One week before the start of the deconfinement, the employers are stepping up to the plate to obtain from the government a relaxation of the regime of corporate responsibility in matters of health and safety of their employees. Signed by six employers' organizations (Medef, CPME, U2P, FNSEA, liberal professions and social economy companies), a letter has just been sent to Muriel Pénicaud, Minister of Labor, asking that legal uncertainty, linked to the character exception of the Covid-19 health crisis, be lifted by law.
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Obligation of means rather than results
The bosses fear to see one day companies condemned for contamination of their employees at their workplace. A conviction that could arise because the judges may consider that, as regards the specific risk of Covid-19, companies are held to an obligation of result. In accordance with the "asbestos" case law, which had established an obligation of result for the asbestos risk.
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However, say the signatories of the letter, in matters of security, it is an obligation of means that applies. The employer must take the necessary measures to ensure safety and protect the physical and moral health of his employees. For the six employers' organizations, it is necessary to stick to the "risk generated by the activity of the company itself, not to a general health risk which the company is not at the origin". And to conclude: "Certainly, the employer must do everything possible to limit the contagion, but the ordinary framework of the security obligation of the employees is manifestly unsuitable for the pandemic".
An amendment to the Senate
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On Monday precisely, the senators adopted an amendment to the bill extending the state of health emergency which specifies in substance that the intentional fault of the employer is necessary for his civil and criminal liability to be engaged. "It suits us very well," said an employer leader.