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Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - France (RATIFICATION: 1989)

Practical application. The Committee notes that, according to the 2017 annual report of the Rights Ombudsperson (ex-HALDE), “the discrimination to which women are exposed in their professional lives is due, inter alia, to structural factors, linked to evaluation and career management norms, which do not take into account pregnancy, family responsibilities that are still too often delegated to women, and the result of practices and prejudices that are deeply rooted in society”. Complaints alleging discrimination in employment on the basis of family situation or pregnancy represent 2 and 3.3 per cent, respectively, of all the complaints submitted to the Ombudsperson. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the complaints concerning discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities processed by the Rights Ombudsperson, Labour Inspection and Courts Ombudsperson, and to indicate the outcome of these complaints.

Article 3 of the Convention. National equality policy. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the support plan concerning occupational equality in the world of work that was supposed to be proposed before the end of 2011, as well as the specific measures adopted and implemented by companies to promote the reconciliation of work and family life. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that national framework agreements for 2013–14 and 2015–18 were signed on 28 June 2013 and on 27 April 2015, respectively, by the ministries in charge of employment and women’s rights and by the employment service (Pôle emploi), with a view to providing personalized support, including for women returning to work after maternity leave, establishing joint responsibility for individuals’ social and occupational needs and promoting new forms of employment (multiple job holding, teleworking and business creation). It also notes that Act No. 2015-994 of 17 August 2015 on social dialogue and employment has added the fight against discrimination in recruitment, employment and access to vocational training to the list of the areas that must be negotiated with the social partners on an annual basis. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the achievement of the objectives established in the national framework agreements and on the measures taken to support re-entry into the labour market and their results, and reiterates its request for information on the specific measures taken by companies to promote a better reconciliation of work and family life.

Articles 4 and 7. Social security and training. The Committee notes that, in reply to its previous comments, the Government indicates that the Family Allowance Fund can add, free of charge and on request, beneficiaries of the shared childcare benefit to the old-age insurance scheme, which guarantees continuity in the constitution of pension rights for persons leaving or reducing their professional activity to care for children or persons with disabilities. The Government also adds that the number of beneficiaries of allowances enabling the reduction of professional activity to care for young children – which makes it possible to assess the number of beneficiaries of parental leave – was approximately 480,000 in 2014, but it does not specify the number of women and men. Lastly, with regard to the number of beneficiaries of parental leave who have received training during or after such leave, the Government refers to an appended document that does not cover this issue. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of beneficiaries of parental leave, including the number of beneficiaries of such leave who have received training during or after their leave.

Article 5. Childcare and family services and facilities. The Committee takes note of the detailed information provided by the Government. In particular, it observes that, according to the 2017 report of the National Observatory for Early Childhood, in 2015, childcare services (outside the family sphere) for children under 3 years of age covered 56.6 per cent of the number of children in this age group. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a new government plan was launched for the period 2013–17 to create 275,000 additional childcare places (100,000 in nurseries, 100,000 with nannies and 75,000 in preschools for 2 year-old children) in order to ensure better territorial coverage and to strengthen the fight against social inequalities in access to childcare. The Committee requests the Government to continue to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to improve the coverage rate of care needs for children between 0 and 3 years of age and for older children under the 2013–17 plan, and to provide information on any evaluation of the results achieved, in particular in terms of the creation of childcare places and the fight against territorial and social inequalities in childcare.

Article 6. Information and education. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in 2014 the Corporate Parenthood Observatory was strengthened and its scope of application was extended. Now known as the “Observatory for Work–Life Balance and Corporate Parenthood”, it is responsible for: encouraging employers to take concrete actions to promote work–life balance; promoting the exchange of good practices between employers with a view to concrete actions; and monitoring changes in employees’ expectations and company practices through the annual publication of a barometer on the reconciliation of work and private life. The Government adds that, in addition to the Parenthood Charter, the Observatory created, in October 2013, a supplementary instrument: the 15 “commitments for work–life balance” which target managerial culture by promoting greater sensitivity to employees’ personal lives. These commitments are meant to be signed by the entire management team of a company, must be publicly posted and may be invoked by employees. The 500 companies and associations that have signed the Charter and/or the 15 commitments represent 30,000 establishments and more than 15 per cent of employed persons. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the initiatives taken to inform and raise awareness among workers, employers and their organizations of the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for workers of both sexes and of the problems of workers with family responsibilities.

Article 7. Integration in the labour market. The Committee notes that the Government, in reply to its previous comments, indicates that the 2015–18 national framework agreement, signed by the ministries in charge of employment and women’s rights and by the employment service, includes a section entitled “Facilitating women’s access and return to employment by addressing employment barriers, job quality and business creation”, the implementation of which should: (i) strengthen cooperation between the employment service and other public service operators to reduce the difficulties encountered by women; (ii) facilitate female entrepreneurship; and (iii) further efforts to improve the quality of jobs, in partnership with the social partners. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the number of beneficiaries (women and men) of the childcare allowance for single parents (AGEPI) and to continue to provide information on the measures taken to facilitate the re-entry of workers with family responsibilities into the labour force after an absence due to those responsibilities and, in particular, on the evaluation of the measures taken under the 2015–18 national framework agreement and the results achieved.

Article 11. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indications that, as part of the National Interoccupational Agreement on Quality of Life at Work, signed on 19 June 2013, the social partners have agreed to launch a discussion on the harmonization of the entitlements to the various types of existing leave (parental and personal) and on the portability of these rights. It also notes the examples of agreements concluded between the social partners, including the possibility of donating days of rest to a colleague whose child is seriously ill, additional leave schemes, continued remuneration during maternity or parental leave, the maintenance of the link between the employee and the company during such leave, the neutralization of the impact of such leave on career development, and even the systematization of job interviews with employees upon their return to work after such leave. Lastly, it notes that the number of branch agreements dealing with occupational equality went from 149 (or 12.8 per cent of the total number of agreements) to 140 (or 14.3 per cent of the total) between 2010 and 2014, even though the number of agreements dealing exclusively or primarily with occupational and wage equality fell steadily over the same period (from 37 to 6 per cent). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures adopted, following the 2013 National Interoccupational Agreement, concerning men and women workers with family responsibilities and to continue to provide information on the number and content of the relevant agreements concluded between the social partners. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the reasons why branch agreements dealing specifically with occupational equality have been steadily declining since 2010.