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On February 14, 2025, the Nanterre Court of First Instance issued a summary order concerning the obligation to inform and consult the Social and Economic Committee (Comité Social et Economique - CSE) in connection with the pilot deployment of IT applications implementing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
The latter has the merit of clarifying the timeframe for consultation of the CSE on AI, a subject that is still poorly understood socially, even though it is inevitable given its rapid expansion within companies.
In companies with at least 50 employees, the employer is required to inform and consult the CSE on issues concerning the organization, management and general running of the company, and in particular on " the introduction of new technologies, and any major modification (...) of working conditions " (Article L. 2312-8 of the French Labor Code); this consultation may also give rise to the appointment of an authorized expert on the basis of Article L. 2315-94 of the French Labor Code.
Even if there are not yet many rulings, it is on the basis of this legal foundation and the scattered decisions handed down in first instance that we have from the outset advised our customers to inform and consult the CSE before any practical implementation of AI solutions (software/applications) in companies.
The aim is to promote industrial relations and avoid the risk of suspension under penalty of the integration of these solutions, or even of a crime of obstruction, given the vagueness of the text and the absence of any real case law!
This position was confirmed and backed up by the February 14, 2025 summary order issued by the Nanterre judicial court. Thus, the " pilot phase " for the deployment of a series of AI applications goes beyond mere experimentation and therefore beyond the scope of a simple project, since this phase involves their use, even partial, by all the staff concerned.
This order is not all that surprising, given that the information and consultation procedure must be carried out before the project is implemented, in order to respect the principle of the useful effect of consultation of the CSE.
However, it raises questions about the need for consultation during a very limited test phase, since the Nanterre Judicial Court seems to require it only after the first concrete experiments.
Employers are therefore urged to exercise the utmost caution, even during the test phases of their AI applications, and should bear in mind that their actual implementation may be delayed by one or even two months in the event of expert appraisal, while the CSE is informed and consulted.
Tribunal judiciaire de Nanterre, Ord. Réf. 2025, n° 24/01457
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