French works council (CSE): a guide for foreign parent companies.

Your group plans a reorganisation, a site closure or a new shift pattern in France. Before anything happens, the French works council, the CSE, must be informed and consulted. Many foreign parent companies discover this rule too late, when the project is already announced at group level. Here is what the CSE is, what it can do, and how to run a consultation without losing months.

The rules of the French works council are set by the French Labour Code (Code du travail), which applies to every employer in France, whatever the nationality of the parent company.

What is the French works council (CSE)?

The comité social et économique (CSE) is the elected body that represents employees in any French company with at least 11 staff. In companies with 50 employees or more, it has extended economic powers: it is consulted every year on the strategy, the financial situation and the social policy of the company, and before any significant change in organisation.

• Elected for four years by the employees, with a chair who is the head of the French entity or his delegate.
• A legal entity with its own budget in companies of 50 employees or more, funded by the employer.
• Access to a data base (the BDESE) that the employer must keep up to date: headcount, pay, investments, financial results.

When must the CSE be consulted?

• A restructuring, a reduction in headcount or a collective dismissal.
• The closure, transfer or relocation of a site or a production line.
• A change in working hours, shift patterns or organisation of work.
• The introduction of new technology or a new software that changes jobs.
• A merger, an acquisition or a change of control.

The rule is simple: the CSE must receive precise written information and have time to study it before the decision is taken. A press release or an internal announcement made at group level before the French consultation is a classic mistake.

The 5 mistakes foreign groups make with the French works council

• Announcing first, consulting afterwards. A group announcement before the French consultation can be treated as an obstruction (délit d’entrave).
• Sending documents in English only. Documents given to French employees and their representatives must be in French.
• Underestimating deadlines. One month by default, two months with an expert, more with several sites.
• Forgetting the expert. The CSE can appoint an accountant or another expert, often paid by the employer.
• Leaving the local manager alone. A plant manager who has never run a consultation will struggle to hold the timetable and keep production running at the same time.

How an interim manager secures the consultation

An experienced French interim manager has already chaired CSE meetings in tense situations. He builds the consultation timetable with your lawyers, prepares the documents in French, leads the meetings, and keeps the plant running while the procedure goes on. Your group keeps control of the decision; the French entity keeps the legal and social pace.

MT-Transition presents three targeted profiles within 72 hours, all with industrial experience in France. See also French employment law for foreign investors and turning around a French subsidiary.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For your project, work with a French employment lawyer.

Frequently asked questions