Follow us

The French Supreme Court has recently issued an important new decision relating to the automatic transfer of employees in the case of asset transfers (the equivalent of the TUPE relations).

In this decision the Supreme Court held that the transfer of all employees of a company without a site works council would be treated as a "partial" transfer of employees where the company in question formed part of what is known as a UES (unique social and economic entity) with other companies.

The most important consequence of this decision is that prior Labour Inspector approval will therefore be required before the transfer of any elected employee representatives (who are therefore "protected" employees) of such company who are due to transfer.

Supreme Court 23 March 2017 n° 15-24.005

Related categories

Key contacts

Samantha Brown photo

Samantha Brown

Managing Partner of EPI (West), London

Samantha Brown
Steve Bell photo

Steve Bell

Managing Partner - Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety (Australia, Asia), Melbourne

Steve Bell
Emma Rohsler photo

Emma Rohsler

Regional Head of Practice (EMEA) - Employment Pensions and Incentives, Paris

Emma Rohsler
Andrew Taggart photo

Andrew Taggart

Partner, London

Andrew Taggart
Fatim Jumabhoy photo

Fatim Jumabhoy

Managing Partner, Singapore, Singapore

Fatim Jumabhoy
Barbara Roth photo

Barbara Roth

Partner, New York

Barbara Roth