Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2008, publiée 98ème session CIT (2009)

Convention (n° 158) sur le licenciement, 1982 - France (Ratification: 1989)

Article 24 of the ILO Constitution. Follow-up of a representation. In the report received in October 2008, the Government indicates that, taking into account the recommendations of the ILO Governing Body of 14 November 2007, it passed Act No. 2008-596 of 25 June 2008 repealing provisions relating to the “Contract for New Employment” (CNE). The Act implements a national tripartite agreement. The CNEs in force at the time of the publication of the Act were reclassified as contracts of unlimited duration. Furthermore, the Court of Cassation referring to the recommendations of the tripartite committee, in a ruling handed down on 1 July 2008 by its social chamber, held that, under the terms of Article 2, paragraph 2(b), of the Convention, the CNE is not one of the categories of contracts that can be excluded from the protection of the Convention. The Court of Cassation also held that the CNE did not comply with the requirements of the Convention because it denied workers the right to defend themselves against allegations made prior to termination relating to conduct or performance (Article 7); it permitted termination without a valid reason (Article 4); and it placed the burden exclusively on a worker to prove an invalid reason for termination under Article 5 (Article 9, paragraph 2). The Committee recalls that the principle of the direct application of the Convention by national courts has been raised by the Court of Cassation in the ruling of 29 March 2006 of its social chamber. The Committee notes with satisfaction the information provided, which shows that the Convention is applied at the national level. It hopes that the Government’s next report will contain updated information on the application of the Convention in practice and further examples of court rulings concerning questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention.