The Legal 500

(1) No pre-dismissal actions are possible during maternity leave (2) Putting a protected employee back into his previous position after an unsuccessful attempt to a promotion requires the employee’s agreement (3) Means of measuring the electoral base of sector-based trade unions validated by the French Constitutional Council

Can a disciplinary file be used to assess the professional qualities of an employee when determining the order of redundancies?

Can a disciplinary file be used to assessthe professional qualities of anemployee when determining the orderof redundancies? 

Acknowledgement of de facto termination and breaches by the employer

On November 22, 2009 the government announced stricter measures against companies that employ workers whose papers are not in order. The transposition of the European "sanctions" directive of June 18, 2009 will give rise to a draft law in 2010.

Emploi des séniors : comment éviter la pénalité ?

Up until now, discretionary bonuses escaped the application of the principle of “equal salary for equal work”. However, after the judgement of the Employment division of the Court of Cassation dated April 30, 2009, a bonus which is at the employer’s discretion no longer escapes the judge’s control.

Law no. 2008-1258 dated December 3rd, 2008 in favor of earned income was published in the Journal Officiel on December 4th, 2008 (the “Law”).

Law no. 2008-1258 dated December 3rd, 2008 in favor of earned income was published in the Journal Officiel on December 4th, 2008 (the “Law”).

The Court of cassation continued its work of clarification, initiated last year, regarding the sensitive issue of the definition of and link between the concepts of formal acknowledgment, resignation, cancellation by the courts and dismissal.

In a decision dated 15 May 2007, the French Court of Cassation ruled that
“when an employee requests the termination of this or her employment contract due to acts which he or she accuses his or her employer of having carried out, while continuing to work for the employer, and the latter then dismisses him or her, a judge must determine whether the request was justified; if so, the judge shall deem that the termination date was the date on which the dismissal letter was sent”
(French Court of Cassation (Labour and Employment Law Chamber) ruling, 15 May 2007, no. 04-43.663).

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The three major changes brought in by the Decree

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Initiated with the Loi Evin and upheld by the Employment Division of the Cour de cassation in a ruling of 29 June 1995, smoking prevention efforts are stepped up with the Decree of
15 November 2006 amending Articles R.3511-1 et seq. of the Public Health Code (“PHC”) and are completed by several circular memos, specifically that of 24 November 2006 on the
fight against smoking, in particular in the workplace.

In application of these provisions, since 1 February 2007 smoking is, in principle, prohibited in all workplaces, subject to criminal prosecution.

As with any rule, this ban has certain exceptions that will be outlined below, before examining the tools made available to the employer, who becomes the main enforcer. Lastly,
failure to comply with the ban on smoking exposes both the employer and the employee to sanctions.

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This summer court session resulted in some surprising rulings in dismissal cases that should lead employers to review certain practices.

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