Watch out! By ordinance of 10 February 2016, the French Ministry of Justice issued the long expected deep reform of the French law of contract and obligations. The amendment enters into force on 1 October 2016, subject to its endorsement by the French parliament. It shall only apply on agreements entered into from that date…
In order to comply with European Directive 2005/29 of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices1 as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the French rules regarding the announcement of price reductions have been modified2 several times, most recently by a Decree dated 11 March 20153, that entered into force…
The law of July 31, 2014, referred to as the “Hamon Law” had established the obligation, for companies with fewer than 250 employees*, to inform each employee at least two months prior to a transfer or sale, in order to enable the employees to make a takeover offer. Its initial objective was to avoid the…
“I am finally getting my money!” This is the first thing that crosses someone’s mind when he or she gets a favorable arbitral award. Although in more than 90 % of the cases, international arbitral awards are said to be voluntarily complied with by non-prevailing parties1, in the remaining 10 %, the prevailing party has…
The French government has endorsed the reflection of the ILO according to which a “productive social dialogue” is likely to “favor labor-related peace and stability and stimulate the economy”. In an in-depth impact assessment, the government describes a deficient social dialogue that: – is inexistent in companies with fewer than 11 employees, for which the…
To be lawful, the regulatory process with which an entrepreneur (client or contractor) must comply when subcontracting the performance of the entirety or part of a service assumes, specific know-how on the part of the subcontractor, flat-rate remuneration of the subcontractor (this, as opposed to a price calculated based on the number of hours necessary…
The labour chamber of the “Cour de Cassation” (French supreme court) has gained notoriety in recent years in several highly-publicized cases1 by a series of rulings against foreign parent companies of a group of companies, ordering the payment of redundancy compensation and damages to employees of their French subsidiary following the closing of a site or…
A recent decision of the Oberlandesgericht Köln[1] in Germany and two recent decisions of the Paris Court of Appeal[2] and the Court of Cassation[3] in France have reanimated the debate about the impact of party impecuniosity on arbitration agreements. This matter is dealt with quite conversely in France and in Germany: whereas the French Courts…
For several years, many countries have been introducing measures designed to punish taxpayers who fail to disclose their foreign assets to the tax authorities. The OECD has issued several declarations hailing the end of the use of banking secrecy for tax purposes and indicating that the time has come for countries to automatically exchange information.…
TRIAL PERIOD (ARTICLES L 1221-19 TO L 1221-25 OF THE LABOR CODE) Legal duration of the trial period The duration of the trial period shall be: two months maximum for laborers and employees, three months maximum for supervisors and tech-nicians four months maximum for executive staff. The trial period may be renewed once if provided…