Definition and Types of Restrictive Covenants Post-termination restrictive covenants are fairly common in French employment contracts, especially for senior employees or those with access to confidential information, senior responsibilities or contact with the clientele. In principle, restrictive covenants must be justified by the nature of the duties to be performed and proportionate to the aim […]
Social Media and Data Privacy in France
Restrictions in the Workplace Employers can set out the general conditions of use and restrict access to the Internet in the workplace, but they have to be cautious, as all employees have a right to privacy, even at the workplace during working time. For example, the employer may access the employees’ professional emails under very […]
Anti-Discrimination Laws in France
Summary According to the French Labour Code, it is forbidden to punish or dismiss employees, or exclude potential employees from the recruitment process (for a job, a training position or an internship), or cause them to endure direct or indirect discriminatory measures with respect to remuneration, incentive schemes, share distribution, training or redeployment programs, posting, […]
Hiring Practices in France
Requirements for Foreign Employees to Work The employer must ensure that the employee to be hired is authorised to work in France: where the employee is already in France, the employer will have to check that the employee has a valid residence permit allowing him to work in France, and keep a copy thereof; where […]
Employee Benefits in France
Social Security French social protection is organised into four levels: Social Security provides coverage for: i) illness, maternity, paternity, disability and death; ii) occupational accidents and diseases; iii) old-age benefits; and iv) family allowances. It is composed of various schemes involving the insured according to their professional activities, chiefly: the general scheme: it includes workers, […]
Trade Unions and Employers Associations in France
Brief Description of Employees’ and Employers’ Associations The French trade union movement is one of the weakest in Europe in terms of headcount. Only 8% of employees are members of a trade union. Currently, the representative trade unions at national and interbranch level are the CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and the CFE-CGC (i.e. the trade […]
Termination of Employment Contracts in France
Grounds for Termination In the case of an indefinite-term employment contract, there should be real and serious grounds for dismissal. There are two types of valid grounds: personal grounds and economic grounds. Collective Dismissals The redeployment efforts of a collective dismissal should be carried out throughout the group in France. The employer should offer individual […]
Working Conditions in France
Minimum Working Conditions Employers and employees are free to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment relationship. However, employees have various minimum rights under the law, regardless of any contrary language in their employment agreement. These minimum working conditions are set forth in the French Labour Code and the applicable Collective Agreement, among other […]
Employment Contracts in France
Minimum Requirements Employment contracts are generally not required to be written, but certain forms of employment contracts should be in writing (notably fixed-term contracts, part-time contracts and temporary employment contracts). The employer should provide the employee with a written statement of the essential terms governing the employment relationship. Oral fixed-term contracts are unequivocally deemed to […]
Pay Equity Laws in France
Extent of Protection Whether it is a question of salary, qualification or classification, no employee may be the object of direct or indirect discriminatory measures because of age, sex, marital status, pregnancy, trade union or mutualist activities, political opinions, religious beliefs, origin, morals, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, particular vulnerability resulting from his or […]