanisms designed to facilitate the integration and implementation of social clauses: some contracts may include a set number of hours allocated for social inclusion; others may be specifically reserved for the social inclusion and disability sectors; and the service itself may also serve as a vehicle for procuring social inclusion hours.
Last but not least are “progress plans”, where companies can decide, together with the contracting authority and the Montpellier Social Clause Platform, to implement one or two initiatives per year related to activities such as recruitment and job retention, occupational health and safety, introducing and raising awareness about the company's job roles, combating discrimination, and promoting gender equality.
Co-funded by the European Union (ESF) and French government, Montpellier's Social Clause Platform supports approximately fifty contracting entities —primarily in the public sector — in the area through contractual agreements. In addition to raising awareness among decision-makers and procurement managers, the platform helps identify contracts that can incorporate social clauses. It provides guidance on selecting procedures and drafting the social clause section of requests for proposals, and assists technical departments in analyzing the compliance of bids regarding the integration component.
In addition, Montpellier Métropole has established coordination at the national level through Alliance Villes Emploi (Alliance of Cities for Employment) and at the regional level, notably with the Occitanie Region, Hérault Departmental Council, and Local Employment Initiatives (PLIEs), including Béziers Méditerranée. This network is reinforced at the local level by the Montpellier Métropole Social Clause Commission, which brings together integration organizations and associations.
In December 2025, this commitment was recognized during the National Days of the Alliance of Cities for Employment, when Montpellier Métropole received the “Communication and Outreach in Socially Responsible Procurement” award. The award reflects the strong collective commitment to socially responsible procurement and recognizes the hard work carried out daily by the entire team at its Social Clause Platform.
A closer look at the Social Clause Platform team
Comprising five people, the Montpellier Social Clause Platform team provides its expertise to approximately fifty contracting authorities, primarily in the public sector.
Let's take a closer look at their daily work.
Social clauses in public procurement have been expanded with several new tools in recent years. Legislation has also addressed the issue through the Climate and Resilience Act and the National Sustainable Procurement Plan. This is where Kamélia comes in. Like her four teammates, Kamélia's primary role is to assist project owners in drafting their requests for proposals.
She examines the type of contract (type of work, duration, scope), identifies the appropriate work packages (structural work, finishing work, etc.), and assesses the potential for workforce integration, among other factors. Procurement departments and contract drafters may in fact need support regarding the legal framework for social clauses or the number of hours to be included.
“People are often afraid of drafting a clause that doesn’t comply,” Kamélia points out.
The team’s mission is to advise and guide contractors in drafting social clauses specific to each of their public contracts. This involves a significant amount of administrative work distributed among contract issuers, totaling about fifty in all. Her expertise makes her increasingly called upon. The support is comprehensive, and the entire team is involved in follow-up.
Once a contract is awarded, Kamélia attends the initial worksite meetings to explain how the social clauses should be implemented. She then works with the companies awarded the contracts to help them implement the clauses. She ensures that the required hours of employment for disadvantaged groups are properly fulfilled and that the beneficiaries meet eligibility criteria, in collaboration with the France Travail employment agency and organizations and associations focused on economic integration, as well as those in the disability sector. When the contract comes to an end, she reviews the social clauses for each project.
There is no shortage of work for the team, as the metropolitan area alone accounts for more than 220 public contracts being monitored in 2025. In Kamélia’s opinion, this is proof that her mission fulfils a public purpose.
“This work brings me a lot of personal satisfaction,” she says, “We’re dealing with tangible results — contracts that help people facing challenges get a foothold in the job market, even if they lack the connections to find work on their own.” She concludes: “Without social clauses, people who would otherwise be excluded from the job market would be left behind. We create job opportunities through public procurement. And this inevitably leads to skill development and the creation of sustainable jobs.”
