CSRD Directive: postponement of the adoption of sector-specific standards, SME-specific standards and standards specific to non-EU companies
On 29 April 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU approved, by way of a directive, the postponement until June 2026 at the latest of the adoption of sector-specific standards, SME-specific standards and standards for non-EU companies for sustainability reporting, that is two years after the date initially scheduled, in order to allow companies to focus on implementing the first set of universal "ESRS" standards for their sustainability reporting. (Directive 2024/1306 on the deadlines for adopting sustainability reporting standards for certain sectors and for third-country undertakings of 29 Apr. 2024, published in the Official Journal of 8 May 2024)
Value sharing: negotiation on exceptional profits
The law of 29 November 2023 on value sharing introduces an obligation, for companies required to set up profit-sharing and having one or more union representatives, to also negotiate on the definition of an exceptional increase in their profit when they open negotiations on an incentive or profit-sharing scheme. It will be for the negotiators to define the exceptional increase in profit according to certain criteria, in particular the following statutory criteria: size of the company; sector of activity; occurrence of one or more share buyback operations by the company followed by their cancellation, provided that those operations were not preceded by allocations of free shares to employees; profits made in previous years; exceptional events external to the company occurring before the profit was generated. Companies already covered by an incentive or profit-sharing agreement must open this negotiation before 30 June 2024. (Article 8 - Law no. 2023-1107 of 29 Nov. 2023, JOFR no. 0277, 30 Nov. 2023)
Notification of dismissal by telephone call
Notification of the dismissal letter, on the day of a telephone call warning the employee of their imminent dismissal, does not regularise the dismissal, which is then treated as a verbal dismissal, even if the letter is sent the same day and under the signature of the person who made the telephone call. In this case, the employer had informed the employee by telephone of the termination of their contract before sending the dismissal letter, in order to spare them from attending a meeting and being dismissed in front of their work colleagues. This verbal dismissal was confirmed to be without real and serious cause. (Cass. soc., 3 Apr. 2024, no. 23-10.931)
Fallback decree on unemployment insurance
Following the failure of the negotiations opened with the social partners on the Working Life Pact and the refusal to approve the unemployment insurance agreement drawn up by Unédic, the government is to issue a fallback decree to set the rules for unemployment insurance compensation by 30 June 2024, which will apply from 1 December and until 2027, that is for the period during which the agreement established by the social partners should have run. Among the measures that could be introduced: reduction of the maximum compensation period to 15 months (instead of 18) for those under 57 / and to 22.5 months (instead of 30) for those aged 57 and over; increase in the affiliation period to 8 months of work over the last 20 months (instead of 6 months over the last 24 months); strengthening of the "counter-cyclicality principle" by lowering the unemployment rate to 6.5%, instead of 9%, as the trigger threshold for the 40% reduction in the compensation period; raising of the age of entry into the senior bracket to 55 (instead of 53) with a compensation period of 22.5 months (instead of 27 months); creation of a senior employment bonus, whereby a senior may combine their new salary with their unemployment allowance when taking up a new job that is less well paid than the previous one; extension of the bonus-malus to new sectors of activity. (Interview with the Prime Minister in La Tribune du Dimanche of 26 May 2024; Order PRMD2412746A 10 May 2024: Official Journal 11 Apr.)
No review by the DREETS of the employer’s responses to the works council on the employment protection plan
When the DREETS receives a request to approve an employment protection plan (PSE), it must verify whether the employer, in the context of the information and consultation procedure, examined the suggestions relating to the proposed social measures and the proposals for alternatives to the company’s restructuring project put forward by the works council (CSE) and provided reasoned responses to them, but it does not have to consider the relevance of those responses. (CE, 12 Apr. 2024, CSE of Société Gazel Energie Génération, no. 459650)
Daily social security allowances: salaries taken into account
Entitlement to daily social security allowances (IJSS) is assessed on the basis of the salaries paid during the period preceding the interruption of work. Back pay of salaries paid after that date is therefore not taken into account. (Cass. 2nd civ., 21 Mar. 2024, no. 21-18.015)
Limitation period for challenging a dismissal for unfitness
The starting point of the limitation period for an action challenging a dismissal for unfitness is the date on which that dismissal is notified. Consequently, when an employee challenges their dismissal, they are entitled to raise the argument that the unfitness is the consequence of a breach by the employer of its safety obligation, even if the facts predate the dismissal by more than two years. In this case, the employee had been: placed on sick leave on 20 February 2013, declared unfit on 5 October 2015, dismissed on 23 December 2015, with proceedings brought 5 months later. The limitation period began to run on 23 December 2015 (and not on 20 February 2013 as the Court of Appeal had held). (Cass. soc., 24 Apr. 2024, no. 22-19.401)
Entry into force of the new rules on paid leave during sick leave
The law on various provisions adapting French law to EU law, including article 37 relating to paid leave during sick leave, entered into force on 24 April 2024. (Law no. 2024-364, 22 Apr. 2024, Official Journal 23 Apr.)
Termination of the probationary period of an employee redeployed to another position
The termination of the probationary period of an employee declared unfit has the effect of placing them back in the position for which they were declared unfit (and therefore of "reactivating" the effects of the unfitness opinion). (Cass. soc., 7 May 2024, no. 22-20.857)