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Three Ordinances on labor and employment matters adopted in furtherance of the emergency health law to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic were published in the Official Gazette on Thursday March 26, 2020.

These Ordinances concern (i) derogations, subject to certain conditions, regarding paid vacation, working hours, rest days and work on Sundays, applicable until December 31, 2020, (ii) extension of the deadline for payments under mandatory and optional profit-sharing schemes to December 31, 2020, and (iii) extension of the scope of employees eligible for the supplemental allowance paid by the employer in the event of medical leave until August 31, 2020.

In the context of the coronavirus health crisis, an emergency health law to deal with the covid-19 pandemic (the “Law”) was definitively voted on Sunday March 22, 2020 and published in the Official Gazette on March 24, 2020.

The Law empowers the Government to amend, by means of Ordinances and within 3 months from its publication, any measures in order to deal with the economic, financial and labor-related consequences of the spread of the pandemic, in particular with regard to labor law and social security.

The Law indeed includes a whole set of measures that are aimed at adapting labor law and that are of direct interest to employers.

On March 16, 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to take exceptional measures to deal with the global Covid-19 pandemic that is spreading across France.

In this exceptional health context, what are the measures taken by the Government? What is the legal framework for such measures? What penalties for those who do not comply with the new rules?

While French households are beginning to organize themselves, French companies are seeking to protect themselves against the devastating financial effects of Covid-19. Partial unemployment mechanism, deferment of the payment of social security contributions and taxes, temporary easing of the burdens on companies, injection of external liquidity, etc. A growing number of measures are being taken to protect and support companies during this highly critical period.

Tout opérateur économique se pose légitimement la question : la pandémie de coronavirus COVID-19, permet-elle de suspendre ou de mettre fin à ses obligations prévues par un contrat commercial devant s’exécuter en France en invoquant l’existence d’un cas de force majeure ?

“France’s attractiveness improved further in 2018, despite the slowdown in global growth, economic tensions and rising protectionism”. This assessment, mentioned in the 2018 annual report on foreign investment in France issued by Business France (French Agency responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses and facilitating international investment in France) confirms France’s enhanced attractiveness in 2018.

Attractiveness, however, does not mean lack of control, provided that a simple and fast legal framework is offered to foreign investors.