Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135) - France (Ratification: 1972)

The Committee notes the observations of the French Confederation of Management (CFE-CGC), received on 6 October 2023, and the Government’s reply, received on 3 November 2023. With regard to the concerns expressed by the CFE-CGC in relation to protection against discrimination on grounds of trade union activities, the Committee refers to its comments concerning the application of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

Legislative developments. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the principal developments regarding the right of representation of elected or appointed personnel since its last examination of the application of the Convention, namely: (i) the Act on social dialogue and employment (the “Rebsamen” Act of 2015), which developed the possibility for enterprises to merge their staff representation bodies; (ii) Act No. 2016-1088 of 8 August 2016 on labour, the modernization of social dialogue and greater security for vocational careers (the Labour Act), under which new rights have been granted in various areas (for example relating to the exercise of the right to organize, increased time for delegations, facilitated Internet access, and so on); and (iii) Ordinance No. 2017-1386 of 22 September 2017 on the new organization of social and economic dialogue in the enterprise (the Social Dialogue Ordinance), which has merged the various personnel representative bodies (staff delegate, enterprise committee and health, safety and conditions of work committee) into a single body known as the “social and economic committee” (CSE), which is compulsory in enterprises with at least 11 employees.

Article 2 of the Convention. Facilities afforded in the enterprise. The Committee notes the CFE-CGC’s view that one of the effects of the merger of staff representative bodies as a result of the 2017 reform has been to transform the members of the social and economic committee into “super elected representatives”, leading to them being more distanced from the workplace, as emphasized in the 2021 report of the committee for the evaluation of labour ordinances. The CFE-CGC considers that, for workers’ representatives to be able to fulfil their functions rapidly and effectively, in accordance with the Convention, it is necessary, among other conditions, for the number of representatives to be sufficient in proportion to the workforce in the enterprise in which they operate. The Committee notes the CFE-CGC’s view in this respect that the creation of the social and economic committee in place of the various bodies that existed previously has resulted in both a decrease in the number of representatives and in the time for representation, irrespective of the size of the enterprise. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Act leaves a broad margin for manoeuvre for the actors at the enterprise level to establish the new manner of organizing social dialogue so that issues of health, safety and conditions of work can be raised at the most strategic level in the enterprise. The Government admits that the 2021 report of the committee for the evaluation of labour ordinances points to difficulties in the application of the new system, partly related to the continuing adaptation in their implementation, but observes that it also reports progress in the sharing of the information made available to elected representatives and less compartmentalized discussions which gain in terms of coordination. Moreover, in the context of the health crisis, the Government notes that the subjects of occupational safety and health have taken on renewed importance in the social and economic committee and employees appear to have a fairly positive perception of the operation of social dialogue. Noting the differing positions of the representative organization and the Government on this subject, the Committee requests the Government to: (i) evaluate with the representative social partners the effects of the implementation of the single workers’ representation system resulting from the 2017 reform with a view to identifying any adjustments that may be necessary to ensure the full application of the Convention; and (ii) continue to provide information on the application of the reform in practice, particularly in relation to the facilities afforded within the enterprise and as a function of its size. The Committee requests the Government to report any developments in this regard.