Section 1: Public policy

In companies where one or more trade union sections of representative organisations have been set up, the employer shall initiate negotiations at least once every four years: 1° Negotiations on remuneration, in particular actual salaries, working hours and the sharing of added value within the company; 2° Negotiations on professional equality between women and men, including measures to eliminate pay differentials and the quality of life and working conditions.

In undertakings and groups of undertakings within the meaning of article L. 2331-1 with at least three hundred employees, as well as in Community-scale undertakings and groups of undertakings within the meaning of articles L. 2341-1 and L. 2341-2 with at least one establishment or undertaking with at least one hundred and fifty employees in France, the employer undertakes, at least once every four years, in addition to the negotiations…

In the absence of an agreement on professional equality between women and men at the end of the negotiations referred to in 2° of article L. 2242-1, the employer draws up an annual action plan designed to ensure professional equality between women and men. After assessing the objectives set and the measures taken during the previous year, this action plan, based on clear, precise and operational criteria, determines the progress…

As long as the negotiations referred to in articles L. 2242-1 and L. 2242-2 are underway, the employer may not take unilateral decisions concerning the employees as a whole, except in cases of urgency.

If, at the end of the negotiations, no agreement has been reached, a statement of disagreement is drawn up in which the respective proposals of the parties and the measures that the employer intends to apply unilaterally are recorded in their final form. These minutes are filed, on the initiative of the earliest party, in accordance with the conditions laid down by regulation.

Collective company agreements on actual salaries may only be filed with the administrative authority, under the conditions set out in article L. 2231-6, if accompanied by a report on the opening of negotiations on pay differentials between women and men, recording the respective proposals of the parties. The minutes certify that the employer has entered into negotiations seriously and fairly. The serious and fair commencement of negotiations implies that, in…

In companies where one or more trade union sections of representative organisations have been set up, an employer who has not fulfilled the obligation to negotiate on effective wages mentioned in 1° of article L. 2242-1 is subject to a penalty. If no breach of this obligation has been found during a previous inspection over the previous six calendar years, the penalty is capped at an amount equivalent to 10%…

Companies with at least fifty employees are subject to a penalty payable by the employer in the absence of an agreement relating to professional equality between women and men at the end of the negotiations referred to in 2° of article L. 2242-1 or, in the absence of an agreement, by an action plan referred to in article L. 2242-3. The procedures for monitoring the achievement of the objectives and…

The administrative authority decides on any request made by an employer to assess the compliance of an agreement or action plan with the provisions of article L. 2242-8 . If the administrative authority remains silent at the end of a period set by decree in the Conseil d’Etat, this request is deemed to have been rejected. The request referred to in the first paragraph is not admissible if the departments…