Answer ... Women are entitled to maternity leave and men are entitled to paternity leave after the birth of a child. All employees are entitled to adoption leave in case of the adoption of a child. In all cases, such employees benefit from special protection against dismissal for a limited period.

An employee with at least one year’s service is entitled to parental leave for each child under three years of age.

Leave is governed by both the Labour Code and applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Answer ... In principle, mothers have the right to 16 weeks of leave. This can be increased in the case of:

• a high-risk pregnancy;
• the birth of a third child and any additional child thereafter; or
• multiple births.

If the mother has benefited from social security pay for at least 10 months on the child’s expected birth date, she will be entitled, during her maternity leave, to a daily Social Security allowance equal to her average income in the three months preceding the prenatal leave up to the quarterly limit set by Social Security.

Optional paternity leave of 11 consecutive days (25 days as of 1 July 2021) or 18 days in the event of multiple births (32 days as of 1 July 2021) is compensated by Social Security under the same conditions as maternity leave. The mother’s partner, or a person linked to the mother by a civil union, is also entitled to paternity leave.

In general, adoption leave lasts for 16 weeks, but this is extended in the case of multiple adoptions or if there is more than one dependent child in the household. This is compensated by Social Security in the same manner as maternity leave.

Parental leave lasts for a maximum initial one-year period, which may be renewed twice. An employee on parental leave may continue to work part time. Leave may be extended for an additional year if the child is seriously ill or disabled.

Answer ... In France, freedom of association is a constitutional right and thus all employees have the rights to create, join or not join a union. Thus, a union or a division of a union can be created in any company, regardless of the number of employees.

However, the most important rights of trade unions are reserved for ‘representative’ unions, such as the ability to:

• appoint a union delegate;
• negotiate a collective bargaining agreement at the company level;
• negotiate a pre-election protocol; and
• present candidates in the first round of the elections of members of the social and economic committee.

To be considered ‘representative’ in a company, pursuant to Article L2121-1 of the Labour Code, the following criteria must be fulfilled by the union:

• respect of democratic values;
• independence;
• financial transparency;
• minimum length of service of two years in the company;
• sufficient representation (ie, the union must have obtained at least 10% of the votes during the first round of the works council/social and economic committee elections in the company);
• influence; and
• number of affiliated members and union dues.

Answer ... The private data of employees is protected by Article 9 of the Civil Code, which provides that “everyone has the right to respect for his or her private life”.

In addition, Articles L1221-9 and L1222-4 of the Labour Code provide that the personal data of an employee or a job applicant must not be collected without his or her prior knowledge.

Furthermore, the Data Protection Law and the French data protection authority’s recommendations protect the processing of personal data.

Also, pursuant to the EU General Data Protection Regulation, an employer must respect several key rules when processing the personal data of an employee:

• Comply with a principle of lawfulness, fairness and transparency;
• Justify any data collection by a lawful purpose and indicate those purposes to individuals when collecting their personal data;
• Collect and process only that personal data which is necessary to fulfil the specific purposes;
• Ensure the accuracy of the personal data;
• Ensure that the personal data is stored for no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it was collected; and
• Install appropriate technical and organisational safeguards that ensure the security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technology.

Violation of these rules may lead to civil sanctions (allocation of damages) and criminal sanctions.

Answer ... Contingent worker arrangements include many different types of working models, including:

• employees engaged under fixed-term employment contracts;
• part-time employees; and
• temporary workers.

An indefinite-term contract is the general hiring rule.

The use of employees under fixed-term employment contracts and workers supplied by temporary employment agencies are highly regulated by law and by the national inter-professional collective bargaining agreement of 24 March 1990. Such agreements can be used only in certain circumstances. A written contract with specific provisions must be signed. The contract may not exceed a maximum duration (18 months in most cases), and the number of times the contract may be renewed is regulated (a maximum of twice within the 18-month period).

The use of part-time employees must comply with several rules. It is possible either:

• if a collective bargaining agreement provides for the implementation of part-time work at the employer’s initiative; or
• following information and consultation of the staff representative.

The part-time work contract must be executed in writing and contain specific provisions.

If these conditions are not met, the working relationship may be reclassified as an indefinite-term employment contract.