On March 9, 2023, France adopted a much-anticipated statute transposing into French law the EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions (2019/1152) (I.), and the EU Directive on Work-life Balance for Parents and Carers (2019/1158) (II.).

EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions (2019/1152)

The main changes introduced by the statute transposing the EU Directive are as follows:

• A list of information to be provided to new hires.
• After six months of an employee’s employment under a fixed-term or temporary contract, the employee can request the company inform them about open-end positions to be filled. 
• The duration of the probationary period will be the one set in the Labor Code.

Employee information

Upon hiring, all employees must be provided with a document containing information on the essential elements of their employment relationship.

The European Directive reduces the maximum period within which the employer must issue this information.

With the transposition of the EU Directive, a new article is created in the French Labor Code and provides that the employer must provide the employee with one or more written documents specifying the main information relating to the employment relationship. The list of information must be set by decree. (Art. L. 1221-5-1 of the French Labor Code)

An employee who has not received this information may give formal notice to their employer to provide them with the required documents or, where applicable, to complete the documents provided if certain information is missing.

Employees whose employment contract will be in effect on the date of promulgation of the law may ask their employer to provide or complete the information.

Obligation to inform the employee under a fixed term or temporary contract about open-ended positions to be filled

With the transposition of the EU Directive, employees on fixed-term or temporary contracts with continuous seniority of at least six months in the host company will now have the opportunity to ask the company to inform them about open-ended positions to be filled. (Art. L. 1242-17 of the French Labor Code; Art. L. 1251-25 of the French Labor Code)

End of exemptions to the statutory maximum duration of the probationary periods

With the transposition of the EU Directive, there will no longer be any exemptions from the probationary period’s maximum duration provided for by the French Labor Code.

This measure will enter into force six months after the promulgation of the law, i.e., on September 9, 2023.

The French statutory rule transposing the EU Directive does not modify the maximum duration of the probationary period for executives (eight months if an extended branch agreement provides for renewal).

This means that French law is not compliant with EU Directive 2019/1152, which limits the duration of the probationary period to six months.

EU Directive on Work-life Balance for Parents and Carers (2019/1158)

The main changes introduced by the statute transposing the EU Directive are as follows:

• New rights are being granted to employees benefiting from paternity, parental education, and parental presence leaves.
• The right to benefit from the parental education leave has been extended.

Paternity leave to count as “period of presence” at work

Before the transposition of the EU Directive, whenever there was a distribution of the special profit-sharing reserve among employees according to their presence at the company, the leaves that were considered as actual periods of presence were:

• maternity leave, adoption leave, childcare, and bereavement leave;
• work stoppages resulting from work accident or occupational disease;
• periods of quarantine linked to health emergency.

With the transposition of the EU Directive, paternity and childcare leave are also considered as periods of presence at the company for purposes of the distribution of the special profit-sharing reserve. (Art. L. 3324-6 of the French Labor Code).

This consideration already existed for purposes of incentive-sharing schemes.

Taking into account paternity leave in the calculation of the employee’s seniority

Before the transposition of the EU Directive, when an employee was on paternity and childcare leave, this absence was, in principle, not counted in the calculation of seniority.

With the transposition of the EU Directive, the paternity and childcare leaves are now counted as actual work for the determination of rights related to seniority (severance pay, etc.) (Art. L. 1225-35-2 of the French Labor Code)

Extension of the benefit of the parental education leave

Before the transposition of the EU Directive, any employee who had a minimum seniority of one year on the date of their child’s birth or adoption had the right to request parental education leave.

With the transposition of the EU Directive, the parental education leave is now open to employees with one year of seniority in the company, regardless of the date on which they obtain this seniority. This means that if the one-year seniority is acquired after the date of birth or adoption, the employee can now request the benefit from this leave. (Art. L. 1225-47 of the French Labor Code).

Retention of benefits acquired before paternity, childcare, parental education leave, and parental presence leave

In the event of paternity and childcare leave, parental education leave, and parental presence leave, the employee now retains the benefit of all the benefits acquired before the start of their leave.

Among other rights, this rule notably covers paid leave acquired before going on leave.

It also incorporates into the French Labor Code the case law principle according to which the severance pay for an employee on part-time parental leave must be calculated on the basis of full-time work, and not on that resulting from parental leave.

*Marine Koenig is an attorney with Littler France.