Employment — Collective Relations & Social Compliance

Collective bargaining is a tool for managing employee relations as much as a legal obligation. It makes it possible to frame the major issues in a company’s life: pay, working time, value-sharing, workplace equality, quality of working life or organisational change.

In particular, we assist with:

• identifying the bargaining obligations and the applicable timetable;
• preparing the strategy, the documents and the meetings;
• supporting the company in its dealings with staff representatives;
• drafting or reviewing collective agreements, minutes and formalising documents.

Profit-sharing, employee savings, BSPCE or BSA (French equity-warrant schemes) help strengthen a company’s attractiveness, retain talent and align the interests of employees, directors and shareholders.

In particular, we assist with:

• analysing the company’s HR, financial and managerial objectives;
• identifying the relevant schemes according to the structure, the workforce and the social calendar;
• drafting the agreements, rules, decisions and information documents;
• securing the roll-out and the evolution of the scheme over time.

A restructuring requires reconciling economic imperatives, social obligations, dialogue with staff representatives and the prevention of disputes. It calls for rigorous preparation, both as to the timetable and as to the justification of decisions and the formalisation of the measures contemplated.

In particular, we assist with:

• analysing the project, its economic grounds and its social consequences;
• identifying the applicable procedures and the risks of challenge;
• preparing the information, consultation and negotiation documents;
• securing the operational implementation of the decisions.

Internal alerts, instances of harassment, discrimination, sensitive conflicts or breaches of internal rules must be handled with method, confidentiality and proportionality.

In particular, we assist with:

• characterising the situation and defining the scope of intervention;
• organising the interviews, the collection of documents and the traceability of the process;
• drafting the protocols, records, summaries and relevant documents;
• preparing the disciplinary, organisational or preventive follow-up.

A URSSAF inspection (French social-security contributions authority) must be anticipated from the very first exchanges. The challenge is not only to respond to a request for documents, but to control the scope of the inspection, the information provided and the defence strategy in the event of a reassessment.

In particular, we assist with:

• analysing the inspection notice and the scope examined;
• auditing the at-risk social practices;
• securing the exchanges with URSSAF and the transmission of documents;
• challenging, where appropriate, the observations or reassessments contemplated.

In the context of an acquisition or an internal compliance audit, the firm works to identify employment risks, prioritise the points of concern and enable the company to decide with a clear view of its obligations and its exposure.

In particular, we assist with:

• defining the scope of the audit and the documents to be collected;
• analysing the employment contracts, collective agreements, HR practices and litigation;
• prioritising the risks and making operational recommendations;
• supporting the follow-up: regularisation, negotiation, compliance or drafting of documents.