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Our employment team has developed a recognized expertise in assisting large group or small-medium sized companies, as well as financial institution or investment funds, in their contemplated sales or acquisition.

In this regard, our team provide experienced and tailored work, starting in the planning stages of the transaction and ending with monitoring its effects, such as:

• due diligence, including vendor due diligence (VDD) and its review,
• negotiation of the representations and warranties agreement with respect to employment and social security laws,
• implementation of an employment timetable considering all the operational constraints,
• assistance in the consultation process of employee representatives,
• assistance in the management of HR integration processes, where needed (analysis of the different status involved, harmonization of collective status through collective bargaining, modification of the scope or the structure of the employee representatives)
• assistance in the implementation of management packages, with the mergers & acquisitions / corporate and tax law teams.

Our team has gained significant experience in advising companies wishing to use social dialogue as a lever for development, while ensuring their practices are in line with the law.

We also advice companies on a day-to-day basis for managing the relationship with employee representatives or dealing with collective disputes raised by them.

As such, our team provide tailored assistance in:

• collective bargaining, on various topics such a duration and organization of working time, remuneration, geographical mobility, using, where appropriate, specific employment law tools such as collective performance agreements,
• setting up employee representatives’ bodies,
• managing relationship with organizations representing employees and with the expert they employ.

Our team has gained considerable experience in companies’ restructuring, whatever its forms (reduction in headcount, carve-out, severance schemes, closure of premises or production sites, transfers, internal reorganization…).

As such, our team advises companies with respect to specific employment issues arising from restructurings and/or carve-outs (change of employer, compulsory or voluntary transfer of employees, questioning and harmonization of collective agreements, impact on the scope or the structure of the staff representatives…).

Our standard practice is to manage cases with an “on-the-ground” approach, which is operational, organizational and financial, working with clients’ management departments and/or finance experts.

We further provide advice and assistance with alternative to restructuring options such as long-term furlough (APLD), collective bargaining of a performance agreement (APC), management of job positions and employees ‘skills (GPEC), mobility leave, collective mutual termination (RCC).

Employee savings schemes and employee shareholding are incentive tools which had been modernized by recent legislative reforms. Usually deemed as components of overall compensation policies at the company or group level, these schemes are becoming substantive means to connect employees to companies’ results, development and capital.

Our team has cultivated a specific expertise on these matters, uniting aspects of employment, tax and corporate law. Due to such vision, the team supports its clients in the implementation of overall compensation or shareholding schemes (profit sharing, stock-based compensation, company/group savings plans, quota purchase scheme or common share plan, allocation of free share plan, collective retirement savings plans, etc.).

Our team has broad a wide experience in the negotiation of directors and officers status, whether in relation with holding of a corporate officer status simultaneously with an employee status, or the implementation of incentives measures for a performance purpose (bonus plans, stock options, free shares, BSPCE…).

Our team assists companies to deal with the constant increasing of requirements as to health and safety (medical monitoring of employees, occupational diseases, and work-related accidents, psychological or sexual harassment).

As such, our team helps employers to:

• Prevent and treat accidents at work, occupational diseases and psychological or sexual harassment (preparation of the Single Document in consultation with stakeholders, setting up an investigation procedure…),
• Dispute the recognition of the professional nature of an accident or diseases,
• Dispute the existence of an inexcusable fault,
• Manage the relationship with the Social and Economic Council or the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Council, where appropriate,
• Develop practices to ensure well-being of employees, improve quality of working life and as such retain talents,
• Manage the health and safety risk (SPR, absenteeism) before, after or during the restructuring of your company.

Our team assists employers regarding the day-to-day management of their employees, from recruitment to setting up various procedures for terminating the employment contract.

Our team therefore assist employers in various matters among with: employment contracts (recruitment, drafting of amendment to the employment contract), disciplinary law, health and safety, discrimination and equal treatment, professional training, advice regarding the status of corporate officer, layoff on personal or economic grounds, settlements, retirement, termination of employment contract by mutual consent, posting of employees abroad, social welfare.

Our team handles any kind of employment law litigation, whether it relates to individual or collective dispute, with a specific experience in collective disputes arising from employees who had been dismissed through the implementation of an employment protection plan.

Our team has also developed an in-depth knowledge regarding specific litigations related to the protective status of employee representatives (e.g. authorization of the labor administration, appeal before the Minister of Labor and administrative courts).

Our team also deal with pre-litigations or litigations in relation with technical social security law between companies and the social security agencies (URSSAF and technical social security litigation).