European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Employment protection plan (plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi, PSE): L. 1233-61 to L. 1233-64, Professional employability agreement (contrat de sécurisation professionnelle, CSP): L. 1233-65 to L.1233-70; Redemployment leave (congé de reclassement): L. 1233-71 to L.1233-76, R. 1233-17 to R.1233-21; R. 1233-22 to R. 1233-36
Employment protection plan
According to article L. 1233-61 through L. 1233-64, an employer needs to first inform and consult with employee representatives and to then draft a Employment protection plan (Plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi). The latter can be either negotiated as a company-level agreement with trade unions or unilaterally drafted with the information and consultation of employee representatives throughout the restructuring process.
The plan aims at avoiding forced dismissals and/or at reducing their numbers to a minimum. It has to include measures like internal mobility, creation of new activities by the company, external redeployment with a support scheme to help employees for business start-ups or business acquisitions, training, validation of professional experience, implementation of redeployment leave (congé de reclassement), access to the publicly-funded professional employability agreement (Contract de Sécurisation Professionnelle) that combines unemployment benefits with training and individual coaching, and measures aiming at working time reduction.
In both cases, where deemed necessary, the works council may call in an outside expert of its choice, at the employer's expense, to gather advise on collective redundancies involving 10 employees or more. The law defines the role of the expert with some details in articles L. 1233-34 and L. 1233-35.
According to article L. 1233-46, the employer needs to inform the labour inspectorate of its Job-saving plan at most the day following the first information meeting with employee representatives. Pursuant to article L. 1233-57, the labour inspectorate assesses the compliance with the information and consultation requirements and suggests improvements to the employment security plan, where needed. The labour inspectorate needs to approve the Job-saving plan for the latter to be considered valid.
The works council may propose alternative measures to the restructuring process. In this case, the employer is obliged to provide the works council with a detailed reply on the reasons to choose their restructuring plan over the one suggested by employee representatives.
Professional employability agreement(contrat de sécurisation professionelle, CSP)
If the company does not meet the criteria to provide for reemployment leave (see below), a Professional employability agreement has to be put in place entitling employees to personalised redeployment services (for example, skills assessment, retraining or support for business creation/takeover) provided by the French public employment agency for up to 12 months. During this period they receive an allowance, amounting to 75% of their basic daily wage. If at the end of the 12-month period the employees are still seeking durable employment, they will be entitled to unemployment indemnities (Allocation d’Aide au Retour à l’Emploi - ARE allocations). If employers fail to offer this redeployment scheme to all employees who are about to be dismissed for economic reasons, they are liable to pay to the public employment agency a specific contribution corresponding to 2 months of gross salary or 3 months of gross salary if the employee agrees to avail of the CSP offered directly by the public employment agency. Furthermore, if the company is facing serious difficulties (for instance bankruptcy), the government may intervene via the national employment fund aiming at workers' redeployment.
Redemployment leave (congé de reclassement)
An employer with more than 1,000 employees planning to announce redundancies is obliged to offer each affected employee a redeployment leave to avail of redeployment, retraining and reskilling opportunities or a job search programme. These services are provided by a re-employment unit ('cellule d'accompagnement'), which is generally staffed by external consultants and trained professionals. The redeployment leave runs at the same time as the notice period, and it lasts a minimum of 4 months and a maximum of 12 months (the period previously being between 4-9 months). For the duration of the notice period, the employee receives full pay, without being expected to fulfil their contractual duties. This reemployment leave is to be taken during the notice period and employees continue to receive remuneration. The law allows the suspension of the reemployment leave so that the employee can work for short periods under fixed-term or temporary contracts. In case the redeployment leave exceeds the contractual notice period, the employee receives an allowance of 65% of the last average gross wage based on the last 12 months' remuneration, or 85% of the index-linked minimum growth wage. The employer does not pay social contributions on this amount as it is not considered a salary; however, some social charges are to be paid, namely the Contribution Sociale Généralisée or CSG (0.5%) and the Contribution au Remboursement de la Dette Sociale or CRDS (6.2%). Furthermore, the State supports 50% of the allowance during the first 10 months.
Employment protection plan
According to DARES (2023), in the 1st quarter of 2023, over one year, the number of validated and/or approved Employment protection plan (PSE) rose (+22%), as did the number of employees involved (+92%). The number of PSE initiated rose by 55% over the quarter, to 119 procedures, and by 70% over one year. The number of collective redundancy procedures excluding PSEs rose by 61% year-on-year. Redundancy procedures involving fewer than 10 employees, as well as those involving 10 or more employees in companies with fewer than 50 employees, increased (respectively +57% and +117% over one year).
Professional employability agreement (contrat de sécurisation professionnelle, CSP)
According to DARES 2023, as a result of the upturn in economic activity in 2021, the number of new entrants to the public employment service (Pôle emploi) following redundancies will fall compared with 2020 (-23%) and even 2019 (-9% in two years), to 11,8900. This is the lowest level since statistics began to be tracked in 2000. Registrations fall particularly sharply in the 1st quarter of 2021 (-18%), with declines averaging 10% over the following three quarters. The decline is even more marked for entries under a Contrat de Sécurisation Professionnelle (CSP). Over 2021 as a whole, they will fall by 28% compared to 2020, to 57,400; their share of new entrants to Pôle emploi following economic redundancy will fall accordingly. accordingly.
In the 4th quarter of 2022, the number of people joining Pôle emploi following redundancy reached 31,500. An increase of 17% over the quarter, following a drop of 4% in the previous quarter and an increase of 5% in Q3 2022. The increase in the 4th quarter of 2022 was driven more by new entrants under the Professional Security Contract (Contrat de Sécurisation Professionnelle - CSP) (+31%) than by new entrants following redundancies excluding the CSP (+3%). Over one year, the number of people joining Pôle emploi following redundancy rose by 26%.
Eurofound (2015), France: Employers obligation to support redundant employees, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employers-obligation-to-support-redundant-employees/france
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