COMPLIANCE
Health and Safety Are Key to Restructuring in France By JULIEN HAURE AND MARINE HAMON
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otwithstanding the extensive financial support of the government, the pandemic has put a great strain on many companies in France, leaving them no choice but to restructure and downsize their workforce. In companies required to implement a social plan (i.e., companies with 50 employees or more planning to terminate the employment of at least 10 employees over a 30-day period), the project — whether
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collectively agreed-upon with unions or unilaterally set by the employer — must be signed off by the labor authorities. Without this validation, any subsequent dismissal could be held null and void and entitle employees wrongly terminated to reinstatement or payment of damages. Traditionally, international corporations had a tendency to focus solely on the financial measures and redeployment opportunities they could provide in the plan.
These were the main conditions to ensure a positive decision from the labor authorities. While this remains mostly true, the focus has recently shifted a little with increasing attention given by labor inspectors to the protection of health and safety when considering the validity of the social plan. This is not surprising. All employers are subject to a legal and strong duty to protect the health and safety of their workforce, and it has BACK TO CONTENTS
