Working life country profile for France
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in France. It aims to provide the relevant background information on the structures, institutions, actors and relevant regulations regarding working life.
This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are systematically updated every two years.
The right to strike applies to all employees whenever a trade union is involved. Although not all and not even the majority of employees must be involved, an individual can only go on strike when their action is in relation to national strike action.
In order to be considered a strike, the action must fulfil three conditions.
It must involve a complete work stoppage.
It must involve consultation with the workforce.
Strikers have to issue demands that are related to the terms and conditions of their employment (for instance, related to wages, working conditions or restructuring).
If the three requirements are not met, the strike is considered unlawful. Employees participating in unlawful strikes are not protected by strike legislation and may be sanctioned or dismissed. Unlawful strikes include, for instance, go-slows and acts of sabotage, strikes concerning a particular obligation that is part of the employment contract (such as on-call duty), repeated blockades or occupations of the company without a collective work stoppage or employee consultation and strikes at company level that are purely political.
In the private sector and the public sector, apart from in public transport, there is no obligation for workers to inform their employer or to attempt to reach an amicable agreement. There is also no regulation of the minimum or maximum duration of a strike. Occupying company premises and preventing non-strikers from working is also unlawful action.
If the strike is in line with legislation, picketers are protected from sanctions and dismissal if they participate in the strike. Management may retain a proportional part of the striker’s salary and all extra payments, such as compensation for travel expenses.
According to Dares (2023c), workers’ demands related to pay for 73% of companies affected by at least one strike in 2021. This was the reason most frequently given and was 25 percentage points higher than in 2020, when the relative proportion of wage demands was in line with the average for the previous 10 years (48%). Working conditions were a reason cited by 31% of companies in 2021, an increase of 7 percentage points over one year. Employment was the third most common reason for strike action (13%), followed by working time (11%), with both reasons having similar shares to 2020. Demands linked to the pension reform were stated by 3% of companies in 2021, but 23% in industry.
Developments in industrial action, 2011–2022
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Working days lost per 1,000 employees | 77 | 60 | 79 | 81 | 69 | 131 | 71 | 107 | 161 | 67 | 58 | 99 |
| Percentage of companies that have experienced a strike | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.4 |
| Percentage of employees working in companies that have experienced a strike | 25.7 | 23.9 | 24.4 | 23.0 | 24.4 | 26.0 | 24.0 | 23.4 | 24.9 | 18.2 | 20.5 | 25.2 |
Sources: Dares, 2021b, 2023c; Dares, 2024a
Collective dispute resolution mechanisms
According to Article L2522 of the French Labour Code, all work-related collective conflicts may be subject to conciliation. Therefore, there is a network of regional conciliation commissions and one National Conciliation Commission (Commission nationale de conciliation). These tripartite bodies can be called upon in the event of any collective conflict. Their composition is usually determined by sectoral agreement. These bodies or the public authorities may also launch mediation procedures to resolve the conflict (Article L2523-1).
Individual dispute resolution mechanisms
Individual dispute resolution is very rare in France. The point has been addressed in recent reforms of the employment tribunal system.
Use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
The mechanisms of conciliation and mediation are not compulsory and, in fact, are rarely used. Therefore, no statistics are available.
