FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Laetitia Tombarello and Audrey Demourgues, Bredin Prat
Trade unions can be representative at the national industry level, where their main purpose is the nego - tiation of national collective bargaining agreements that are applicable to all companies belonging to the same industry. Trade unions can also be representative at the com - pany level, in which case they negotiate collective agreements applicable to company employees only. In practice, representative trade unions within a compa - ny must name union delegates, who have the power to negotiate the company collective bargaining agree - ments with the employer. Trade unions and their delegates must not be con - fused with the works council (or comité économique et social , literally “social and economic committee”), which is a distinct employee representative body. 6.2 Employee Representative Bodies Two main types of employee representative bodies should be distinguished in France: the works council and the trade union delegates. Works Councils The works council ( comité économique et social literally “social and economic committee”) is com - posed of representatives elected by the employees during employee representative elections that occur, in principle, every four years. Members of the works council are not necessarily members of a trade union, although it is common in bigger companies. The implementation of a works council is mandatory in companies with at least 11 employees. However, at this threshold, its role is limited. In companies with more than 50 employees, the works council must be informed and/or consulted on many economic, finan - cial and employment matters. Its remit also includes the prevention of professional risks and the improve - ment of working conditions. An employer must seek and obtain the works council’s opinion before taking any binding decision affecting the general running of the company. The works council does not have a veto right. In companies with several separate establishments, works councils can be set up for each establishment,
with one central works council covering the whole company. In addition, in large group companies, group works council can be set up to oversee projects at the group level. Trade Union Delegates Trade union delegates are employees chosen by trade unions that are representative within the company (ie, unions that scored at least 10% at the latest employee representative elections, among other requirements). Trade union delegates can negotiate and conclude collective bargaining agreements with the company. They are not members of the works council per se, although they may attend works council meetings, but without taking part in the votes. Violation of Employee Representative Rights Failure to respect provisions related to employee representatives and their protection may qualify as a criminal offence ( délit d’entrave ), which is punishable by a fine of up to EUR7,500 for legal representatives of the company (and EUR37,500 for the company itself) and/or one year of imprisonment, depending on the circumstances. 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements Collective bargaining agreements are the result of dis - cussions and negotiations between employers’ repre - sentative organisations or the employers themselves on one hand, and employees’ trade unions on the other hand. They can cover a wide range of matters relating to the employment, professional training and working conditions of employees. Collective bargaining agreements can be entered into at different levels: at the industry level, at the company or group level, at the level of each establishment or group of establishments, etc. Industry-wide national collective bargaining agreements are very common and their application is, in most cases, mandatory in all companies belonging to the same industry. Agree - ments negotiated at the company level are also com - mon.
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