In May 1998, France's supreme court of appeal confirmed that works councils must be consulted before any modification of working or employment conditions, even when these are the result of a company agreement.
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In May 1998, France's supreme court of appeal confirmed that works councils must be consulted before any modification of working or employment conditions, even when these are the result of a company agreement.
In a decision dated 5 May 1998, the social chamber of the Cour de cassation, France's ultimate appeal court, confirmed that a company's works council (comité d'entreprise) must be consulted before any modification of working or employment conditions is implemented, even if these modifications have resulted from negotiations with those trade unions operating in the company. The court has thus partially backed the CGT union confederation, which had challenged an agreement "on job creation and a new social dynamic" signed in 1993 at the EDF-GDF electricity and gas utility by several unions, but not the CGT, which is in the majority on the company's works council.
However, the court ruled that the agreement is not necessarily invalid. The obligation to consult the works council is tied to the council's responsibilities, but, as one legal expert comments, "the consultation of representative institutions is part of a unilateral decision-making logic" deployed by employers (Pierre-Yves Verkindt in Droit social, April 1998). The obligation to consult thus stems from a line of argument totally different from negotiation. Recent research by IRES and DARES on practices in works councils shows that in reality, as in law, they are often consulted without this having any consequence on the employer's decision (FR9804101F).
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Court rules on works council consultation, article.
