Although employees enjoy, within and outside the company, the right to freedom of expression, sexist comments made by an employee outside of his/her working time can justify a dismissal for serious misconduct, as recently ruled by the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) in a decision handed down on April 20, 2022.
The French government immediately responded to the health crisis created by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic through situational tools that helped companies quickly handle this exceptional worldwide crisis.
Together, these instruments have enabled many companies to swiftly adapt to the crisis. They also made it possible to maintain employment and, more generally, to protect businesses.
The national lockdown exit protocol intended for employers has just been published by the Ministry of Labor.
Its objectives: to help and support companies, whatever their size, activity or geographical location, to resume their business operations while ensuring the protection of their employees’ health through the application of universal rules.
Given the unprecedented health crisis that we are currently experiencing, one of the key measures imposed by the Government to contain the Covid-19 epidemic is the massive and imperative use of telework for all types of employment positions that allow it.
The legal framework for telework has become considerably more flexible in recent years to support the development of this work arrangement in France.
However, although the use of telework has been significantly streamlined, the employer remains subject to specific obligations that must be complied with.
Partial activity (also referred to as short-time work) allows the employer to reduce the working time of his employees or to temporarily close his establishment or part of it in order to maintain employment, and to compensate in part for the loss of remuneration suffered by employees as a result of the unworked hours. Because of the economic consequences associated with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, a draft Decree encourages and facilitates the use of the partial activity scheme.
Soulier Avocats provides an update on the latest measures in the form of a Q/A.
To take into account the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on economic activity, the URSSAF network introduced on March 16, 2020 a measure allowing employers to defer the payment of their social security contributions for a period of up to three months.
Strategic Lawyering