Is the fuel shortage an event of force majeure which would suspend the employment contract? While several service stations remain closed and gasoline is lacking, the question arises. But for there to be force majeure, the event must be irresistible, insurmountable and unpredictable. However, the gasoline shortage is not unpredictable: it has been announced for days. For Éric Angotti, a lawyer specializing in labor law, joined by franceinfo, force majeure therefore does not apply.
>> Fuel shortage: here’s how to find a stocked gas station near you
However, the employee does not risk being penalized. For there to be a sanction, there would have to be a fault. Not coming to work because you have run out of gas does not reflect a faulty breach of the employment contract. To prove your good faith, you must of course inform your employer of your absence and, if you fear a conflict, make evidence available to him: photos of gas stations near your home closed with warning tapessigns announcing that there is no more gasoline, photo of your gauge, proving that your tank is empty…
In urban areas, you can find other ways to come to work. Public transport, carpooling, cycling… Alternative solutions to the car exist. Laurent Gamet, Dean of the Paris-Est Law School, reminds us that the discomfort caused to the employee is not the employer’s problem.
It is up to the employee, therefore, to find solutions to get to work. The main thing is that he is in good faith: if really no solution is offered to him, there will be no sanction. But no job, no pay. For David Guillouet, lawyer specializing in labor law at the Parisian firm MGG Voltaire, this is the scenario of “unpaid authorized absence“. The solution: take days off or offer to make up for lost days later. And, of course, if possible, telecommuting.