FRANCE: Decree to Extend Rights of Posted Workers from July 2020

Ministerial order 2019-116 of 20 February 2019, which will come into effect on 30 July 2020, transposes into French law European Directive 2018/957 of 28 June 2018, extending the employment rights of posted (seconded) workers.

The French labor code already lays down the core rights of posted workers in many areas. In addition to these, the new rules emphasis that every worker seconded to France must receive “equal pay for equal work” rather than just the minimum wage. This principle already applies to workers hired locally in France).

The employer will additionally have to reimburse any expenses occurred by the posted worker during the assignment.

The posted worker rules will apply for the first 12 months of the posting (extendable by another six months in certain circumstances) after which almost all the workers’ rights obligations on companies established in France will apply.

If the posted worker is replaced by another in the same position, the 12 months will be calculated cumulatively.

The calculation of the 12-month secondment period will also take into account any ongoing postings starting before 30 July 2020.

Failure to comply with the new posting rules will be subject to a fine of EUR 4000 per breach (EUR 8000 in case of repeated breaches recorded within a period of two years).