UK: Labor Law

The Macron Law concerns the liberalisation of the French labour market. Its purpose is to encourage employment and the competitiveness of enterprises. 

• More flexibility for Sunday and night work

• • With regard to Sunday work, the Macron law extends the scope of the existing derogations to Sunday rest, while strengthening the rights of employees who work on Sunday. On the one hand, the law defines new geographical areas in which derogations to Sunday rest are possible. The number of "Sundays of the Mayor," during which retail stores can be opened, is increased from five to twelve per year. On the other hand, the law confirms the voluntary character of Sunday work and states that employees deprived of Sunday rest shall benefit from compensatory measures provided by a collective agreement or an employer's decision. 

• The reform of the Labour Court/ employment tribunal is pending

  • A reform of the labour jurisdiction is operated in order to accelerate procedures and encourage the settlement of disputes. This reform is mainly marked by the capping of damages in case of redundancy without actual and serious basis. The amount of such damages may vary on the basis of a scale grounded on seniority and the number of the employees of the company, subject to uncapping situations defined by law. Although the criterion of seniority has been deemed consistent with the aim of the Law, the Constitutional Council has nevertheless invalidated this provision on the ground that the size of the company does not have an impact on the harm suffered by the employee. Nevertheless, the principle of an indemnification cap is not in question. The government has already announced that work will be conducted in the coming weeks to adapt these provisions to the Constitutional Council requirements and complete the reform of the labour courts. 

• The improvement of social dialogue within the company

  • The social dialogue within the company is strengthened through the search for transparency in professional elections by giving the trade union organizations the minutes of such elections. In addition, fines relating to obstruction are to be increased. However, the prison sentence for obstructing the establishment of personnel representative bodies has been withdrawn. 

• The strengthening of the fight against the illegal posting of workers

  • The fight against the provision of illegal international services is intensifying due to the raising of the cap on administrative penalties for failure to comply with formalities prior to the posting of workers in France, and the increased powers of control of the labour inspectors. 

• The improvement of the legislation on employment security

  • The section "redundancy for economic reasons" of the Macron law conerns the improvement of the legislation on employment security by extending the maximum duration of job retention agreements from two to five years. Furthermore, in the case of a redundancy plan, the unilateral document may establish a perimeter to the application of order criteria, covering, at least, the employment zone concerned by the job cuts. Finally, the obligation to redeploy employees abroad in case of dismissal for economic reasons has been made less stringent. 

• The development of employment of people with disabilities or social and professional difficulties

  • A number of measures target the development of employment of people with disabilities and "integration contracts". Thus, the conclusion of contracts for the provision of services or subcontracts with independent workers with disabilities may allow the employer to fulfill the obligation of employment of disabled workers, as well as the reception of persons with disabilities for simulations in a professional environment. 

• The incentives to use employee savings

  • Some rules relating to employee savings have been modified, such as the obligation of setting up a participation agreement in companies crossing the threshold of 50 employees, or even deadlines for distribution of the dividends, aligned with those applicable to equity. The rate of the social contribution applicable to the payment of the dividends is lowered to 16% or 8% under certain conditions.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.