In May 2000, the Paris Appeals Court annulled an agreement on the 35-hour week in the French banking sector, signed in January 1999 by the AFB employers' association and the SNB-CGC trade union (though not the four other representative unions). Following annulment, the majority of the industry's 230,000 employees will now be covered only by the statutory working time provisions in the Labour Code.
Download article in original language : FR0006168NFR.DOC
In May 2000, the Paris Appeals Court annulled an agreement on the 35-hour week in the French banking sector, signed in January 1999 by the AFB employers' association and the SNB-CGC trade union (though not the four other representative unions). Following annulment, the majority of the industry's 230,000 employees will now be covered only by the statutory working time provisions in the Labour Code.
On 4 January 1999, a collective agreement was signed by the employers' organisation in the banking industry, the Association of French Banks (Association française des banques, AFB) and just one of the five officially representative trade unions in the sector, SNB-CGC (FR9901151F). The other unions - CFDT, CFTC, CGT and CGT-FO- took court action against this agreement.
The agreement was extended to cover the whole sector by the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity on 4 August 1999 but was overturned by the Paris local lower court (tribunal de grande instance) on 28 September 1999. In particular, the court challenged the article of the agreement that planned to "include some of the time set aside for employees' training in the periods of time off created by the reduction of working time to 35 hours per week (in response to legislation - FR9806113F)". The court felt that this provision, which would bring about a de facto reduction in rest periods and push the employees' working hours over and above the statutory length of working time without financial compensation, was in violation of the legal regulations. Moreover, the judge observed that the Ministry's extension decree had already revealed this non-compliance with the law by the reservations it expressed about this point. Lastly, the court also accepted the argument of the non-signatory unions relating to the impossibility of any exemption from the regulations on paid holidays, and specifically holidays of less than one day.
AFB and SNB-CGC then appealed against this verdict. In a ruling issued on 17 May 2000, the Paris Appeal Court (cour d'appel) endorsed the initial judgment and annulled the agreement, leaving banking without the coverage of a sectoral agreement on working time.
This situation has created problems. Following the controversy over the 1999 agreement on the 35-hour week, inter-union unity had been restored within the banking industry, during the renegotiation of the general sectoral collective agreement. The employers had decided to terminate the previous agreement in February 1998, in protest at the first "Aubry law" on the 35-hour week, then being drafted (FR9802194F). Employers and trade unions agreed to leave the issue of working time out of the new overall collective agreement signed in January 2000 (FR0001133F), pending the Appeal Court ruling.
SNB-CGC - which, with 30% of the vote in the most recent workplace elections of employee representatives, is the second largest union in the sector after CFDT - was critical of "the unions that have destroyed this agreement", and called on employees to "wake up to what is going on". AFB, like SNB-CGC, is not eager to take the case any further. The employers' association, while regretting the decision of the courts, now prefers to negotiate the matter of the 35-hour week on a company-by-company basis rather than at sectoral level.
Although CGT-FO is demanding new sector-level negotiations on working time, CFDT has welcomed the court ruling, which "will enable company agreements to be renegotiated".
In the immediate future, most of the banking industry's employees will not be covered by a valid 35-hour week agreement. Only the companies that have negotiated one on the basis of the second Aubry law (FR0001137F) have a valid agreement. However, they account for only 35,000 of the 230,000 employees in the sector. The others will come under the legal provisions of the Labour Code pending a company agreement based on the law. However, 160 banks (accounting for 30% of the sector's employees), have no union representation, which will lead to problems in carrying out negotiations.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), Court annuls 35-hour week agreement in banking, article.
