Loi Travail : Art. 2 and the ‘inversion of the hierarchy of norms’ in the french labour market

Abstract

This thesis deals with one of the most discussed topics in France, the new french labour law, commonly called the ‘El Khomri law’ after the French Minister of Labour, Myriam El Khomri, has generated significant attention during these last months.

The discussion begins with an overview of the discontent of the french people, caused in particular by the procedure used by the Government to impose the reform, without a vote. After touching all the main points of the reform and so all the proposed changes for the french workers , the focus of the discussion will be on Article 2 of the labour law which intends henceforth to make company agreements the new norm. This article establishes that a company or establishment-wide collective bargaining agreements take priority over branch level agreements, even if the enterprise agreement is less favorable to employees. Opponents of the law denounce an “inversion of the hierarchy of norms”. It is the most discussed and disputed article because it would change the balance of power between workers and companies, in favor of the second ones.

Concluding, perspectives and reflections about the importance and the necessity of the evolution of the labour law, but this means being able to capture the right tools to increase the freedom of choice of workers, in order to maintain the perfect balance between the parties, favoring the well functioning of the labor market.