On 2 August the French parliament gave the government its OK to reform the labour code by decree. Votes: 225 for, 109 against.
The government wants to avoid a longer process in parliament, with possible watering out of proposals, which might be a risk with an regular legislative process. Through August there will be further negotiations with social partners and the plan is to have the new rules in place at the latest by 21 September.
The reform will change the French labour Market in several ways:
- Changed rules on dismissals and compensation
- Changed structure of the employees’ representation in the enterprise
- Changed balance between collective bargaining levels and changed generalization rules
- Outside the labour law proper: reduction in taxation, posting and precarious work
On 2 August the French parliament gave the government its OK to reform the labour code by decree. Votes: 225 for, 109 against.
The government wants to avoid a longer process in parliament, with possible watering out of proposals, which might be a risk with an regular legislative process. Through August there will be further negotiations with social partners and the plan is to have the new rules in place at the latest by 21 September.
CGT has called for demonstrations across the country on 12 September. CFDT and FO have declared that they want to wait with their decisions until they have seen the final proposal. CFDT has argued that if the enterprise level and trade union representation is reinforced and the social dialogue in enterprises strengthened, CFDT would look more positively at this reform. Both CFDT and FO have underlined that they still have red lines in the negotiations.
The reform will change the French labour Market in several ways:
Changed rules on dismissals and compensation
The purpose of these changes is to make the cost of redundancies lower and more predictable. The proposals include ceilings on compensations for unfair dismissals, reduced time limits for appeal in case of termination of the employment contract and chang of the base of evaluation if a company or group has economic difficulties and needs to dismiss employees from global to national level
Changed structure of the employees’ representation in the enterprise
This is aimed at simplifying representation. The three current types of representation will be merged to one Social and Economic Committee (SSC). This will have similar rights to initiate legal procedings as the thre current bodies. It will also get the right to enterprise- and group-level bargaining. Employers and unions can call referendums of employees on a number of issues, including collective agreements independent of each other. Limit of three mandate periods of union representatives. Introduction of an employer paid "union voucher" which the employees can give to a union of their choice, without becoming members.
Changed balance between collective bargaining levels and changed generalization rules
Stronger role of enterprise agreements. Possibility to derogate from rules in companies smaller than 50 employees. Employer organisation veto on generalisation of national/sectoral agreements. Division of collective bargaining into three levels depending on issues.
Outside the labour law proper
The government is proposing a number of initiatives to increase the acceptance of the whole package. Improved representation on company boards. Reducing tax for employees on minimum wage and reduced employee social contributions. Initiatives against some types of precarious employment such as short term contracts. Renegotiation of the proposed EU posting directive to limit posting periods to one year. Extending unemployment benefits to independent contractors, entrepreneurs and workers who give notice on their jobs.
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