France
Background information on industrial relations in France
- 13 Dec 2011
France: Strengthened regulation of internshipsThe recent ‘Cherpion’ Law strengthens existing measures and introduces requirements that offer more protection for French interns. The law necessitates the signing of a tripartite contract (between employer, intern and their educational establishment), limits the duration of internships, insists on a break between two interns in the same role, stipulates a monthly payment, increases the involvement of works councils and sets rules on probationary periods for subsequent employment.
- 13 Dec 2011
France: First assessment of representativeness reformThe 2008 reform of trade union representativeness has transformed the industrial relations landscape in France. A new study commissioned by the French government makes a first assessment of the reform’s impact. The aim of reducing the number of trade unions has not yet been achieved, although unions recognise that their representativeness is in danger. The increasing professionalisation of trade union work could also create a gulf between union leaders and ordinary employees.
- 18 Nov 2011
France: New contract for unemployed workersFollowing an agreement between social partners at the national level, reached on 19 July 2011, the French government brought in a new law on 29 July introducing a new contract for employees who are made redundant. By signing this contract, they are agreeing to actively seek work while taking part in retraining and redeployment programmes. The new system replaces two previous contracts, which the government felt had not done enough to rehabilitate unemployed workers.
- 21 Oct 2011
France: Report highlights rise in number of company-level agreementsCollective bargaining, encouraged by incentives and sanctions introduced by French law since 1982, has become an important tool for social regulation, concludes a report by the French Centre for Strategic Analysis (CAS). A review, published in July 2011 by the French Ministry of Labour, shows 2010 was a good year for collective bargaining, particularly on an interprofessional basis, and at company level. However, state involvement in local negotiations can be detrimental.
- 21 Oct 2011
France: Reports critical of the new public employment serviceReform of the French public employment service resulted in the merger of Assédic, the agency responsible for paying benefits to the unemployed, with the National Employment Agency (ANPE), the public service for supporting jobseekers. The merger created ‘Pôle emploi’, a single agency responsible for benefits and jobseeker support. Three years on, reports highlight the difficulties faced by the new agency as it attempts to improve and simplify services for jobseekers.
- 23 Sep 2011
France: Agreements on work-related stress under scrutinyIn April the Labour Ministry presented the findings from an analysis of more than 234 work-related stress agreements to the Advisory Council on Working Conditions (COCT). The requirement for companies to put in place an agreement on stress at work dates from 2009, when the then Minister for Labour, Xavier Darcos, announced that companies with more than 1,000 employees must address the issue urgently, given the recent spate of suicides in France Telecom and other companies. The findings of the analysis show that to date only 50%of companies were either drawing up a plan of action or negotiating an agreement and that few of the signed agreements contain a clear plan to achieve concrete outcomes.
- 11 Aug 2011
France: Government adopts new law on distribution of profitsFollowing on from a pre-election promise in 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a new law that would oblige larger companies – both private and some in the public sector – to distribute more company profits among workers. The text, adopted by the Council of Ministers on 25 May, had to be voted upon by parliament in July. The companies concerned must negotiate the conditions of the distribution of this additional money to an estimated four million workers by autumn 2012.
- 11 Aug 2011
France: Fixed working days system for managers to be reviewedOn 29 June, the French Supreme Court took its first decision on the system of measuring working time for managers called ‘forfait-jours’, where they work a fixed number of days per year. The case had been expected since hundreds of thousands of workers are subject to this system. The court ruled that French law and collective agreements are compatible with European and international sources, but employers will have to take the health and safety of managers more into account.
- 08 Aug 2011
France: France: EIRO CAR on ‘Helping young workers during the crisis: contributions by social partners and public authorities.’In comparison with other EU countries, youth unemployment in France is relatively high. Although this may be partly due to low activity rates and low levels of skills in the young, economically active population, it appears that the transition from education to employment is at the heart of the difficulties experienced by young people.The main policy responses to this phenomenon have included measures aimed at promoting various types of atypical employment contracts for young people and in particular training and apprenticeship contracts. Trade unions have criticised the increased risk of precarious working conditions for the youth and recent protests against the latest pension reform have shifted the issue of youth unemployment up the agenda of the social partners. However it is too early to assess whether this development will be sustained.
- 01 Aug 2011
France: France: The representativeness of trade unions and employer associations in the banking sectorThe banking sector has partially recovered from the financial crisis and the French banks have refinanced themselves. However the stability of industrial relations within the sector is less certain, as evidenced by the joint position of all unions against the wage proposals of the employers’ representatives and by the fact that for the first time not a single union signed the agreement on wages in the commercial banking sector – the most important sub-sector in the banking sector. In addition, the law on ‘representativeness’ coming into force in 2013 will have an impact on the capacity of trade unions to conclude agreements, since not all of them will be able to participate.
- 27 Jul 2011
France: Cross-sectoral agreements improve prospects for young peopleSocial partners in France held cross-sectoral negotiations to try to find solutions to the problem of youth employment. Three employers’ organisations and four trade unions signed what is the first agreement of its kind, aimed at improving the employment situation for 65,000 young people in 2011. It offers training and help matching vacancies with young people in need of work. In a second agreement, measures have been put in place to help young people access housing.
- 15 Jul 2011
France: French trade unions confront the far rightDuring local elections in March 2010, several trade union members stood as candidates for the far right National Front (FN) party, which claims common ground with the traditional role of unions in protecting the interests of French workers. However, France’s unions have been quick to respond, uniting to declare that the values of trade unionism and those of the far right are totally incompatible, and to exclude a number of trade union members who have chosen to become FN candidates.
- 06 Jul 2011
France: Wage negotiations provoke conflict as companies return to profitFrench workers are facing real cuts in their standard of living as pay increases fail to keep pace with inflation. Workers have, on the whole, refrained from taking action against their employers throughout the worst of the global economic crisis. However, recent union protests and a few local strikes called in response to a series of below-inflation pay increases have demonstrated the impatience of workers, and their apparent willingness to participate in strike action.
- 06 Jul 2011
France: Negotiated redundancies and French lawThe Ministry of Labour has launched its first assessment on a voluntary procedure for terminating a permanent employment contract, which was introduced by law on 25 June 2008. This method of ending an employment contract has become increasingly popular. While it is clear that this new method is useful, it has evidently been used by employers to avoid their obligations under existing redundancy law, which requires them to consult representatives over redundancies.
- 06 Jul 2011
France: The 22nd Congress of Force OuvrièreAt the 22nd Congress of Force Ouvrière (FO), held between 14–18 February 2011, Secretary General Jean-Claude Mailly called on members during the closing session to ‘fight, resist, negotiate, act!’. FO is France’s third largest trade union, and it does not seem downcast about losing the fight with the government over pension reform. A reinvigorated FO declared that it would overcome difficulties placed in its way by approaching changes to trade union representativeness.
- 22 Jun 2011
France: Regional involvement in vocational trainingThe social partners in the Franche-Comté region have signed, with the exception of the CGT union, a renewal of an agreement on vocational training. Introduced in 2009 as an experiment, the results of the initial agreement led to more workers being trained and lower levels of redundancies. The new agreement has now extended the reach of the initiative. This is an example of cooperation between local social partners in reaction to inevitable restructuring in the region.
- 22 Jun 2011
France: France: Employment, Industrial Relations and Local PartnershipAlthough official data for SMEs are not available for 2009, there is evidence that small enterprises have been hard-hit by the crisis, in particular in the industrial sector. There are, however, signs of recovery and an increasing number of SME managers plan to hire new staff, albeit to a high degree on fixed-term contracts.In terms of policy measures to help SMEs to weather the crisis, the most important programmes aim at granting loans to SMEs and at offering alternatives to lay-offs, i.e. through the provision of short-time working schemes and training. Social partners are strongly involved in the latter.
- 11 May 2011
France: France: The representativeness of trade unions and employer’s associations in the commerce sectorThe commerce sector is very significant in France, accounting for about 13% of total employment. Collective bargaining agreements cover about 90% of employees in the sector. There are 120 employers’ assocations and six main unions for the sector. It is characterised by many small enterprises, and 12% of commerce workers in 2007 were self-employed people. These factors inhibit the extension of worker representation to the whole sector.
- 02 May 2011
France: New deal on social dialogue in insurance sectorA new agreement has been reached in the insurance sector, under the umbrella of reforms to French union law. The agreement, founded on the principles of representativity and financial transparency, improves the way union representatives are allocated in the sector. Results for the elections to a works council, or for delegates of personnel, in all firms in the sector, are traditionally used to determine how many administrators sit on the body overseeing pension funds.
- 14 Apr 2011
France: French law to increase number of women directorsThe number of women company directors is expected to go up in France after its parliament passed a law on 13 January 2011 setting quotas for the gender balance of company boards. Within the next three years, 20% of a company’s board members must be women, rising to 40% within the following six years. This applies to companies quoted on the stock exchange (CAC 40), or those with more than 500 employees, with a turnover exceeding €50 million over the previous three years.
- 29 Mar 2011
France: Social partners set social agenda for 2011Agreements on harassment and violence at work, and on pension reform have been signed in France in the past 12 months. The social partners are now preparing to launch their work programme for 2011, which sets out more than 11 topics they hope to address. However, although the agenda seems full, the social partners’ objectives remain vague. Negotiations could also be hampered by the 2012 French presidential elections and by a planned evaluation of union representativeness.
- 02 Mar 2011
France: Act on renewal of social dialogue in the public sectorThe law on the reform of collective bargaining in the public sector has finally been approved by the French parliament after two years of discussions. The law alters the way trade unions’ representativeness is assessed in the public sector, in line with regulations already in place in the private sector. Workplace elections will now determine the extent to which trade unions are involved in negotiations, can sign agreements and hold seats on tripartite advisory bodies.
- 14 Feb 2011
France: France: Industrial Relations in the Health Care SectorThe French health care system is confronted with considerable shortages of care workers. These shortages are assumed to be aggravated soon due to a large amount of nurses who will retire in the next decade. The challenges are seriously considered by social partners and policy-makers. Several recent agreements aiming at addressing these challenges have been reached in the last five years. Because these agreements are too recent, there is no assessment of their impact yet. It is difficult to evaluate whether these efforts will be sufficient. Unions tend to consider that further efforts are necessary.
- 11 Feb 2011
France: Initial impact of new self-contractor’s schemeTwo assessments of the implementation of the self-contractor scheme have now been published, providing an overview of this important addition to French employment policy introduced in July 2008. The new status applies to those individuals who do not wish to establish a company in order to undertake economic activities, but prefer to be able to set up and dissolve their business relatively easily. The option is available to employees, jobseekers or those who have retired.
- 11 Feb 2011
France: Reform of state pension system despite strong oppositionThe French government’s reform of the state pension system is now law and the age at which workers will be entitled to their state pension has increased, but with exceptions for specific or disadvantaged groups of people. Those who began working at an early age are still entitled to retire early. With these and other changes, the government hopes to rebalance the public finances by 2018. The government is also keen to close the gap between public and private sector pensions.
- 11 Feb 2011
France: New law on unions for workers in micro companiesThe French government passed a law in 2008 changing the way representativeness of trade unions was measured. However, workers employed by very small companies were unable to participate in elections for staff representatives, which determine the status of the unions. In 2010, the government began the process of reforming representativeness within these small companies with the law of 15 October 2010, which will enable these workers to participate in elections for union representation.
- 19 Jan 2011
France: France : EIRO CAR on “The effect of the Information and Consultation Directive on Industrial Relations in the EU Member States five years after its transpositionThe framework directive on information and consultation had, in legal terms, no real impact in France. However this text is one of a number of influences which have led to a gradual change in the role of I/C bodies. The declared objective of the directive is to ensure that employee representatives are consulted with a view to reaching an agreement and this represents an incremental change in French industrial relations . The economic and financial crisis has increased the requirement for I&C bodies and has led to an increase in their numbers. This is due in part to employers seeking to introduce flexibility to improve competitiveness and requiring a partnership to achieve this. There is an awareness by the French social partners that a willingness to engage on important issues, for example the modernisation of social dialogue, could lead to a strengthening of the role of staff representatives.
- 11 Jan 2011
France: France: EIRO Annual Review - 2009The economic crisis has led to a noticeable return to State intervention in economic and social matters. The State also continues to stimulate the independent action of the social partners by pursuing its policy of reforming labour law, with priority given to bargaining. Public action promoting employment has not, however, reduced trade union dissatisfaction, which is expressed via strikes and days of action that are widely supported, especially in the civil service and transport.
- 10 Jan 2011
France: Several large companies sign agreements on teleworkingThe social partners of several large companies in France have signed agreements developing the concept of telework. The agreements are based on the principles of the 2002 European framework agreement, transposed by a national interprofessional agreement in 2005. Both agreements focus on the need to reconcile demands for flexibility by both workers and their employer. The agreements represent a positive change in the attitude of French employers towards telework.