The legal background Under French employment law, pregnant employees enjoy particularly strong protection from dismissal — dismissal of pregnant employees is prohibited from the moment the employee is medically certified as being pregnant, except in the two following circumstances: gross misconduct on the part of the employee or impossibility to maintain the employment contract for … Continue reading
The legal background Under French employment law, employees’ representatives benefit from specific protection against dismissal. As a result, an employer contemplating the termination of the employment contract of such a protected employee must first obtain the prior authorization of the labor inspectorate. However, the employer is entitled to suspend the employee’s employment contract temporarily pending … Continue reading
The legal context The “forfait-jours” is a particular method of organization of working time which allows the employer to calculate the employee’s working time as a number of days worked over the year rather than a number of hours over the week. This system is advantageous for employers, particularly due to the fact that regulations … Continue reading
The legal principles All employees are granted a right to benefit from access to professional training in the course of their employment. In this respect, the French Labour Code states that the employer must ensure the employees’ adaptation to their job position and must secure the maintenance of the employees’ capacity to perform their tasks, … Continue reading
Under French law, all employees are granted a right to paid annual leave, which consists of a statutory minimum number of days subject to any more favourable provisions applicable under any collective bargaining agreement to which the employer (or the sector of business in which the employee is active) is party, the employer’s internal practices … Continue reading
The legal context Under French law, an employee’s remuneration is protected and the ability of an employer to deduct amounts owed to it by an employee from such employee’s remuneration is quite limited. At least in theory, the offsetting of an employee’s debts to his/her employer against the employee’s remuneration is possible provided that the … Continue reading
The legal background French case law has always considered that both employer and employee are under an implied duty of loyalty which pervades the entire employment relationship. It follows from this general obligation of loyalty that the employee is required to serve his/her employer’s interest. As a result, the employee is subject to the obligation … Continue reading
French employment law does not provide for a comprehensive and consistent set of rules for the purpose of protecting whistleblowers. Instead, French employment law tackles issues arising out of whistleblowing situations through a relatively meagre set of legislative provisions resulting principally from recent awareness on the subject. Specific regulations: limited protection Under currently applicable legislation … Continue reading
The legal background The issue of compensating the cost of expensive training provided to an employee is a well-known and legitimate concern for any employer who wishes to maintain the profitability of its business. However, in considering whether or not to provide such training in light of the cost of doing so, employers should take … Continue reading
The legal context In the context of intra-group mobility, it is common practice to transfer an employment contract from one company to another one within the same group. Usually, this transfer consists in the termination by mutual agreement between the employee and his/her initial employer followed by the conclusion of a new employment agreement with … Continue reading