France: the Council of Ministers adopts a draft law that simplifies workers representation bodies

On April 22 the Council of Ministers adopted a draft law that aims to improve both the efficacy and efficiency of social dialogue. In it companies with less than 300 staff can regroup the various representative bodies into a single employee delegation. Companies with 300 + employees can, via agreement, adapt their own representation structure. The law streamlines obligations over information & consultation as well as negotiation. It also puts in place a form of employee representation for companies with fewer than 11 staff. Furthermore the law enables the skills acquired during the exercise of the representation mandate to be fully recognized and guarantees non-discrimination in terms of earnings. The law will also put in place, as of January 2017, an “individual activity account” which should safeguard the transferability of those rights that employees’ have acquired. 
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Single Staff Delegation (DUP) extended to companies with more than 300 staff. The Délégation du personnel unique (DUP) or Single Staff Delegation facility will be extended to companies with more than 300 employees. Currently businesses with between 50 and 199 staff can, after consultation, implement a DUP. This unit that combines the powers of the délégués du personnel (DP-employee delegates must be set up when the company employs a minimum of 11 staff ) and the comité d’entreprise (CE, the wor

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