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Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.
Supreme Court Rejects Integration of Commuting Time
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency
Author: Guillaume Desmoulin, Partner – Fromont Briens, Littler Global France
The French Supreme Court recently dismissed an itinerant worker’s request for overtime based on integrating his commute. The Court rejected the worker’s reference to the European Union Court of Justice’s community definition of working time. Further, upholding this request would contradict the Work Code, which clearly states that when displacement does not constitute effective working time, it must be compensated only if it exceeds the time of a normal trajectory.
Supreme Court Grants Subsidiary Employees Relief from Parent Companies
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency
Author: Guillaume Desmoulin, Partner – Fromont Briens, Littler Global France
On May 24, 2018, the French Supreme Court confirmed and specified the conditions in which a parent company’s extra-contractual responsibilities can impact its subsidiaries. The Court maintained that the parent company is liable to the subsidiary’s employees when making harmful decisions solely in the interest of its shareholders, causing partial liquidation of the subsidiary. While intentional misconduct is not required, the parent company will not be held accountable if it definitively refused to finance the employment protection plan based on the belief that no fault was committed.
Proposed Bill Seeks to Transform Businesses
Proposed Bill or Initiative
Author: Guillaume Desmoulin, Partner – Fromont Briens, Littler Global France
On June 21, 2018, the French National Assembly proposed a bill to promote business growth and transformation. The bill impacts human resources by changing the way of calculating the staff headcount to harmonize it with existing legislation, which will be in place for five years in order to fully implement the obligations. Regarding the pension savings reform, the bill generalizes the reduced social flat rate introduced on August 6, 2015. With respect to employee savings plans, the bill aims to encourage employee savings plans in companies with less than 50 employees and develop profit-sharing agreements with companies between 50-250 employees by exempting those concerned.
Bill Reinforces and Expands Employee Rights
Proposed Bill or Initiative
Author: Guillaume Desmoulin, Partner – Fromont Briens, Littler Global France
This summer, Parliament will adopt a bill to expand protections and benefits for employees. The bill will restructure the professional training and apprenticeship system and unemployment insurance while also reinforcing employment obligations to handicapped workers (OETH). The initiative also promotes professional equality between men and women, specifically in compensation plans, and reinforces the right to strike against fraudulent application, illegal work, and sexual violence and sexism in the workplace.
