On 28 June France’s Council of Ministers adopted the draft enabling law that authorizes the government to proceed with Labor Code reform via the ordinance instrument. Primacy for the company-level agreement, tighter frameworks for employment relationships and employment termination, merging of representation bodies… the subjects being addressed are not unknown, even if the draft law’s details signal more as regards the government’s intentions.
Company-level negotiation taking priority. The first issue of according ‘a central role to company-level collective bargaining’ entails broadening the scope of company agreement primacy over higher level agreements (currently restricted to the issue of working time). Company agreement primacy will become a principle except for issues where the law, sector negotiations, or cross-industry negotiations forbid any such derogation. So in this case the ordinances will set out the subjects upon which branch level social partners (and/or cross-industry) can decide to ban derogations to company level.
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