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IStock / City Presse
Any employee has ever heard of “social plan”, “redundancy” and “reclassification”, without really understanding his rights in this area.
And with the current crisis in France, there are many fears in this area.
When do we speak of redundancy?
This justification occurs when the firing is due to technological changes or to difficulties in the company, rather than a personal reason such as an employee's fault.
Under the El Khomri law of August 8, 2016, the employer can have recourse to it when he notices a significant drop in orders or turnover, an operating loss or a deterioration in cash flow.
For example, it takes 3 consecutive quarters of drop in orders for a company with 50 employees to be able to make an economic layoff, against only 1 quarter for an SME with less than 11 employees.
If the Covid-19 pandemic does not in itself represent a reason for dismissal, its catastrophic economic consequences for certain sectors of activity can, unfortunately, largely justify such an action for a good number of companies.
How many employees can be affected?
Despite popular belief, redundancy is not necessarily collective.
To redress the bar, the employer can be satisfied with eliminating a single position.
However, depending on the number of people involved, the procedure to be followed is not the same.
How to choose the employees to be dismissed?
When the company leaves only some of its employees, a dismissal order must be drawn up, after consultation with employee representatives.
The Labor Code offers an open-ended list of non-discriminatory criteria.
Family responsibilities, seniority, the difficulty of professional reintegration due to age or disability, as well as professional qualities must be taken into account.
In practice, the latest arrivals,
a fortiori
if they are young and without dependent families, are therefore the first to leave.
What are the stages of dismissal?
The procedure begins with the consultation of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) and continues with the preliminary interviews during which the employer must explain the proposed redeployment mechanisms (professional security contract or, for companies with more than 1,000 employees, leave reclassification).
The letter of dismissal is sent 7 days later, then the General Directorate of Enterprises (Direccte) is informed of the procedure within 8 days.
The contract will end at the end of the notice period.
In some cases, a job protection plan must be put in place before the prior interview.
What are the reclassification obligations?
Regardless of the size of the company or the number of employees at risk, the employer is obliged to avoid the worst.
To cope with technological change, it must therefore ensure the adaptation of employees to their workstations, through training.
Likewise, it must strive to reclassify people likely to be made redundant by giving them priority over positions of the same category and of equivalent remuneration available in the company or group.
Employees remain free to refuse and will then be dismissed for economic reasons.
What is a social plan?
This expression refers to the job protection plan, known as the PSE, which is compulsory in companies with at least 50 employees, when the dismissal plan concerns at least 10 people over a period of 30 days.
It is optional the rest of the time.
The PSE aims to limit social damage by means of several measures (reclassification, training, retraining, organization of working time, etc.).
It is subject to consultation by the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) and to the validation of the General Directorate of Enterprises (Direccte).
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What help to bounce back?
Several measures aim to support employees in this difficult period:
Legal compensation: on departure, any employee dismissed for personal or economic reasons receives compensation for paid leave, or even notice.
In addition, severance pay is paid when the employee has 8 months of uninterrupted seniority in the company, compared to 1 year before the ordinance of September 22, 2017.
A supralegal indemnity can be paid in addition as part of a PSE or a voluntary departure plan.
Business
Employees
Social plans
Economy
Dismissal
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