Plan for safeguarding employment (PSE) - Economic redundancy

Verified 30 June 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Where the employer dismisses at least 10 employees over a period of 30 days in a company of at least 50 employees, it must put in place a job protection plan (PSE).

How is a PES set up? With whom to negotiate it? What measures should it contain? Does the administration check the PSE?

We'll give you the information you need to remember.

The employer may set up the PSE by collective agreement or by unilateral decision. He is free to enter into negotiations or not.

The procedure differs depending on the choice of the employer.

Collective Agreement

The PSE is a package of measures designed to prevent or limit the number of economic redundancies.

The PES should provide for measures to reclassify employees in France whose dismissal is envisaged.

The establishment of a PSE is compulsory in companies of at least 50 employees where the company intends to make an economic redundancy of at least 10 employees over a period of 30 days.

The PES provides for the following measures:

  • Measures for the internal reclassification in France of employees, in jobs falling within the same category of jobs or equivalent to those which they occupy (or, subject to the written agreement of the employees concerned, in jobs of a lower category)
  • Actions promoting the resumption of all or part of the activities with a view to preventing the closure of one or more establishments
  • Creation of new activities by the company
  • Measures to promote reclassification from outside the company (in particular by supporting the reactivation of the labor pool)
  • Actions to support the creation of new activities or the take-over of existing activities by employees
  • Training, validation of experience acquired (VAE) or retraining measures to facilitate the internal or external reclassification of employees to equivalent posts
  • Measures to reduce or adjust working time and measures to reduce overtime worked on a regular basis
  • Conditions for implementing the reclassification leave or the professional security contract (CSP)
  • Reclassification plan aimed in particular at older employees or employees with social characteristics or qualifications which make their reintegration into the labor market particularly difficult

The PES may also provide for optional measures such as:

  • Voluntary departure incentive premiums
  • Measures which may take account of the specific problems of certain employees, in particular disabled persons and pregnant women 
  • Assessment and evaluation measures to enable the persons concerned to better position themselves on the labor market in accordance with their acquired and potential professional capacities

The PES shall be made available to employees by any means at the workplace.

The employer must display at the workplace any proposals from the Dreets: titleContent with a view to improving the PSE and its reasoned response to these comments.

No, the EESC is not consulted on the measures in the PES.

The PSE agreement must be signed by the representative trade unions which have at least 50% of the votes cast at 1er round of the last CSE professional elections.

Please note

The ESC may appoint an accountant to provide any useful analysis to the trade unions in preparation for the negotiation of the PSE agreement.

Transmission of documents to Dreets 

The employer must inform the Dreets: titleContent the commitment to negotiate a PSE agreement.

Dreets may make proposals for improvements to the PES and comments throughout the PES procedure.

All documents and information relating to the PSE must be sent by the employer throughout the procedure via the portal of collective breaks of employment contracts (RUPCO).

At the end of the procedure, the PSE should be transmitted via RUPCO.

Collective breaks in employment contracts portal (RUPCO)

Verification of the PSE by Dreets

Agreement

When the Dreets: titleContent validates the PSE agreement, it applies. The employer may set up the PSE and notify redundancies.

Refusal

When the Dreets: titleContent refuses to validate the agreement, the employer must make the necessary changes. He shall again consult the ESC: titleContent and re-apply. The employer cannot notify the redundancies.

Transmission of the ESP implementation report to Dreets 

The employer must establish and address to the Dreets: titleContent a review of the effective implementation of the employment protection plan.

This assessment shall be carried out at the end of the implementation of the reclassification measures. It shall be sent to the competent Dreets by dematerialized means within one month of that date.

Yes, the employee or the trade unions can challenge the PES.

The Administrative Court shall have jurisdiction to settle disputes.

The grounds for challenge may include:

  • Validation decision itself (e.g. formalism)
  • PSE agreement
  • Content of the PSE

Unilateral decision

The PSE is a package of measures designed to prevent or limit the number of economic redundancies.

The PES should provide for measures to reclassify employees in France whose dismissal is envisaged.

Yes, the establishment of a PSE is compulsory in companies of at least 50 employees when the company intends to make an economic dismissal of at least 10 employees over a period of 30 days.

The PES provides for the following measures:

  • Measures for the internal reclassification in France of employees, in jobs falling within the same category of jobs or equivalent to those which they occupy (or, subject to the written agreement of the employees concerned, in jobs of a lower category)
  • Actions promoting the resumption of all or part of the activities with a view to preventing the closure of one or more establishments
  • Creation of new activities by the company
  • Measures to promote reclassification from outside the company (in particular by supporting the reactivation of the labor pool)
  • Actions to support the creation of new activities or the take-over of existing activities by employees
  • Training, validation of experience acquired (VAE) or retraining measures to facilitate the internal or external reclassification of employees to equivalent posts
  • Measures to reduce or adjust working time and measures to reduce overtime worked on a regular basis
  • Conditions for implementing the reclassification leave or the professional security contract (CSP)
  • Reclassification plan aimed in particular at older employees or employees with social characteristics or qualifications which make their reintegration into the labor market particularly difficult

The PES may also provide for optional measures such as:

  • Voluntary departure incentive premiums
  • Measures which may take account of the specific problems of certain employees, in particular disabled persons and pregnant women 
  • Assessment and evaluation measures to enable the persons concerned to better position themselves on the labor market in accordance with their acquired and potential professional capacities

Yes, the unilateral document prepared by the employer in the absence of a collective agreement is subject to consultation with the ESC: titleContent on all the elements it contains. The ESC issues an opinion on the PES.

The PES shall be made available to employees by any means at the workplace. The employer shall display at the workplace any proposals from the Dreets: titleContent with a view to improving the PSE and its reasoned response to these comments.

Transmission of documents to Dreets

All documents and information relating to the PSE must be sent by the employer throughout the procedure via the Collective Breaks of Employment Contracts Portal (RUPCO).

The Dreets: titleContent may make proposals for improvement of the PES and comments throughout the PES procedure.

At the end of the procedure, the PSE should be transmitted via RUPCO.

Collective breaks in employment contracts portal (RUPCO)

Verification of the PSE by Dreets

Dreets Agreement

When the Dreets: titleContent , which is equivalent to the PES, applies. The employer may set up the PSE and notify redundancies.

Denial of Dreets

When the Dreets: titleContent refuses to approve the PES, the employer must make the necessary changes. He shall again consult the ESC: titleContent and re-apply. The employer cannot notify the redundancies.

Transmission of the ESP implementation report to Dreets 

The employer must establish and address to the Dreets: titleContent a review of the effective implementation of the employment protection plan.

This assessment shall be carried out at the end of the implementation of the reclassification measures and shall be sent to the competent Dreets by dematerialized means within one month of that date.

Yes, the employee or the trade unions can challenge the PES. The Administrative Court shall have jurisdiction to settle disputes. The challenge may be on the following grounds: The challenge may be on the following grounds:

  • Registration decision itself (e.g. formalism)
  • PSE agreement
  • Content of the PSE

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