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POINT CARDINAL #52

\ January 2024

POINT CARDINAL #51

\ November 2023

POINT CARDINAL #50

\ October 2023

POINT CARDINAL #49

\ March 2023

POINT CARDINAL #48

\ January 2023

POINT CARDINAL #47

"Whistleblowers" - the decree on internal and external procedures is out!

Following the so-called “Sapin II” law of December 9, 2016, which created whistleblowers in companies, the Waserman law of March 21, 2022 strengthened the protection regime for whistleblowers.
Taken in application of the Waserman law, decree n°2022-1284 of October 3, 2022 (OJ October 4) has just specified the internal procedure for collecting alerts issued in companies with at least 50 employees and provides details in terms of external alert.
    The internal alert procedure
The internal procedure is mandatory in companies with at least 50 employees after consultation with the social and economic committee. The company must disseminate its whistleblowing procedure by any means ensuring sufficient publicity and under conditions making it permanently accessible.
The company must provide a means of receiving reports, either oral or written, or both. If it is an oral report, the report may be made by telephone or by any other voicemail system and, at the request of the employee according to his choice, during an interview in person or by videoconference organized at the no later than 20 working days after receipt of the request.
The company has seven working days to acknowledge receipt of the report, whether oral or written. It must then provide feedback to the author of the reports within three months.
    The external alert procedure
The procedure for reporting to an external authority is modeled on the internal procedure.
Depending on the subject of the report, the whistleblower can contact:
•    To the General Directorate of Labor (DGT) for individual and collective labor relations and working conditions;
•    To the General Delegation for Employment and Vocational Training (DGEFP) for employment and vocational training;
•    To the Defender of Rights for Discrimination.
We remain at your disposal for any additional questions regarding this subject.

\ December 2022

POINT CARDINAL #46

Professional equality index

Our last Cardinal Point can be found on our site: what are the concrete obligations and financial penalties applicable since March 1, 2022 for companies with 50 or more employees? More information by writing to the following address: Associés@richelieuavocats.com CC de preville@richelieuavocats.com

\ March 2022

POINT CARDINAL #45

Payment deadlines

In a previous Point Cardinal, we highlighted the high risk of inspections and fines for exceeding legal payment deadlines, which are published on the DGCCRF website (fines of €1,000 to €1.8 million in recent months).

We draw your attention to four recent developments on this subject.

1/ Publication by the DGCCRF of its Guidelines for determining penalties for exceeding interprofessional payment deadlines (December 2, 2021)

  • these Guidelines are succinct, and do not really provide the objective analysis grid expected in terms of determining the amount of the fine,

(…)

  • the DGGCCRF indicates on page 4 §1 that the main criterion for determining the fine is the amount of cash withheld generated by the breaches, corresponding to a gain in working capital requirements. It indicates the method of calculation of said gain ([amount of the invoice × number of days late] / number of days in the period checked), the result of which is then adjusted taking into account in particular the size of the company, in depending on the size of its turnover, and the relative importance of the delay in relation to the regulations,

(…)

2/ Two decisions reducing the fine set by the DGCCRF

  • CAA Bordeaux, December 17, 2021: The court reduced the amount of €350,000 pronounced by the Direccte and confirmed by the administrative court, to reduce it to €112,500 corresponding to 30% of the maximum penalty incurred. Most of the appeal judgments published to date tended rather to reverse the few judgments that reduced the fine (see below 3/), on the grounds that (…)
  • TA Bordeaux, November 2, 2021: the court reduced the amount of €225,000 pronounced by the Direccte to reduce it to €56,250, and reduced the duration of publication of the sanction to 3 months (instead of 12), (…)

3/ An example of an appeal judgment confirming the amount set by the administration

  • CAA Paris, October 14, 2021: the court upheld the amount of €250,000 pronounced by the Direccte and confirmed by the administrative court, noting in particular that the penalty was not disproportionate.

Species data: (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ February 2022

POINT CARDINAL #44

The mayor, waste and classified installations

By a judgment dated April 1, the Court of Cassation has just clarified the scope of the husband's jurisdiction in terms of waste.

Indeed, in principle, it is the mayor who has the special waste police. it is thus competent, in particular, to manage illegal dumping of waste (the tragedy of the death of the mayor of Signes in August 2019 is there to remind us of this…)

It is therefore the mayor who has jurisdiction to take with regard to the producer (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ May 2021

POINT CARDINAL #43

Details on proof of overtime

Two recent judgments of the social chamber of the Court of Cassation have clarified the question of proof of overtime.

Proof of overtime does not fall specifically on any of the parties. Article L.3171-4 of the Labor Code provides that in the event of a dispute, the employer provides the judge with the elements likely to justify the hours actually worked by the employee, then the judge forms his conviction in the light of these elements and those provided by (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ February 2021

POINT CARDINAL #42

To absorb is not to purge: the absorbing assumes the consequences of the faults, even penal ones, of the absorbed

When a company commits a breach that may be the subject of criminal, legal or administrative sanctions, before being taken over by another company and being dissolved, can the acquiring company be condemned for the breaches previously committed by the absorbed?

The answer is yes. In other words, in a group of companies, the dissolution-absorption of a subsidiary does not make it possible to erase the consequences of prohibited behavior.

This was judged for several types of fault, and the exception that existed in criminal matters has just disappeared since a judgment of November 25, 2020 of the criminal chamber of the court of cassation (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ December 2020

POINT CARDINAL #41

Update on the provisions relating to (i) the establishment, closing, approval and publication of corporate financial statements and (ii) the methods of meeting and deliberation of meetings and governing bodies of companies.

Given the containment measures taken as part of the state of health emergency declared by law n°2020-290 of March 23, 2020, the Government has, by two ordinances of March 25, 2020 n°2020-318 and 2020 -321, adapted the rules relating to the procedures for closing and approving the annual accounts and those relating to the procedures for meeting and deliberation of general meetings and management bodies of companies.

Special provisions relating to the procedures for closing, approving and publishing the annual accounts

Ordinance No. 2020-318 provides for the extension by three months of the legal period for closing the accounts (which must normally take place within three months from (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ May 2020

POINT CARDINAL #40

Special issue: Update on financial support measures for companies impacted by the COVID 19 crisis

After the first emergency announcements, the Government clarified the provisions put in place to limit the current health crisis and help companies financially impacted in order to preserve jobs and avoid suspension of payments.

On the closure of certain establishments open to the public
Category L: Rooms for hearings, conferences, meetings, shows or for multiple use
Category M: Sales outlets and Centers (…)

For further details: contact@richelieuavocats.com

\ May 2020

POINT CARDINAL #39

Contracts and health crisis

Faced with the consequences of the health crisis, the following contractual subjects are to be studied by your company (beyond questions of cash, loans and partial unemployment).

1. Force Majeure Suspension. Either your company needs to invoke it against a co-contracting party to suspend the performance of your obligations, or one of your service providers-suppliers invokes it towards you to justify non-performance. Even if the State has declared that it accepts this in terms of public procurement, it must first (…)

2. request for renegotiation for hardship. The health crisis may have the effect of making the performance of a contract excessively onerous for you or for one of your co-contractors. Unless expressly waived in the contract (to be checked), a renegotiation may be requested under the visa of article 1195 of the civil code. Bearing in mind that: - for the duration of the negotiations, the parties must continue to perform their obligations, - the consequences of a refusal or failure of the negotiations are not insignificant (…)

3. sharp drop in orders: termination of relations without notice and without liability. A sharp drop in orders is in principle equivalent to a severance of commercial relations and implies giving notice when these relations are established. However, according to relatively extensive case law, a company does not incur liability if it imposes, without written notice, (…)

4. insurance. Remember to analyze your insurance policies to see if your possible operating losses can be compensated (…) Also remember to reread the methods for calculating your insurance premiums, (…)

For further details: demoulins@richelieuavocats.com

\ April 2020

POINT CARDINAL #38

Modification of the partial activity scheme

Ordinance No. 2020-460 of April 22, 2020, published on April 23 in the Official Journal, modified several important points of the partial activity regime which you may have wondered about since the outbreak of the health crisis.

1. Social regime for additional allowances paid by the employer. From May 1, 2020, if the accumulation of the partial activity allowance with the additional allowance paid by the employer, pursuant to a collective agreement or a unilateral decision, exceeds 70% of 4.5 times the value of the minimum wage, the part of the additional allowance paid beyond this amount will be treated as salary and subject to social security contributions (see article 5 modifying article 11 of ordinance n°2020-346 of 27 March 2020). (…)

2. Integration of regular overtime. (…)

3. Individualization of partial activity. (…)

For further details: depreville@richelieuavocats.com

\ April 2020

POINT CARDINAL #37

Third party to a contract victim of the effects of a breach by a party of its contractual obligations

The Plenary Assembly of the Court of Cassation has just confirmed its 2006 case law (AP 13 January 2020, n°17-19.963) by reaffirming the principle according to which a third party to a contract may invoke, on the basis of tort liability, a breach of contract when this breach has caused him damage.

Concretely, this means, as explained by the Court of Cassation (with its new way of drafting and giving reasons for its decisions) that:

20. The breach by a contracting party of a contractual obligation is likely to constitute a wrongful act with regard to a third party to the contract when it causes him damage. 21. It is important not to hinder compensation for this damage. 22. Consequently, a third party to the contract who establishes a causal link between a breach of contract and the damage it suffers is not required to demonstrate a tort or quasi-tort fault distinct from this breach.

Thus, the third party to the contract is not required to characterize the disregard towards him of a general obligation of prudence and diligence, nor of the general duty not to harm others, and he must only prove.

(…) READ MORE

\ March 2020

POINT CARDINAL #36

PAYMENT DEADLINES: Cardinal point on the risks incurred in the event of overruns

Since 2014, several laws have modified the regime of maximum payment terms (Articles L.441-10 et seq. of the Commercial Code) by giving State agents quite formidable powers of investigation, injunction and above all sanctions to ensure compliance.

Procedure: investigation and brief adversarial phase (articles L.450-1 and s. c.com)

In order to determine whether your company has exceeded payment deadlines, the officials authorized by the Minister for the Economy (agents of the DGCCRF or the DIRECCTE) may make visits to the company, ask questions and demand delivery of documents (articles L.450-1 and s.c.com.). The investigations give rise to the establishment of reports, then to the notification of the breaches and the sanction that the administration intends to pronounce. You then have 60 days to make your observations known in writing or orally, by having access to the documents approved by the administration. After this period, the administration imposes sanctions if necessary.

Sanctions: decriminalization and strengthening of administrative sanctions

  1. Administrative fine capped at €2 million for a legal person and €75,000 for a natural person. The penalty may be doubled in the event of repetition of the breach within 2 years from the date on which the first sanction decision became final (article L.441-16 c.com). Note that the administration had the ceiling of this fine raised (€375 k until 2016) and in 2019 notified several fines above this old ceiling: €670 k for Ciments Calcia, €500 k for France Manche and MMA P&C, €450 k for VERALLIA and in August 2019, €1.8 million for EDF (the press release points out that 10% of the invoices checked - over a period of 6 months - were paid late, representing €38 million in cash retention at detriment of 3,500 suppliers).
  2. Systematic publication of the decision …

(…) READ MORE

\ August 2019

POINT CARDINAL #35

Anti-Corruption Compliance Measures: 1st Sanction Commission Decision and CJIP Guidelines

In line with our previous Points Cardinals on the subject of anti-corruption measures, we draw your attention to two novelties (see the hypertext links below).

Judicial Convention of Public Interest (CJIP)

The AFA and the Financial Prosecutor have recently put online the guidelines on the implementation of the judicial convention of public interest, which allows a legal person prosecuted for corruption to avoid the heavy penalties that a criminal court can impose. (after years of procedure). Proposed by the Public Prosecutor's Office but which may be suggested by the company concerned, it does not imply recognition of guilt, and does not lead to exclusion from French or even international public contracts.

The guidelines detail its implementation, and insist on the behavior expected from society, which is very different from the defense-resistance usually deployed in France in criminal matters: self-denunciation, cooperation, internal investigation, spontaneous implementation of a program of compliance, etc.

1st decision of the Sanctions Committee

On July 10, the first decision of the AFA Sanctions Committee was published (dated July 4). Seized by the director of the AFA for an injunction for a company to adapt its compliance procedures, the commission issued neither an injunction nor a pecuniary sanction against the company, noting that, on the date on which it ruled, none of the shortcomings invoked by the director had been noted by it.

The company had in fact implemented a long process of improving and fine-tuning its corruption risk mapping after the AFA inspection.

This decision therefore confirms that the commission assesses the reality of the breaches at the time it rules.

(…) READ MORE

\ August 2019

POINT CARDINAL #34

industrial tribunal compensation

The Court of Cassation has just validated today (Wednesday, July 17, 2019) the cap on industrial tribunal compensation for unfair dismissal set by Article L.1235-3 of the Labor Code. This cap was the flagship measure of the labor code reform implemented by Emmanuel Macron.

In its opinion, the Court of Cassation considered that the device of this Macron scale was compatible with Article 10 of Convention No. 158 of the International Labor Organization (ILO). On the compatibility with Article 24 of the European Social Charter, the Court of Cassation recalled that these provisions had no direct effect in domestic law in a dispute between individuals.

If it is only a non-binding opinion of the Court of Cassation, it is a safe bet that it will be followed by most courts of appeal. The Paris Court of Appeal must also rule on September 25 on the question. We will follow with interest the decisions of the courts of appeal to intervene.

We are of course at your disposal to answer any questions you may have.

The social team of Richelieu Avocats

(…) READ MORE

\ July 2019

POINT CARDINAL #33

Legal protection of business secrets

After several attempts, and following EU Directive 2016/943, the legal protection of trade secrets was established by law n°2018-670 of July 30, 2018 supplemented by decree n°2018-1126 of December 11 2018 (creating new articles L 151-1 et seq., R 151-1 et seq. in the Commercial Code, amended by the laws of March 23 and May 22, 2019: see Attachment).

Like any legislative clarification, it sets rules whose application will give rise to discussions and case law... Thus, information is protected under business secrecy if (art. L151-1 of the Commercial Code):

  1. It is not, in itself or in the exact configuration and assembly of its elements, generally known or easily accessible to people familiar with this type of information because of their sector of activity; [In other words, it is unpublished and generally emanates from its alleged holder.]
  2. It has commercial value, actual or potential, because of its secrecy; [In other words, keeping it secret gives it value.]
  3. It is the subject on the part of its legitimate holder of reasonable protective measures, taking into account the circumstances, to keep it secret. [In other words, it is protected.]

(…) READ MORE

\ July 2019

POINT CARDINAL #32

BREAK BUT PREVENT! Updates on the abrupt termination of established business relationships

In a previous Cardinal Point (below), we informed you about the need to give sufficient notice before terminating (even partially) any commercial relationship as soon as it has a certain stability, except in the event of a serious breach by the party suffering the breach (or force majeure).

(…) However, the Government has just amended by ordinance Article L442-6 of the Commercial Code with the intention of restricting the litigation arising from this text (whose abuses have had negative effects to the detriment of competition and consumers ), which has become the new article L442-1 of the Commercial Code (applicable from April 26, 2019), with the major innovation being the fact that henceforth the responsibility of the author of the breach cannot be engaged on the part of an insufficient duration once he has given eighteen months' notice.

In other words,….

\ July 2019

POINT CARDINAL #31

BSA storm warning

Stock subscription warrants (BSA) allow subscription to shares in proportions, at a price and for a period fixed in advance, and they are not subject to a tax regime or to a specific social regime, unlike warrants. subscription for business creators' shares (BSCPE), free shares and stock options which are reserved for employee profit-sharing.

The fire had been smoldering for several months with the stoppages of certain (…)

\ May 2019

POINT CARDINAL #30

General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (GDPR): it's the big day

Regulation 2016/679/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 2016 on the protection of personal data (GDPR) comes into force today, May 25, 2018.

As of today, your company is bound by the obligations of the GDPR and thus offers adequate and sufficient protection in terms of the personal data it holds (data of their employees, their customers, suppliers, partners, etc.), under penalty of sanctions. (…)

\ May 2018

POINT CARDINAL #29

Macron ordinance: revaluation of the legal severance pay

By decree no. 2017-1398 of September 25, 2017, applicable to dismissals and retirements pronounced and contractual terminations concluded since September 27, 2017, the legal indemnity for dismissal cannot now be less than:

  • a quarter of a month's salary per year of seniority for years up to ten years;
  • a third of a month's salary per year of seniority for years from ten years. (…)

\ October 2017

POINT CARDINAL #28

Anti-corruption: prepare for the application of the Sapin law by June 2017

Following the previous Cardinal Points on this subject, we draw your attention to the fact that the Sapin 2 law has been promulgated, and that its provisions on the fight against corruption will come into force on June 9, 2017. Its implementing decrees are scheduled for next February or March.

It creates new obligations weighing on all managers of companies employing at least 500 employees and achieving at least €100 million in turnover (and of any company belonging to a group whose parent company is headquartered in France and employing at least (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #27

Reform of contract law - Other remarks

Binding force: article 1134 becomes article 1103, placed in the introductory provisions, the term contract replacing that of agreements in this article as in many others,

Double sale of movables: the one who took possession of this movable first is preferred, even if his right is later, provided that he is in good faith (article 1198 al.1) (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #26

Reform of contract law - The formation of the contract (5/5)

The significant imbalance (article 1171). In a contract of adhesion, any clause which creates a significant imbalance between the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract is deemed unwritten. The assessment of the significant imbalance does not concern either the main object of the contract or the adequacy of the price to the service.

The novelty of this new abusive clause ultimately seems to be of limited scope:

it only plays for a membership contract, defined by article 1110 as one whose general conditions, withdrawn from negotiation, are determined in advance by (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #25

Reform of contract law - The formation of the contract (4/5)

Consecration of fraudulent reluctance, the intentional concealment by one of the contracting parties of information which he knows is decisive for the other party. According to this definition, the fraud can henceforth be retained even in the absence of a pre-contractual obligation of information, contrary to the jurisprudential trend so far, since it suffices to hide information that one knows is decisive for the other ,

Consecration of the taking into account of the fraud emanating from third parties acting for the contracting party: representative, business manager, agent or strongman of the contracting party and conniving third party,

other consecrations: the error caused by fraud is always excusable, and the error (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #24

Reform of contract law - The formation of the contract (3/5)

Pre-contracts: unilateral promise and preference pact: some notable new features or clarifications

· Unilateral promise (article 1124)

Definition: contract by which one party, the promisor, grants to the other, the beneficiary, the right to opt for the conclusion of a contract whose essential elements are determined, and for the formation of which only the consent of the beneficiary

Consecrated mandatory nature (definitive abandonment of the Godard case law of 1993): the beneficiary of the promise can exercise the option (during its term) and have the conclusion of the resulting contract recorded, even if the promisor has previously (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #23

Reform of contract law - The formation of the contract (2/5)

Legal regime of the offer: some notable new features or clarifications

Revocation of the offer (articles 1115 and 1116)

The rule is now clear:

  • the offer can be retracted as long as it has not reached its recipient,
  • once it has reached its addressee, it cannot be retracted before the expiry of the period set by its author or, failing that, the end of a reasonable period,

Withdrawal of the offer in violation of this prohibition prevents the conclusion of the contract

  • but such a withdrawal can only give rise to damages (no forced execution, contrary to the regime of the unilateral promise (...)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #22

Reform of contract law - The formation of the contract (1/5)

Note the very didactic and educational nature of the new texts: articles in chronological order (conclusion -negotiations, offer, before contract etc-, validity, form, sanction) and the many definitions (offer, acceptance, promise and pact of preference etc. ).

Regime of pre-contractual negotiations: consecrations and clarifications

Freedom and good faith (article 1112 al.1)

Article 1112 al.1 enshrines the principles of freedom and the obligation of good faith during negotiations: The initiative, conduct and termination of pre-contractual negotiations are free. They must imperatively meet the requirements of good faith (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #21

Reform of contract law - The 5 possible penalties for non-performance (2/2)

A few remarks on these 5 sanctions presented yesterday by synthetic diagram.

5.2 The main innovations are:

- the price reduction, which raises many questions: should it be requested from the judge? it would then be a judicial review of the price at the request of the creditor.

But then how to read paragraph 2 on the notification by the creditor of his decision to reduce? Can the parties, in the contract, give this right to the creditor without recourse to the judge? What will be the effect of its implementation on the rights of the (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #20

Reform of contract law - The 5 possible penalties for non-performance (1/2)

The most notable innovations are colored in red, and the 3 unilateral notifications already mentioned are underlined.

Diagram (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #19

Reform of contract law - New mechanisms (4/4)

The original debtor (undischarged) and the substituted debtor may set up against the creditor both the defenses inherent in the debt and the defenses that are personal to them (article 1328).

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #18

Reform of contract law - New mechanisms (3/4)

The revision of the contract by the judge in the event of unforeseeability

Until now (excluding the revision clause of course), if a contract turned out to be unfavorable to one party, the judge refused in principle to modify it (Canal de Craponne case), and the victim could find help only in a request for time limits grace (article 124461), the law of collective proceedings, or the option of unilateral termination in particular for permanent contracts.

Article 1195 introduces a power of a posteriori revision of the contract, first between the parties, and if unsuccessful, by the judge, under certain conditions. He can be (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #17

Reform of contract law - New mechanisms (2/4)

Unilateral notifications

Unilateral notifications to complete the contract

To present to you these unilateral notifications provided for in 2 specific cases, here is their chronological sequence.

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #16

Reform of contract law - New mechanisms (1/4)

The interpellations interrogations.

3 articles provide for the possibility of asking a question in writing by requesting an answer or an action within a certain period, under penalty of effect in favor of the person asking the question.

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #15

Reform of contract law

By order of February 10, 2016, the Government reformed contract law by amending the Civil Code.

Coming into force

The new provisions only apply to contracts concluded since October 1, 2016, with the exception of the interpellation mechanisms (see §4.1) applicable since this date to contracts previously concluded.

General appreciation

In the opinion of the authors, the ordinance essentially clarifies, but does not revolutionize. Beyond the consecration or shaping of many jurisprudential solutions, certain innovations will nevertheless be (…)

\ January 2017

POINT CARDINAL #14

A third party to a contract can take advantage of it to act in liability against one of the contracting parties.

The fault committed by a party to a contract in the execution of said contract is likely to engage its tort liability with regard to third parties to the contract.

In other words, a third party X to a contract between Y and Z can engage the tort liability of Y on the basis of the breach by Y of its contractual obligations towards Z if this breach caused damage to X.

This principle is old (Cass. ass. plén. 6 October 2006 n° 05-13.255), and results from the principle according to which a third party can invoke for his benefit the situation created by a contract as a legal fact, without disregarding the relative effect of contracts (…)

\ December 2016

POINT CARDINAL #13

The absence of maintenance before the contractual termination leads to the cancellation of the agreement

In a judgment dated December 1, 2016, the Social Chamber of the Court of Cassation has just ruled that the absence of an interview before the signing of the contractual termination must lead to the cancellation of the agreement (Cass.soc., December 1, 2016, n°15-21.609 FS-PBRI).

If art. L.1237-12 of the labor code provided for this obligation for the parties to meet during one or more interviews before the conclusion of the agreement, this is the first time that the Court of Cassation has ruled on the sanction of non-compliance. - respect for (…)

\ December 2016

POINT CARDINAL #12

Indicative benchmark for compensation after dismissal without real and serious cause

The indicative benchmark for compensation due in the event of unjustified dismissals, provided for by the Macron law and expected by professionals, has just been set by a decree published in the Official Journal of November 25, 2016, and entering into force on November 26, 2016.

The industrial tribunal judge will thus be able to take this indicative benchmark into account to set the severance pay without real and serious cause, without prejudice to the legal or conventional severance pay. This Scale is optional, unless (…)

\ December 2016

POINT CARDINAL #11

Turnaround: taking into consideration the wishes of the incapacitated employee in the search for reclassification (Cass. Soc. 23 November 2016, n°15-18.092 and n°14-26.398)

The social chamber of the Court of Cassation continues its salutary return to civil law and to the taking into account of the actual incurred with the elimination of the necessary damage (Cass. soc. April 13, 2016, n ° 14-28.293) and the relaxation of the obligation of safety results (Cass. soc. June 1, 2016, n°14-19.702: the employer can be exonerated from his responsibility in the event of moral harassment if he takes steps to do so (…)

\ December 2016

POINT CARDINAL #10

Turnaround: the disappearance of mandatory prejudice in social matters (Cass. soc. April 13, 2016, n°14-28.293)

In a judgment intended for the widest publicity, the social chamber of the Court of Cassation returned to an orthodox assessment of the rules of civil liability which require trial judges to characterize the existence of damage before sovereignly assessing its amount.

Indeed, for twenty years, the social chamber decreed that certain breaches of the employer necessarily caused damage to the employee, leaving to the judges of the merits the surreal work consisting in evaluating and compensating this obligatory damage, even when it was (…)

\ April 2016

POINT CARDINAL #9

Good news for the liability of a company providing assistance to another company which is then the subject of collective proceedings

Article L650-1 of the Commercial Code limits the liability of credit providers in the context of collective proceedings.

It provides that: When safeguard, receivership or judicial liquidation proceedings are opened, creditors cannot be held liable for damages suffered as a result of the assistance granted, except in cases of fraud, serious interference in the management of the debtor or if the guarantees taken in return for these loans are disproportionate to (…)

\ January 2016

POINT CARDINAL #8

System to be put in place to allow the consumer to have recourse to a mediator in order to settle consumer disputes: think about modifying your T&Cs and your website

Professionals have until January 1, 2016 to set up a system allowing consumers to have recourse to a mediator to settle consumer disputes. And this in application of an ordinance of August 20th transposing the European directive 2013/11/EU of May 21st, 2013 and a decree 2015-1382 of October 30th, 2015, creating the new articles of the consumer code C. consom. art. L 151-1 to L 156-4 and C. consum. art. R 152-1 to R 156-2 (provision entered into force on 1 (...)

\ November 2015

POINT CARDINAL #7

Break up but warn! Cardinal point on the abrupt termination of established commercial relations, fixed-term contracts and forced resumption of relations

Article L442-6.5° of the Commercial Code provides that a company is liable if it suddenly breaks established commercial relations, that is to say without respecting a period of notice sufficient to allow the other party to compensate for the termination of relations. The duration of the sufficient notice period is set by the courts, according to several criteria, mainly the length of the relationship, the expenses incurred by the victim of the rupture for the needs of the relationship, the importance of the turnover achieved by it with the author of the rupture (excluding interprofessional agreements on this (…)

\ September 2015

POINT CARDINAL #6

Do you handle 145?

Article 145* of the Code of Civil Procedure is a formidable weapon of evidence. In your hands, but also between those of your potential adversaries.

It allows, with the authorization of a judge obtained in a non-contradictory manner (on request):

  • sending a bailiff by surprise, assisting a computer expert and the police if necessary,
  • collect evidence, to which the applicant does not have access or likely to be destroyed, and relating (…)

\ July 2015

POINT CARDINAL #5

Package days in the firms of chartered accountants and auditors

The social partners had entered into negotiations following the judgment of the Court of Cassation of May 14, 2014, which ruled that the individual fixed-rate agreements in days signed on the basis of amendment 24 of the collective agreement for consulting firms were null and void. chartered accountants and auditors, in the absence of sufficient guarantees for the protection of the health and safety of the employees concerned. On February 18, 2015, they concluded a new amendment (…)

\ June 2015

POINT CARDINAL #4

Personality (moral) disorder: when the mother pays for the daughter

Despite the principle of independence of legal persons, there are cases in which a parent company is required to pay for its subsidiary. Recent case law gives us some illustrations of this, which call for vigilance in the intervention of managers or employees of parent companies in the affairs of their (…)

\ May 2015

POINT CARDINAL #3

Amicable settlement

Since 1st April 2015, any summons (or petition) must specify the efforts made to reach an amicable settlement to a disputeunless it is justified on legitimate grounds which take into account the urgency of the situation or the matter under consideration, in particular where it is a matter of public policy. Failing this, the judge may propose a conciliation measure or (…)

\ April 2015

POINT CARDINAL #2

Contractual termination and maternity leave

The Supreme Court has just recognised that a contractual termination may be signed during periods of suspension of employment to which the employee is entitled by virtue of the latter’s maternity leave, and for the four weeks following these periods (Cass. soc. 25 March 2015, No.14.10-149). This stand is contrary to the circular from the General Labour Directorate dated 17 March 2014 which ruled out this (…)

\ March 2015

POINT CARDINAL #1

"Forfait jours" (remuneration based on a set number of days per year) basis applied in Chartered Accountancy and Audit firms

The two sides of industry had initiated negotiations following the order of the Supreme Court of 14 May 2014 which had declared null and void individual forfait jours agreements signed on the basis of amendment 24 to the collective agreement of Chartered Accountancy and Audit firms, in the absence of sufficient guarantees to protect the health and safety of the concerned employees. On 18 February 2015, they signed a new amendment (…)

\ February 2015

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