A decision of the Supreme Administrative Court (“Conseil d’Etat”) of 8th July 2019 has overruled the decision of a work inspector (“inspecteur du travail”) who had rejected a zero tolerance policy regarding the consumption of alcohol during working hours for certain classes of employees in a company. The case concerned a company specializing in the manufacture of automotive equipment which decided to revise its internal employee regulations to include a clause totally prohibiting the consumption…

La Cour de cassation vient de déclarer conforme aux engagements internationaux de la France, le « barème Macron » qui plafonne les indemnités attribuées par un juge en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse. Avant l’entrée en vigueur du « barème Macron », en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse , il appartenait au juge de fixer l’indemnisation visant à réparer le préjudice du salarié. Or, si la loi prévoyait un minimum d’indemnisation de 6 mois de…

Whilst an employer is perfectly free to offer variable remuneration to an employee, the validity of such remuneration is subject to compliance with a number of conditions developed by the courts, as follows: – the variation of the remuneration must be based on objectives or targets the accomplishment of which are independent from the employer’s will, – such variation may not transfer the company’s operating risk onto the employee, – it cannot result in reducing…

The term « gig economy » has come into use to describe segmented jobs governed by “apps”. Drivers, riders, cleaners rely on a “digital platform” to be put in contact with clients and their jobs do not seem to fall precisely within the parameters of laws designed to deal with the traditional subordination relationship of employee to employer, for example because they are free to accept or decline a request for work and because it is often…

French law implemented in 2017 the “right to disconnect” from digital tools, requiring employers to limit employees’ use of digital tools outside of office hours. The purpose of this legislation is to protect the employees’ work-life balance and their right to rest periods. The law did not provide details of how employers should implement the right to disconnect as the employer is supposed to negotiate such modalities with its unions. In the absence of agreement,…

Le règlement général sur la protection des données (« RGPD ») est entré en vigueur le 25 mai 2018. Il modifie la législation antérieure sur le traitement des données personnelles en supprimant notamment le principe de déclaration préalable à la CNIL. Cette déclaration est remplacée par une obligation pour l’entreprise de démontrer la conformité de ses systèmes de traitement des données, notamment par la nomination d’un délégué à la protection des données et l’obligation de notifier les…

French law has recently implemented the “right to disconnect” from digital tools, requiring employers to limit employees’ use of digital tools outside of office hours. The purpose of the new legislation is to protect the employees’ work-life balance and their right to rest periods. New article L 2242-8 of the French Labour Code provides that the conditions relating to the right to disconnect must be discussed on an annual basis, as from 1st January 2017,…