Human Resources

France: Unions, Legal Experts Debate Effects of Labor, Pension Reforms Under Sarkozy
(Appeared May 20, 2011, in Bloomberg BNA's Decison Support Network News)
Today, although French workers can legally work more than they could in 2008, rising inflation takes a big bite out of their wages.

French Law Requiring Bonuses Could Be Tax Opportunity for Multinationals
(Appeared July 20, 2011, in Bloomberg BNA's Decison Support Network News)
France's Revised 2011 Law on the Financing of Social Security includes a measure that requires France-based companies that have more than 50 employees to pay bonuses to all employees for years in which the company has paid out dividends to stockholders that exceed its average dividend paid over the previous two years.

France: Companies Don't Need Economic Justification for Layoffs, High Court Rules
(Appeared May 7, 2012, in Bloomberg BNA's Decision Support Network News)
In a decision welcomed by human resources practitioners and criticized by labor representatives, the labor chamber of France's supreme court said the French labor code does not provide for courts to invalidate companies' layoff plans on solely economic grounds.

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French Supreme Court Revises Position on Equal Treatment for Employment Benefits
(Appeared June 13, 2011, in Bloomberg BNA's Daily Tax Report & Daily Report for Executives)
In the new decisions, the Cassation Court ruled that collective bargaining agreements can provide different benefits to different categories of employees if these differences are based on “relevant, objective reasons.”

Companies Must Make Plans for Gender Equality, French Government Says
(Appeared Feb. 23, 2011, in Bloomberg BNA's Decison Support Network News)
By Jan. 1, 2012, companies with 50 employees or more must establish plans for achieving equality between female and male employees or face fines as high as 1 percent of their entire payroll. However, the law doesn't require companies to achieve any results.

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