Legal Insights

In order to strengthen the protection of whistleblowers and prevent the risks of retaliation measures within their company, Law No. 2016-1691 of December 9, 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life requires companies with more than 50 employees to set up an internal whistleblowing system.

Law No. 2022-401 of March 21, 2022 designed to improve the protection of whistleblowers requires companies to update their internal whistleblowing system.

The French Ministerial Statistical Department for Internal Security has published, for the first time, a study on environmental damages.

The publication of these figures, which do not, however, cover all environmental crimes, is interesting.

What findings can be made?

In a decision issued on May 12, 2022, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) recalled that the filing by the employer of the optional profit-sharing agreement after the 15-day period following its conclusion results in the loss of the right to social security exemptions for the first financial year in which the agreement becomes effective.

Indications of origin and quality are valuable tools for local producers to promote the unique characteristics of their products as well as their traditional know-how. Therefore, a “geographical indication” can be granted whenever the product in question has a specific link to the place where it is made.

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.

A recent ruling of the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) has clarified the criteria for assessing the disparity in the respective living conditions of the spouses for the purpose of determining the compensatory allowance.

The benefit granted to one of the spouses during the divorce proceedings on the basis of the duty of support between spouses should not be taken into consideration in order to dismiss a request for compensatory allowance.