Paris (AFP)

Clap of (almost) end: the Medef succeeded in extracting Thursday for its project of national inter-professional agreement (ANI) on teleworking the "favorable opinion" of the CFDT, Force Ouvrière, CFE-CGC and the CFTC, but not that of the CGT.

"This negotiation ends positively", estimated Hubert Mongon, the social negotiator of the Medef, after a final meeting of nearly three hours, which ended four days of intense negotiations and three weeks of negotiation. .

The "final" text submitted by employers on Thursday adds details on the establishment of teleworking in crisis situations (pandemic, natural disasters, destruction of a company's premises) or on the assumption of costs.

Also covering classic teleworking, it is supposed to complement the previous ANI, signed in 2005.

Supportive trade unions, but also the CGT, have yet to collect the blank check from their respective bodies and have until December 23 to initial the document.

Praising "an operational text", Mr. Mongon listed some "important points", such as the double volunteering (of the employer and the employee) or the reversibility - which allows an employee to return to his place of work if teleworking does not suit him -, which however already existed in the ANI 2005.

However, he refused to answer an angry question: is this text binding?

The employers had set the goal, contested by the unions, of making this text "neither normative nor prescriptive".

An ANI "by definition, when it is signed by a majority of professional and employers' organizations, is an agreement that is installed in the legal landscape of companies and the country", he stressed.

"As such, it becomes a benchmark agreement and which is intended to be extended" by law, he added.

However, it is on this point that the CGT continues to focus its criticisms, while other organizations no longer make it a casus belli.

On Wednesday, Fabrice Angéi, the CGT negotiator, warned that he did not see how to sign a non-binding agreement.

"Everything that is written in it can be bypassed. It's a big concern," he regretted.

- 'Not revolutionary "-

The employers reviewed their copy four times in less than a week, to convince the unions who saw in the project especially "setbacks" for employees.

But for lack of agreement, the government would have been responsible for legislating, some seeing this takeover as "a failure".

As of Wednesday, the CFDT and the CFTC had said they were ready to sign the previous version of the text, which made a series of concessions, while considering that the project was "not revolutionary" in terms of employee rights.

The proposed agreement "is not normative, not binding, but it gives a framework, it will serve as a guide in certain companies", had estimated Wednesday Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT.

This agreement "will give pride of place to social dialogue, which is crucial when we see the diversity of work situations. Every company will now be able to use this framework to set up teleworking in a sustainable manner," said the Minister of work, Elisabeth Borne, in a press release.

The document recalls the existing legal framework, in particular that the implementation of teleworking requires a collective agreement, a charter or a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee.

Among the novelties, the unions have succeeded in ensuring that the eligibility of teleworking positions is not the sole responsibility of the employer but is the subject of social dialogue in the company.

With regard to teleworking in times of crisis, the conditions for its implementation will pass through "an agreement" or "a charter".

On the other hand, no support for internet, heating or electricity costs, as demanded by the CGT, but recall that the costs "must be borne" by the employer and that this "may be" the subject of a social dialogue in companies.

Since the end of October, teleworking is "the rule" in companies that can.

Prime Minister Jean Castex stressed Thursday that he should remain "as massive as possible" in the coming weeks.

© 2020 AFP