Labour law

With its multidisciplinary practice in labour and social security law, our “Labour Law” team advises and represents its clients in all labour law matters.

Our team works with both private companies (SMEs and large corporations) and public companies in a wide range of sectors, as well as embassies and consulates. Our team is made up of French, German and Italian lawyers who advise our clients in both their mother tongue and English and have an in-depth knowledge of the challenges posed by French employment law.

Our knowledge of the expectations of the corporate world enables us to efficiently accompany our clients in their relations with their employees and employee representatives. In this context, we are tenacious when it comes to our clients’ interests. Our approach is to look at problems from different angles to ensure that we find the best solution, taking into account the particular circumstances of each case.
Company formation / business development
We assist our clients in determining the applicable collective bargaining agreement and in changing the business activity: changing the collective bargaining agreement / harmonising the collective agreement situation.
Drafting of employment contracts

We draft all types of employment contracts for our clients: permanent contracts (CDI), fixed-term contracts of all types (e.g. CDD, contrats de chantiers, contrats de professionnalisation et d’apprentissage, contrats de travail à temps partiel, contrats d’intérim et de mise à disposition, as well as promesses d’embauche) and individual agreements such as overtime flat rates or secondment contracts.

Audits, due diligences
We support the firm’s clients in all types of audits, both in the context of mergers and acquisitions and with regard to the legality/compliance of their internal processes.
Drafting collective agreements (accords d’entreprise) and administrative documents

We draft collective agreements (accords d’entreprise) on any topic: working time, job management and career paths, professional equality, additional remuneration such as profit sharing, etc. We also draft internal service regulations, service instructions, unilateral commitments and charters (including on home office, the right to freedom of professional communication outside working hours (droit à la déconnexion), company cars or expense claims).

Support in the implementation of occupational health and safety obligations
As specialists in the occupational health and safety obligations brought into focus in the context of the pandemic, we prepare for our clients the documentation required in France, such as the document concerning the risk assessment, as well as service instructions in the field of occupational health and safety. In the case of occupational accidents, we also assist our clients in the management of occupational accidents and diseases, in close cooperation with the criminal law team. In particular, we have developed special expertise in the area of social security proceedings, be it proceedings to contest occupational accidents or diseases before the health insurance funds or before the competent courts, challenge of the degree of partial occupational incapacity, inexcusable misconduct.
Executives and corporate officers

We have also developed a particular expertise in relation to executives and corporate officers, their remuneration and their rights vis-à-vis the French unemployment insurance (Pôle Emploi).

International mobility
We support the firm’s clients in all international mobility projects (immigration, secondment, emigration).
Support in elections of employee representatives
We organise employee representative elections in our clients’ companies on a regular basis, regardless of the number of employees. In doing so, we set the election calendar, calculate the number of employees (sometimes complex due to special situations, such as part-time work), determine the electoral colleges, draw up the election preparation agreement and then the election minutes.
Assistance in the context of dismissals / termination agreements

We accompany our clients in the context of individual dismissals for personal reasons (inadequacy, fault, professional incapacity, etc.) and for economic reasons, whether they are ordinary or protected employees or executives, and also accompany our clients in the context of social plans (PSE), which includes the preparation of all the documents necessary for the procedure.

Support in the context of legal disputes
We represent our clients’ interests from the receipt of an employee’s claim to the decision before all labour courts, appellate courts and administrative courts.

As part of this support, we establish a strategy in advance that is tailored to the litigation in order to prevent the risks involved, assess the level of risk of conviction after a thorough analysis of the facts, and then accompany our clients through all phases of the proceedings.

Partners, Heads of Department

Uwe Augustin Partner

Patrick Berjaud Partner

Valérie Orsini-Morgado Partner