Norton Rose Fulbright (LexBlog France)

In three decisions handed down on 13 September 2023, the French Supreme Court took an unprecedented position reversing the previous case law concerning accrual of paid leave for employees absent from work due to sickness. In these decisions, the French Supreme Court ruled that all employees on sick leave, regardless of whether the illness is...

Cyberattacks have become more frequent, problematic and complex over the years – so much so that they now represent a real threat to economic activities. The French Information and Digital Security Experts Club (CESIN) has estimated that 54% of French companies were subject to cyberattacks in 2021,[1] while France Assureurs has put cyberattack risks on...

In our latest monthly wrap up we highlight some of the key regulatory papers published by the Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) during the period 3 November to 10 January 2023. AMF publishes action and supervisory priorities for 2023 On 9 January 2023, the AMF...

One of the main employment aspects to be taken into consideration in corporate transactions, in particular in multijurisdictional ones, is the potential role of the works councils.  This is a particularly hot topic when it comes to France where the social and economic committee (known as the CSE) has important powers and its involvement can...

In our latest monthly wrap up we highlight some of the key regulatory papers published by the Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) during the period 20 September to 2 November 2022. Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani appointed Chair of the AMF By decree of the President of the...

In our first monthly wrap up for regulatory developments in France we cover the latest papers from the Autorité Des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) for the period 1 August to 19 September 2022. During this period there were no papers from the ACPR but the AMF...

Attention : un entretien préalable peut s’avérer nécessaire avant de notifier un avertissement ! La procédure disciplinaire en France est strictement encadrée. Néanmoins, la notification d’un simple avertissement n’implique en principe pas l’obligation d’organiser un entretien préalable avec le salarié. Il s’agit simplement d’indiquer au salarié par écrit qu’il a commis une faute et, que si son...

In light of the evolution of the digital practices of Internet users, the new law n° 2021-1382 of 25 October 2021 on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital era seeks to modernise the existing framework by creating a new regulatory authority and providing new tools for rights holders. A...

In a judgment of 17 September 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the validity of the semi-figurative trademark a descriptive verbal element .  The Judges highlighted in particular that, although the expression “vente privée” is a generic and usual designation of the services provided, the addition of a pink butterfly...

The declining cost of electronic data storage may have caused some company executives to conclude that retaining personal data forever is “cheap.”  Perhaps the CNIL’s  €1.75 million (USD $2,051,930) penalty for over-retention will lead to a different view. The matter involved one of France’s largest insurers, SGAM AG2R LA MONDIALE, which was subject to an...

As mentioned in our previous post published in April 2019, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance passed a decree dated 22 March 2019 (the March 2019 Decree) implementing the provisions of the ordinance n°2019-75 of 6 February 2019, introducing a contingency plan for the financial services sector in connection with the withdrawal of the...

Le télétravail s’est largement développé en France au fil des années, et naturellement, ce mode de travail a été particulièrement utilisé, bon gré mal gré, par les entreprises au cours de l’année 2020, à la faveur de la crise sanitaire, et des recommandations (plus ou moins liantes) du Gouvernement. Les bases du télétravail ont été...

Further to the approval by EU authorities of the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, and further to the recommendations of the French Health authorities on the vaccination programme, the French vaccine campaign against Covid-19 was launched yesterday, at the same time as in all EU countries. In France, the Government established a specific strategy...

In France, the rules governing post-termination, non-compete and/or non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts have been established through case law. Restrictive covenants in an employment contract are only considered enforceable by French courts if they meet the following criteria (which are cumulative) : – They do not extend beyond what is reasonably necessary to protect the...

Digital taxes have become a subject of significant debate in recent years. Following allegations that tech giants have paid very little tax anywhere in the world, some countries have moved to impose new taxes on profits derived from digital services provided by multinational enterprises on a jurisdiction-specific basis. For instance, France recently adopted a digital...

On 7 May, the French Prime Minister announced the date chosen for the start of the “de-confinement” phase for France, namely 11 May 2020. The lockdown, which started on 17 March, lasted almost 2 months during which some shops and businesses were closed, and the vast majority of companies operated on the basis of remote...

Le 7 mai dernier, le Premier Ministre a annoncé la date retenue pour le début de la phase de déconfinement des Français dans le cadre du plan de lutte contre le Covid-19, à savoir le 11 mai 2020. Le confinement, qui a commencé  le 17 mars dernier, aura duré près de 2 mois durant lesquels...

A few weeks ago, we provided you with a summary of the rights and obligations of employers with regard to the personal data of their employees during lockdown. On 11 May, many employees will return to their workplaces. Below you will find answers to the main questions you may have ahead as the end of...

On 14 April 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) updated its web page concerning the measures taken by macro-prudential authorities in euro area countries since 11 March 2020. Key points in the updated web page include: Countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) – Among the seven euro area countries with positive rates, authorities in France, Ireland and...

The first COVID-19 cases appeared in France a few weeks ago and French people have been in lockdown since March 17. The repercussions of this pandemic are significant, and the Government has been authorized, by Emergency Act No. 2020-290 of 23 March 2020, to take measures through ordinances (which means that no debate is required...

Le COVID-19 a fait son apparition en France il y a quelques semaines déjà et les Français sont confinés depuis le 17 mars dernier. Les répercussions de cette pandémie sont importantes, et le Gouvernement a été autorisé, par la loi n° 2020-290 du 23 mars 2020 d’urgence pour faire face à l’épidémie de covid-19, à...

Since January 2020, Coronavirus COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world, causing massive disruption to business and everyday life as well as thousands of deaths. The French Government has reacted in several stages. After issuing recommendations for barrier measures, it decided to close schools and more recently, it ordered the general confinement of French people...

On January 31, 2020, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced a settlement with Airbus SE (“Airbus”), the French aircraft manufacturer, in relation to bribery allegations and, in the US and France, export controls violations. The combined penalties total $3.9 billion, which is the largest anti-corruption settlement in history. The settlement offers insight...

Airbus’ record US$4 billion (AED 14.6 billion / 15 billion Saudi Riyal) global settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), France’s parquet national financier (PNF), and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for bribery and related offences has dominated the headlines over the past week. The investigation into Airbus uncovered bribery and attempted bribery...

Les plateformes de mise en relation (comme Uber ou Deliveroo), qui sont de plus en plus utilisées en France, font pourtant l’objet de nombreuses critiques, principalement fondées sur les conditions de travail des travailleurs indépendants qu’elles utilisent dans le cadre de leur activité. Le Gouvernement français s’est donné pour mission d’encadrer l’activité de ces plateformes,...

Le harcèlement sexuel est défini, dans le Code du travail, par « des propos ou comportements à connotation sexuelle répétés qui soit portent atteinte à [la] dignité [du salarié] en raison de leur caractère dégradant ou humiliant, soit créent à son encontre une situation intimidante, hostile ou offensante ». Le Code du travail prévoit également une...

The French employment Code defines sexual harassment as “repeated sexual comments or conduct that either violate the [employee’s] dignity because of their degrading or humiliating nature or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against the employee“. The French employment Code also assimilates to sexual harassment “any form of serious pressure, even non-repeated, exercised for...

On 15 October 2019, the PRA published Policy Statement 24/19: Large exposures – reciprocation of French measure (PS24/19). In PS24/19 the PRA sets out its final rule following Consultation Paper 15/19: Large exposures – reciprocation of French measure (our blog is here). In this consultation the PRA proposed to apply a tighter limit for large...

The general rule under French law is that when employment contracts are terminated, employees are entitled to a prior notice period, the length of which depends on the status of the employee (executive or non-executive), their length of service, and in some cases their age. The applicable rules are generally set by the sector-wide collective...

The basic working time arrangement in France is 35 hours per week, and although there are a number of alternative working time arrangements potentially available, this is still the one that applies to the majority of French employees. However, this is not a maximum working week – employees working beyond that amount are entitled to...