Obligation to provide information on hiring now specified

The Act of March 9, 2023 n°2023-171 of March 9, 2023 transposed Directive 2019/1152 of June 20, 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union.

These various provisions require employers to provide newly-hired employees with more detailed information than was previously the case.

“The employer provides the employee with one or more written documents containing the main information relating to the employment relationship” (article L1221-5-1 of the French Labor Code).

The terms of this information obligation were clarified on October 31, 2023 with the publication of the decree implementing this law (decree no. 2023-1004 of Oct. 30. 2023) and are the subject of the following points:

• Information to be provided to employees as of November 1^st, 2023

As of this date, the documents mentioned in article L1221-5-1 of the French Labor Code must include at least the following information:

“1° The identity of the parties to the employment relationship ;

2° Place(s) of work and, if separate, employer’s address;

3° Job title, duties, socio-professional category or job category;

4° Date of hire ;

5° In the case of a fixed-term employment relationship, the end date or expected duration;

6° In the case of the temporary employee referred to in article L. 1251-1, the identity of the user company, when known and as soon as it is known;

7° Where applicable, the length and conditions of the trial period;

8° The right to training provided by the employer in accordance with article L. 6321-1 ;

9° The amount of paid leave to which the employee is entitled, or the method of calculating this amount;

10° The procedure to be followed by the employer and the employee in the event of termination of their employment relationship ;

11° The components of the remuneration mentioned in article L. 3221-3, indicated separately, including overtime bonuses, as well as the frequency and terms of payment of this remuneration;

12° Daily, weekly or monthly working hours, or the way in which they may be arranged over another reference period when the provisions of articles L. 3121-41 to L. 3121-47 are applied, the conditions under which the employee may be required to work overtime or additional hours, and, where applicable, any arrangements concerning shift changes in the event of work being organized in successive alternating shifts;

13° Collective agreements applicable to the employee in the company or establishment;

14° The compulsory schemes to which the employee is affiliated, and any supplementary social protection contracts from which employees benefit collectively under a collective agreement or unilateral decision by the employer, as well as any related seniority conditions. “(new article R1221-34 of the Labor Code).

The information referred to in points 7° to 12° and 14° above may be communicated by reference to the applicable legislative and regulatory provisions or contractual stipulations (article R1221-35, new, of the French Labor Code).

Please note that data relating to the identity of the parties, the workplace, the position, the date of hiring, the end date or duration of the fixed-term contract, the trial period, remuneration and working hours must be communicated personally no later than the 7th day of the month in which the contract is signed.^{th calendar day from the date of hiring (1° to 5°, 11°, 12° of article R1221-34 and R1221-35, new, of the Labour Code).}

All other information is communicated within one month of the same date.

• Additional information on employees sent abroad

In addition to the information listed above, when an employee working in France is called upon to work abroad for more than 4 consecutive weeks, the information documents must include the following details:

“1° The country or countries in which the work abroad is to be carried out and the planned duration ;

2° The currency in which the remuneration is paid ;

3° Where applicable, benefits in cash and in kind related to the tasks concerned;

4° Information indicating whether repatriation is organized and, if so, the conditions under which the employee will be repatriated. “(article R1221-36, I, new of the French Labor Code)

If the employee falls within the scope of Directive 96/71/EC of December 16, 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services, the employee called to work in another Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area is informed :

“1° The remuneration to which he is entitled under the applicable law of the host State;

2° Where applicable, allowances specific to the secondment and arrangements for the reimbursement of travel, accommodation and food expenses;

3° The address of the national website set up by the host State in accordance with the provisions of Article 5(2) of Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the implementation of Directive 96/71/EC.”

Information on the currency used to pay the remuneration and the remuneration to which the worker is entitled under the applicable law of the host country must be communicated to him before his departure (paragraph 1^st of article R1221-37, new, of the French Labor Code).

All of the above must be sent to the employee before his or her departure (paragraph 2^nd of new article R1221-37 of the French Labor Code).

• Means of transmitting information

To this end, the employer may send all of these elements (new article R1221-39 of the French Labor Code):

• either in paper format, by any means that confers a certain date ;
• in electronic format, provided that :
  • the employee has a means of accessing information in electronic format;
  • information can be saved and printed
  • the employer keeps proof of transmission or receipt of this information.

• In the event of a change during the term of the contract

In principle, the decree provides for the employee to be given a document setting out this information. as soon as possible, and at the latest on the effective date of this modification “according to the transmission methods listed above (paragraph 1).^st of article R1221-40, new, of the French Labor Code).

By way of exception, the employer is not bound by this obligation when the modification of information results exclusively from a change in the legislative and regulatory provisions or contractual stipulations in force (paragraph 2^nd of the aforementioned article R1221-40).

• A formal notice prior to litigation

Assuming that the employer has failed to provide the mandatory information within the required timeframe –7 days or 1 month depending on the nature of the information– or if this information is incomplete, the employee may demand it by court order, provided he has first given his employer formal notice to provide it (article R1221-41 of the French Labor Code).

Only if the employee fails to comply voluntarily within 7 calendar days of receipt of the formal notice may he or she refer the matter to the industrial tribunal (Conseil de prud’hommes).

• Entry into force and current contracts

The decree’s provisions apply to all new hires from November 1^st, 2023, as well as to employees whose contracts are in progress on November 1^st.

For the latter, article 7 of the decree of October 30 stipulates that when one or more items of information have not been communicated to an employee recruited prior to November 1^st 2023, the employee may request information at any time from his or her employer, who is required to respond within 7 days or one month, depending on the nature of the information.