What is the status of posted workers, what are their rights and the obligations of their employers? Isabelle Savier-Pluyette is a lawyer, partner at Cornet Vincent Ségurel and a specialist in international mobility.
france Info: What do we call, legally, a posted worker?
Isabelle Savier-Pluyette: From a legal point of view, it is an employee who is employed by a company which is not on the national territory but which is located in another country, in Europe or outside Europe, and who comes to work in France from temporarily, for a mission, while maintaining his employment contract with his employer located abroad.
What is the limitation of the duration of the secondment?
In French labor law, there is no fixed duration. It will depend on the assessment of the mission, in the logic of things, is there an excessive character. It depends on the work to be done.
What part of the legislation of the country of origin continues to apply?
If France is the host country, French law will apply, but with a greater or lesser scope depending on the duration of the secondment.
However, one continues to contribute in his country of origin?
He can, it’s a choice. The principle is that you contribute in the country where you work. Nevertheless, France has signed many social security agreements with countries outside Europe, and in the European area, there are rules that allow social security contributions to be maintained in the country of origin.
On the other hand, he is paid and he works according to the rules of French law?
Absolutely, and this is one of the mandatory rules in the context of a posting in France to avoid distortions of competition. Because an employee who would be seconded to a country but who would not have the same level of remuneration as French employees in the same activity, that would constitute unfair competition.
And the European regulation which has been transposed into French law specifies that in terms of remuneration, working hours and other elements which are essential to the equality and rights of workers, it is the French rule which applied.
Fraud can also penalize the employer who benefits from the posted worker?
Whoever will benefit from work in France will pay the price of the contract for the provision of services that he has signed with the foreign employer. On the other hand, an obligation of vigilance has been put in place, and it is extremely controlled, for the French company which benefits from the work: if there are elements of fraud, either of remuneration, or of social charges which do not have not been settled, the French company is also responsible.
What does she incur?
It can be a suspension or a ban on the service provided to it, which has an impact on its turnover. There may be fines which can be very high, and it is generally calculated by the number of seconded personnel, so as many seconded personnel who do not meet the conditions, as many fines, and it is jointly and severally liable for the payment of the fines, compensation that has not been paid at its fair price to the employee and social charges that have not been paid.