Answer ... French labour and employment law is largely based on the following statutory sources, set out in order of priority:

• constitutional provisions, which notably include:
• • the French Constitution of 4 October 1958;
  • the Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen of 26 August 1789;
  • the Preamble to the previous Constitution of 27 October 1946; and
  • the Environment Charter of 2004.
• They set out general principles, with which all other laws and regulations must comply. The most important in relation to employment are:
• • the freedom of trade unions;
  • the right to strike; and
  • the right of employees to engage in collective bargaining;
• international treaties and European law; and
• national statutory law, which is mostly set out in the Labour Code. Other relevant codes regulate specific issues surrounding the employment relationship, such as:
• • the Social Security Code; and
  • the Commercial Code regarding insolvency proceedings and consultation of employees in the context of the transfer of an undertaking or part thereof.

Answer ... In addition to the statutory sources of labour and employment law, the following rules may apply:

• contractual rules, which include collective bargaining agreements (national, industry or company level agreements), employer unilateral commitments and employment contracts;
• unwritten rules, which notably include working practices; and
• case law.

The French labour and employment law rules are subject to a specific hierarchy. Employment law must follow a ‘favourable treatment’ principle. In principle, the regulation that is most favourable to the employee will prevail. However, recent regulations have altered this principle in certain situations and a case-by-case analysis is required in order to determine the relevant regulation (Law 2004-391 of 4 May 2004; Law 2016-1088 of 8 August 2016; Ministerial Orders 2017-1385 of 22 September 2017).

Answer ... In principle, employment contracts need not be executed in writing (Article L.1221-1 of the Labour Code). In practice, however, almost all employees have a written employment contract.

Pursuant to the Employment Information Directive of 14 October 1991, a written document must be given to the employee within two months of the commencement of employment containing the following information:

• the identity of the parties;
• the place of work;
• the employee’s title and/or a description of his or her duties;
• the expected start date;
• the number of paid holidays;
• the notice period in the event that the employment is terminated;
• the salary, composition and period of payment;
• working time;
• the name and address of the relevant retirement fund and the welfare fund; and
• the applicable collective bargaining agreement, if any.

To comply with the directive, this information can be included on the employee’s payslips and the prior declaration of employment, and not in an ‘employment contract’, strictly speaking (Rép min, JOAN, 25 April 1994, p 2079).

By way of exception, a written employment contract is mandatory where this is provided for:

• by law – for example, for:
• • fixed-term employment contracts;
  • assignment contracts (ie, employment contracts between a temporary work agency and a temporary worker);
  • employment contracts for wage portage (which create a tripartite relationship between a worker, the employer agency and a client company that benefits from the service);
  • part-time employment contracts; and
  • employment contracts with a group of employers.
• In these cases, some additional specific essential terms must be included in the employment contract, as listed in the Labour Code; or
• by a collective bargaining agreement.