FTC regulated: Yes

Valid reasons for FTC use: objective and material reasons

Remarks

See art. L 1242-1 LC to L. 1242-4 LC.
Art L 1242-2 LC to L 1242-4 LC: exhaustive list of situations when the use of FTC is authorized.

Maximum number of successive FTCs: 2

Remarks

Art. L 1243-13 LC

Maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs: 18month(s)

Remarks

Art. L 1242-8 LC.
General rule: 18 months maximum.
Depending on the grounds for resorting to a FTC, it can be up to 24 months in 3 specific situations, e.g. when an exceptionally important order for products to be exported is received.

% of workforce under FTC: 15.2

Remarks

Source: Eurostat, annual average for 2012.
The figure refers to the percentage of employee with a contract of limited duration (= temporary job) of total number of employees.
Eurostat data are based on the following definition:
"A job may be considered temporary if employer and employee agree that its end is determined by objective conditions such as a specific date, the completion of a task or the return of another employee who has been temporarily replaced (usually stated in a work contract of limited duration). Typical cases are: (a) persons with seasonal employment; (b) persons engaged by an agency or employment exchange and hired to a third party to perform a specific task (unless there is a written work contract of unlimited duration); (c) persons with specific training contracts."

Maximum probationary (trial) period (in months): 8 month(s)

Remarks

Art. L 1221-19 LC & L. 1221-21 LC: max. 4 months for managers (shorter periods apply for other categories of workers) renewable once.

Obligation to provide reasons to the employee: Yes

Remarks

The employer must communicate the motives of the contemplated decision and listen to the explanations provided by the worker during a prior oral interview: art L1232-3 LC.
In addition, the reasons behind the dismissal must be exposed in the letter of notification of the dismissal: art. L1232-6 LC

Valid grounds (justified dismissal): any fair reasons

Remarks

Individual dismissal: must be justified by a serious and genuine cause ("cause réelle et sérieuse"): art. L 1232-1 LC
Dismissal for economic reasons: must also be justified by a serious and genuine cause: art. L 1233-2 LC. The Labour Code prescribes what can be recognized as an economic ground for dismissal : art. L 1233-3 LC.

Prohibited grounds: marital status, pregnancy, maternity leave, temporary work injury or illness, race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion, social origin, nationality/national origin, age, trade union membership and activities, disability, participation in a lawful strike, whistle blowing, gender identity, state of health, adoption leave, performing jury service, genetic information, ethnic origin

Remarks

Art. L 1132-1 LC: list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. [New in 2012: sexual identity was introduced as a new prohibited ground by Law No 2012-954 of 6 August 2012]
Art. L 1132-2 LC: lawful exercise of the right to strike.
Art. L1132-3 LC: having testified to the actions prohibited under art. L 1132-1 and L1132.2 LC or having reported them.
Art. L1132-3-1 LC: performing jury service [New in 2011: new ground introduced by Law No 2011-939 of August 2011]
Art. L 1132-4: any dismissal based on one of these grounds is invalid.
•Art. L 1225-4 LC: dismissal is prohibited during pregnancy, where this has been medically certified, during maternity leave (whether or not the worker uses the right to take the leave), nor during the following 4 weeks. Dismissal is nonetheless permitted in case of a serious fault of the worker unrelated to pregnancy, or when the employer is unable to maintain the contract of employment for reasons unconnected with pregnancy or confinement. In such a case, the termination of employment cannot be notified nor take effect during the above-mentioned periods. The same protection against dismissal applies to parents during the adoption leave (see art. 1225-38 LC)

Workers enjoying special protection: workers' representatives, pregnant women and/or women on maternity leave

Remarks

*Workers' representatives:
- Trade union representatives and other worker's representatives: art. L 2411-1 LC
- Worker's adviser: art. 1232-14 LC
* Pregnant women and women on maternity leave: art. L 1225-4 and L 1225-5 LC, employees on adoption leave: art 1225-38 LC

Notification to the worker to be dismissed: written

Remarks

Letter of notification: art. L 1232-6 LC.
(Mandatory oral interview prior to written notification, during which the employee may be assisted by an adviser: art. L 1232-2 and L 1232-4 LC.)

Notice period:

Remarks

According to art. L 1234-1 of the LC, the minimum mandatory notice period (excl. in cases of serious misconduct) is the following:
*1 month for tenure of more than 6 months and less than 2 years.
*2 months for at least 2 year-tenure.
These provisions apply unless the law, a collective agreement, the employment contract or customs set rules that are more favourable to the employee.
*For tenure of less than 6 months, the notice period is to be defined by law, collective agreements or, failing that, customs of the trade.

Note: In case of business closure due to force majeure, no obligation to respect the notice period : art. L 1234-12 LC

tenure ≥ 6 months:

  • All: 1 month(s).

tenure ≥ 9 months:

  • All: 1 month(s).

tenure ≥ 2 years:

  • All: 2 month(s).

tenure ≥ 4 years:

  • All: 2 month(s).

tenure ≥ 5 years:

  • All: 2 month(s).

tenure ≥ 10 years:

  • All: 2 month(s).

tenure ≥ 20 years:

  • All: 2 month(s).

Pay in lieu of notice: Yes

Remarks

Art. 1234-5 LC (not due in case of serious misconduct)

Notification to the public administration: No

Notification to workers' representatives: No

Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No

Approval by workers' representatives: No

Definition of collective dismissal (number of employees concerned): The labour code defines economic dismissal but not collective dismissals.
However, the LC contains specific sections on the legal requirements applicable to economic dismissal concerning:
1) less than 10 employees over a 30-day period;
2) 10 or more employees over a 30-day period.

Remarks

See: art. L 1233-3 LC, art. L 1233-8 ff. LC , art. L 1233-21 ff. LC
NB: Special additional category: dismissals following receivership or judicial winding-up: art. L 1233-58 LC.

Prior consultations with trade unions (workers' representatives): Yes

Remarks

* Dismissals concerning less than 10 employees over a 30 day period: art. L 1233-8 to L 1233-10.
* Dismissals concerning 10 or more employees over a 30 day period: art. L 1233-28 to L 1233-33 LC.

(Criminal penalties for failure to observe those requirements: art. L1238-2 LC)

Notification to the public administration: Yes

Remarks

* Less than 10 employees over a 30 day period of time: art. L 1233-19 LC.
* 10 or more employees over a 30 day period: art. L 1233-46 LC.

+ Criminal penalties for failure to observe the notification requirement: art. R1238-2 (less than 10 employees) and art. L 1238-4 LC (10 or more employees).

Notification to workers' representatives: Yes

Remarks

* Less than 10 employees over 30 days: art. L 1233-8 to L 1233-10
*10 or more employees over 30 days: art. L 1233-28 to L 1233-33 LC.

Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No

Remarks

Intervention of the administration: in the case of economic dismissal of 10 or more employees, it verifies the regularity of the procedure (with regard to information to the workers' representatives, adoption of social plan) and gives advisory opinion but no power to adopt binding decisions: See L 1233-52 to L 1233-57 LC.

However approval of the labour inspectorate is requested prior to dismissal of some protected workers (i.e. trade union rep. : art. L 2411-3 LC).

Approval by workers' representatives: No

Priority rules for collective dismissals (social considerations, age, job tenure): Yes

Remarks

Art. L 1233-5 LC:
In the absence of a collective agreement, the employer defines the criteria used to determine the order in which the dismissals will take place, after consultation with the works council or, in the absence of such a body, with workers' representatives. These criteria take into consideration, among others:
1) family responsibilities
2) length of service
3) the situation of employees whose re-entry in the labour market is difficult for social reasons (in particular for elderly employees and persons living with a disability)
4) professional skills

Employer's obligation to consider alternatives to dismissal (transfers, retraining...): Yes

Remarks

Art. L 1233-4 LC: a collective dismissal can only take place after having made every possible training and adaptation effort and if the redeployment of the employee concerned, in the same company or in another company of the same group, appears not to be possible.
Mandatory "employment safeguard plan" (plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi) to avoid dismissals or limit their number, for enterprises with more than 50 employees in case of a collective dismissal concerning 10 or more employees over a 30 day period: art. L 1233-61 to L 1233-64 LC. The dismissal procedure is invalid as long as the employees' redeployment plan integrated in the employment safeguard plan is not submitted to the workers' representatives for consultation (art. L. 1235-10 LC).

In addition, in companies with at least 1000 employees, the employer must propose to the employees concerned a “reclassification leaveu201d (congé de reclassement) of up to 9 months (art. L. 1233-71). In companies that are not subject to this obligation, the employer must propose a “professional employability agreementu201d (contrat de sécurisation professionnelle) (art. L.1233-66).

Priority rules for re-employment: Yes

Remarks

In case of dismissal of 10 or more employees over a 30 day period: preferential rehiring within a limit of 1 year and if requested by the employee: art. L 1235-45 LC.
See also art. L 1233-45 LC: non observance of the preferential right to re-employment entails compensation that shall amount to 2 months' wages).

Severance pay:

Remarks

Art. L 1234-9 LC : right to severance pay after a tenure of at least 1 year without interruption, except in case of serious misconduct.
The calculation modalities are determined by art. R 1234-2 LC:
The statutory minimum is 1/5 of monthly wages per year of service.
For employees with more than 10 years of service, 2/15 of the monthly wages multiplied by the number of years of service beyond 10 years must be added.

Ex:
Tenure of 1 year: 1/5 x 1 = 0.2 month
Tenure of 20 years: (1/5 x 20) + (2/15 x 10) = 5.33 months

tenure ≥ 6 months: 0 month(s)

tenure ≥ 9 months: 0 month(s)

tenure ≥ 1 year: 0.2 month(s)

tenure ≥ 4 years: 0.8 month(s)

tenure ≥ 5 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 10 years: 2 month(s)

tenure ≥ 20 years: 5.33 month(s)

Redundancy payment:

Remarks

No specific redundancy payment. Severance pay covers economic (individual and collective) dismissals (Art. L 1234-9 LC).

tenure ≥ 6 months: 0 month(s)

tenure ≥ 9 months: 0 month(s)

tenure ≥ 1 year: 0.2 month(s)

tenure ≥ 2 years: 0.4 month(s)

tenure ≥ 4 years: 0.8 month(s)

tenure ≥ 5 years: 1 month(s)

tenure ≥ 10 years: 2 month(s)

tenure ≥ 20 years: 5.33 month(s)

Compensation for unfair dismissal - free determination by court: No

Compensation for unfair dismissal - Legal limits (ceiling in months or calculation method): Absence of serious and genuine cause:
The judge may propose the reintegration of the employee. In case of refusal by any of the parties, he or she awards financial compensation, which, as a minimum, shall amount to 6 months' wages, without prejudice to severance pay. These provisions do not apply in the case of employees with less than 2 years of service or in a company with less than 11 employees. In such cases, if the dismissal is abusive, the employee is entitled to receive a compensation corresponding to the damage suffered (art. L 1235-5 LC).

Remarks

See art. L 1235-3 LC.

In addition, when the dismissal is justified by a serious and genuine cause but the employer fails to observe the prescribed procedure for individual dismissals, the judge obliges the employer to follow the prescribed procedure and awards to the employee a compensation not exceeding one month's wages (art. L 1235-2 LC). This provision does not apply in the case of employees with less than 2 years of service or in a company with less than 11 employees. In such cases, if the dismissal is abusive, the employee is entitled to receive a compensation corresponding to the damage suffered (art. L 1235-5 LC).

Reinstatement available: Yes

Remarks

Art. L 1235-3 LC :
The judge can propose the employee's reinstatement in case of unfair dismissal (absence of a serious and genuine cause). No reinstatement is proposed in the case of an employee with less than 2 years of service or in a company with less than 11 employees (art. L 1235-5 LC).

Preliminary mandatory conciliation: Yes

Remarks

Art. L 1411-1 LC: conciliation takes place before the conciliation section of the labour court ("Conseil des Prud'hommes").

Competent court(s) / tribunal(s): labour court

Remarks

Art. L 1411-1 LC

Existing arbitration: No

Length of procedure: 12month(s)

Remarks

The average length of proceedings following the conciliation attempt is 11 to 12 months (not taking into consideration possible appeals). However, when there is no agreement among the employment tribunal members, another hearing needs to take place with the participation of a professional judge. This may prolong the procedure by up to 2 years. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned France for excessive length of the proceedings before the labour courts.

Source: https://www.village-justice.com/articles/delais-excessifs-procedure-prud-homale-etat-face-aux-actions-des-salaries,25660.html

% of dismissals out of the total number of disputes: 93.9

Remarks

Data for 2009 - Source: Study of the French Ministry of Justice (2019)
(See: http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/Le_contentieux_Prud-homal_valid_19.09.2019.pdf)