The context of the establishment of the orders of March 25, 2020
Law No. 2020-290 of March 23, 2020, concerning emergency measures to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic, notably established a state of health emergency and allowed the Government to adopt, by decree, emergency measures related to the Coronavirus-Covid-19 crisis.
In this context , the following orders were adopted and signed on March 25, 2020 and published in the Official Journal on March 26, 2020:
- Order No. 2020-323 concerning emergency measures relating to paid leave, working hours and days of rest;
- Order No. 2020-322 temporarily adapting the conditions and procedures for awarding the supplementary allowance to the daily allowance and modifying, on an exceptional basis, the deadlines and procedures for payment of sums paid under profit-sharing and participation schemes;
- Order No. 2020-324 concerning emergency measures regarding replacement income for unemployed workers.
Emergency measures regarding paid leave ( Ordinance No. 2020-323 )
What emergency measures are needed?
The employer may:
- to require the taking of paid leave;
- modify the dates of paid leave already scheduled;
- impose the splitting of paid leave;
- suspend the right to simultaneous leave for spouses or partners bound by a PACS.
How ?
- By collective agreement at the industry or company level.
Boundaries ?
- Within the limit of 6 working days (= 1 week of paid leave);
- By respecting a notice period of one full day.
Emergency measures regarding days off from a RTT scheme, a fixed-day agreement or a CET ( Ordinance No. 2020-323 )
What emergency measures are needed?
The employer may unilaterally impose or modify :
- RTT days acquired under a working time reduction scheme ( law no. 2008-789 of 20 August 2008 );
- rest days acquired under a system of conventional rest days ( Article L.3121-41 to L.3121-47 of the Labour Code );
- the days or half-days of rest acquired by the employee holding a fixed-day agreement over the year;
- taking the days deposited on the Time Savings Account (CET).
Boundaries ?
- Within a limit of 10 working days;
- By respecting a notice period of one full day.
Emergency measures regarding working hours and rest periods ( Ordinance No. 2020-323 )
For which sectors of activity?
For those particularly necessary for the security of the Nation or the continuity of economic life.
A decree must specify the sectors of activity concerned.
What emergency measures are needed?
The employer may deviate from the mandatory rules relating to:
- Maximum daily working hours – Up to 12 hours/day (with compensatory rest for night workers);
- Minimum daily rest period – Reduced to up to 9 consecutive hours/day, if compensatory rest;
- At the absolute maximum weekly duration – Up to 60 hours/week
- At the average maximum weekly duration – Up to 48 hours/week (44 hours for night workers).
Information ?
- The works council and the DIRECCTE were informed without delay.
Emergency measures regarding Sunday rest ( Ordinance No. 2020-323 )
For whom?
1) For companies operating in sectors particularly necessary for national security or the continuity of economic life;
2) For companies that provide the above with services necessary for the performance of their main activity.
What emergency measures are needed?
The employer may deviate from the public policy rules relating to Sunday rest by granting weekly rest on a rotating basis.
Emergency measures regarding the allocation of the supplementary allowance to the daily allowance (1) ( Ordinance No. 2020-322 )
For whom?
1) For employees absent from work due to illness or accident confirmed by a medical certificate.
2) For insured persons on sick leave due to isolation, exclusion or stay-at-home orders
3) For parents on leave from work to care for a child under 16 years old.
What emergency measures are needed?
The salary supplement is paid by the employer:
- without any seniority requirement,
- without needing to have justified the inability to work within 48 hours,
- without the need to be treated on French territory or in one of the other member states of the European Community or party to the agreement on the European Economic Area.
The salary supplement is available to employees working from home, seasonal workers, intermittent workers and temporary workers.
Emergency measures regarding the payment of sums paid under profit-sharing and employee participation schemes ( Ordinance No. 2020-322 )
What emergency measures are needed?
The deadline for payment or allocation to an employee savings plan or to a blocked current account of sums allocated in 2020 as profit-sharing or participation is postponed to December 31, 2020.
Emergency measures regarding replacement income for unemployed workers ( Ordinance No. 2020-324 )
For whom?
For job seekers who exhaust their entitlement from March 12, 2020 until a date set by decree (at the latest until July 31, 2020).
For which allowances?
For back-to-work allowances, insurance allowances and specific solidarity allowances referred to in Articles L.5422-1, L5423-1, L.5424-1 and L.5424-21 of the Labour Code.
What emergency measures are needed?
The period during which the allowance is paid is subject, on an exceptional basis, to an extension, the duration of which will be determined by decree.
