Employment 2025

FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Laetitia Tombarello and Audrey Demourgues, Bredin Prat

in compliance with the company IT policy. Rules relat - ing to employee privacy must also apply to employees who work remotely. The company has a duty of care with respect to remote workers’ health and safety. It must notably ensure that the workspace and equipment are appropriate, pre - vent employee isolation, ensure a balance between private and professional life, and control workload. There are no binding statutory rules governing the compensation of remote work. However, national collective bargaining agreements may provide for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by remote work - ers. This payment is exempt from social contributions, capped at an amount calculated by reference to the number of days worked remotely. In 2025, approximately 22% of employees in France benefited from remote work arrangements, typically working remotely one to two days per week on aver - age. Over the past year, companies that had previ - ously adopted highly flexible remote work policies (such as allowing employees to work remotely up to four days per week) have now revised their policies to introduce greater restrictions, while still maintaining the overall principle of teleworking. At times, these changes have led to strained relations between com - panies and employees and/or trade unions. 5.2 Sabbaticals Sabbatical leave enables an employee to leave the company for a few months to pursue an activity of their choosing, to carry out a personal project, etc, without terminating their employment contract. Sabbatical leave involves a suspension of the employ - ment contract. However, the employee remains part of the company’s workforce, and remains subject to loyalty and non-compete obligations. Conditions for Sabbatical Leave Except as otherwise provided in any applicable col - lective bargaining agreements, employees must fulfil certain conditions to be eligible for sabbatical leave, including:

• they must have at least 36 months of service within the company; • they must have undertaken a professional activity for at least six years; and • they must not have taken sabbatical leave in the past six years. Approval by the Company Upon receiving a sabbatical request from an employ - ee, the company must notify the employee within 30 days of whether it: • accepts the request; • accepts the request but postpones its start date, notably if this is necessary to limit the numbers of employees that would simultaneously be on leave; or • refuses the request. If the company does not respond within 30 days, it will be deemed to have approved the sabbatical. Refusals can be justified if the employee does not fulfil the legal requirements, or if the absence of the employee would have a negative effect on the compa - ny’s activity. In companies of a significant size (ie, with at least 300 employees), refusals can only be justified if the employee does not fulfil the legal requirements. Remuneration During Sabbatical Leave For the duration of the sabbatical leave, the employee is not legally entitled to any remuneration (except as provided by collective bargaining agreement or as agreed between the parties). Nevertheless, an employee on sabbatical leave may engage in gainful employment throughout the sab - batical period, in particular to compensate them for a reduction or loss of income. 5.3 Other New Manifestations Flex Office and Desk Sharing Following the COVID-19 pandemic, companies of all sizes have had to adapt to a global fall in the number of employees working every day in the office and a corresponding rise in remote work. The most popular of these new working arrangements are “flex office” and “desk sharing”, which allow employers to reduce

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