On August 30, the Compiègne labor court invalidated the layoff of nearly 700 former employees at Continental’s Clairoix plant for lack of economic grounds. The court recognized the German parent company, Continental AG, as co-employer. Each ruling on co-employment pushes its boundaries a little further. This notion, inspire from corporate law to distinguish extraordinary situation of confusing management is getting away and getting closer and closer to the managerial reality of large groups. (Ref. 130512)
The notion of co-employer concerns the undertaking of a group, oftentimes the parent company, which has interfered with the management of the employer company, so much so that the latter has lost its independence. With this notion, the parent company is liable for the layoffs and compensation decided by the subsidiary. In the ruling of August 30, the idea that the parent company, Continental AG, subject to German law, is co-employer, goes further than what the jurisprudence had decided so far.
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