A man on the banks of the Rhône in Lyon, March 20, 2020. – JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
The employer will be able to impose the taking of paid holidays for the confinement period, within one week, according to an amendment adopted to
Senate. It still needs to be confirmed this Friday in the National Assembly,
as part of the health emergency bill.
According to the Labor Code, currently, without a collective agreement, employer cannot “change order and dates of departure less than a month before the scheduled date. ” “Our intention in the law is to reduce this time limit so that we can adapt to the current situation. It’s therefore a provision that already exists and which reduces the implementation times, ”explained Friday morning
government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye, on BFMTV and RMC.
“A reasonable effort”, for Pénicaud
Article 7 of the health emergency bill presented by the government empowers it to “allow any employer to impose or modify unilaterally the dates of taking part of paid holidays, days of reduction of the working time and rest days allocated to the employee time savings account “by derogating from” the notice periods and terms of use “defined in the Labor Code, collective agreements and conventions as well as the general statute of the public service.
The government could therefore, by ordinance, allow businesses to fix part of the paid vacation during the confinement period. In the entourage of Muriel Pénicaud, this measure was presented on Wednesday as “a reasonable effort” asked of employees while the state “is implementing an exceptional plan to save jobs and avoid layoffs”.
No more than six days
In companies affected by the crisis, this measure “would be financially favorable to employees, who do not suffer loss of remuneration when they are on leave, unlike partial activity”, according to Alain Milon, president (LR) of the Senate Social Affairs Committee. But, he adds, “these derogations should not allow companies to unilaterally reclassify paid holidays as a period during which employees are forced to stay at home, if necessary to keep their children, which cannot be assimilated to holidays “.
Also, “for the sake of proportionality,” the senator adopted an amendment limiting to six working days “the length of paid leave that may be imposed by the employer without observing the notice periods.” According to the Ministry of Labor, the 2019-2020 paid holidays are concerned, those which must therefore be taken on May 31.
Unions opposed to the measure
This amendment is yet to be passed in the National Assembly, which is debating the bill on Friday. The text does not, however, at this stage set a limit on the imposition of RTT days taken and days in the time savings account. Empowerment also allows the government to “modify the conditions for acquiring paid leave.” The government has not indicated whether this covers periods of short-time working which currently entitle people to paid vacation leave.
The unions expressed opposition to the taking of days off by a unilateral decision by the employer. The CFDT has claimed that only the conclusion of a collective agreement can authorize such derogations.
