Changing collective agreements in France
If you’ve tried to fire someone in France before, you might know about the individual conventional termination. Recently though, a new procedure has appeared: the collective conventional termination (“rupture conventionnelle collective”).
Similarly to the individual termination, it’s a way to have both parties consent to an agreement to leave the company. The main difference though, as its name implies, is that it concerns a group of employees rather than just one. But how does it work exactly?
Preparing a convention
The first thing the employer should do is prepare a proposal for a collective conventional termination convention. Then, you need to inform your employees about this procedure, so that negotiations can begin.
Negotiating this convention
This convention has to be signed by at least half of the unions or parties representing the workers of your company. As such, negotiations are one of the most important steps in this process.
Having this convention approved
Once you’ve come to an agreement, you must then have this convention approved by the DIRECCTE (Regional direction of Companies, competition, consumption, work, and employment). This is the organization that will ensure that the convention follows all legal obligations.
If they haven’t given an answer within 15 days, then this convention is automatically approved.
