Know-how

We advise our clients on all the aspects of employment and social security law that they encounter in the course of their day to day work.

We collaborate closely with them to devise secure solutions in line with the challenges they face.

We assist them both in the management:

• of individual labour relations: hiring, “life time of the employment contract”, occupational health, harassment, discrimination, disciplinary law, exit, etc., where appropriate management requires knowledge of employment regulations;
• of collective labour relations: relations with staff representatives and the labour administration, social dialogue and collective bargaining in traditional (“compulsory negotiating blocs”) and emergent areas of negotiation.

We help them find the appropriate responses and anticipate the various risks (social, financial, criminal, reputational, etc.) that may arise from these relationships.

“Social security” impacts are borne in mind by all of our employment law advisors.

Indeed, it is impossible to negotiate or terminate an employment contract without taking into account the social treatment of the granted benefits.

In the same way, an agreement on remote working cannot be entered into without anticipating the allowances or costs allocated in relation thereto.

Furthermore, while the Social Security now issues an official gazette (known as the “Boss”) setting out “the regulations for collection”, which are enforceable against Social Security and Family Allowance Contribution Collection Offices (Urssaf), the principles remain difficult to grasp. Nonetheless, an awareness of the subject is essential to human resources management.

MAJJ Avocats assists its clients in their strategy for implementing staff representative bodies and specifying their respective operational roles: they assist with the negotiation of agreements governing the Social and economic committee (Comité social et économique, “CSE”) and the related bodies (central bodies, commissions, local representatives, etc.), along with the Group committee (Comité de groupe) and European Works Councils.

Via a pragmatic approach, specific training, or the management of collective litigation, we assist our clients at every stage, from the electoral process, to the administration of staff representative bodies and steering the information and consultation procedure and negotiations.

Today, social dialogue constitutes one of the most important elements in the formulation of labour standards applied within companies.

MAJJ Avocats assists companies of every size, in understanding their obligations in practical terms, steering their social agenda, and designing, adopting and adapting their internal collective standards, according to their various counterparts (representative trade unions, elected or empowered employees).

We help our clients to define the most suitable scope for negotiation, in line with the aims being pursued (at the level of the group, social and economic unit, company or establishment).

All subjects of negotiation are covered (compulsory, opt-out, organisational or prospective).

We have more specifically developed our know-how on working time, which is a pivotal subject for companies.

MAJJ Avocats is convinced that setting up a specific, dynamic, secure work organization, which is able to meet the needs of the business but also to improve employees’ quality of life, constitutes a major operating and HR asset, which assists the development of the company and attracts the best talent.

MAJJ Avocats assists clients in creating coherent and motivating compensation policies, at both the individual and collective level, for employees and their managers.

Whatever the context (a desire to build management team loyalty, harmonisation of employee status across a single company or group, mandatory collective bargaining, etc.), we assist them in choosing and implementing the most appropriate instruments, such as policies of benefits in kind and professional expenses, incentive plans, company saving and/or employee shareholding schemes, supplemental welfare or retirement schemes.

We act with two aims in mind:

• To ensure that the company’s practices are in line with French labour and social security legislation and applicable norms at group level (code of conduct, ethical charters, etc.);
• To assist our clients in setting up a longer term employment policy, taking into account the social and environmental impacts of their activities, and applying it in respect of their internal commitments towards their staff (collective agreements and plans, prevention plans, vigilance plans, etc.).

Managing jobs and skills is vital to any company strategy.

This may or may not be planned in advance, depending on company plans or external cyclical pressures requiring immediate changes to the payroll.

A variety of tools are available today to assist with this: Job and career path management (GEPP) using the “Collective transitions” mechanism, Collective Performance Agreement (APC), Collective Contractual Termination (RCC), Employment Safeguarding Plan (PSE), Voluntary Departure Scheme (PDV).

We use our expertise to advise our clients ahead of time in order to identify and combine the mechanisms which provide the best solutions to their planned transformations or immediate restructuring needs.

Our experience and commitment allow us to assist them at every stage of the project right up to its full completion. To do so, we anticipate employment law difficulties which may arise and devise operational solutions.

MAJJ Avocats assists clients, whether shareholders, investment funds or managers, in all their structuring operations for external growth or internal reorganisation (mergers, acquisitions, asset transfers, etc.).

Our lawyers take into account the framework governing this type of transaction, whether in legal terms (company law, tax law, competition law, etc.) or employment terms (social climate quality, characteristics and foreseeable consequences of the planned transaction, etc.).

More specifically, we accompany our clients in:

• The preparation of their actions: due diligence phase, analysis of social liabilities, prior consultation with staff representatives, application of the “Hamon law”;
• Their subsequent implementation: negotiation of liability guarantee clauses, harmonisation of collective statutes, assistance in the event of management team departures, negotiation of management packages.

Having worked on more than 300 business combination transactions, our team is committed to seeing our clients’ projects succeed, and ensures seamless coordination with all the stakeholders (corporate law firms, investment banks, experts, etc.).

Managing an inspection by the URSSAF requires being highly reactive and familiar with this specific procedure.

Relevant arguments must be provided right from the beginning of discussions with the inspectors, and in reply to their written observations, in order to minimise the amount of any reassessment.

In the event of a reassessment, we assist our clients in the management of the amicable phase (a mandatory prior referral to the amicable settlement board, the Commission du Recours Amiable) and in litigation.

Throughout this particularly long procedure, we advise on the strategic decisions to be carried out and implemented.

The employer’s prevention obligation towards employees means that every decision made about them must be subject to a prior risk assessment.

This dimension is systematically included in our advice.

We moreover assist our clients in putting together agreements or plans in this respect.

Finally, we assist at every stage in the management of work-related incidents (workplace accident, commuting accident, occupational illness) and their consequences (alert, statement, investigation and dispute).

We assist and defend our clients in all their litigation related to individual labour relations, whether in relation to the basis for dismissal, or any other compensation claim (harassment, discrimination, equal treatment or working time).

Our cross-disciplinary approach to employment law allows us to assist our clients in all types of litigation falling within the jurisdiction of the judicial court, for example in respect to:

• Electoral litigation and litigation related to the appointment of trade union delegates and representatives;
• Social security litigation (in particular in connection with URSSAF reassessments); and
• Certain emergency procedures (Social and economic committee vote for expert appraisal, litigation over information provided to the Social and economic committee in the framework of a consultation).

We assist and represent our clients before all the administrative courts in appeals against administrative decisions made by the regional authorities, the labour inspectorate, the prefect, the Agefiph, etc., for example administrative fines, approval/validation decisions for Employment Safeguarding Plans and Collective Contractual Terminations.

On various occasions, companies and their legal representatives may incur criminal liability (health and safety, working time, operation of staff representative bodies, etc.).

MAJJ Avocats works alongside its clients at the various stages of these procedures, to support and defend them.

All our training is designed together with our clients keeping in mind the employment law themes requested by them and the target audience (managers, Social and economic committee presidents, in-house lawyers and HR specialists, staff representatives).

We organise meetings aimed at professionals of all kinds on various employment law themes, to help them update or develop their knowledge and practice.

In particular, we propose regular meet-ups at our MAJJ (Legal Update) events, where we share employment law news with you.