Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure FR-2020-16/824 – measures in France
| Country | France , applies nationwide |
| Time period | Temporary, 14 April 2020 – 03 July 2020 |
| Context | COVID-19 |
| Type | Bipartite collective agreements |
| Category |
Employment protection and retention
– Income support for people in employment (e.g., short-time work) |
| Author | Frédéric Turlan (IRshare) and Eurofound |
| Measure added | 07 May 2020 (updated 16 January 2025) |
Renault Trucks' managers have agreed to reduce their remuneration in short-time working, in order to provide better compensation for other employees, which constitutes a "solidarity agreement" in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic. Workers and technicians in short-time working will thus be paid 92% of their net salary, instead of the 84% provided for by the legal system. This is made possible by the solidarity of managers on partial unemployment, whose net pay will decrease from 100% to 92%.
Applicable until July 3, 2020, this agreement was put in place, thanks to the solidarity of managers and an additional contribution from the company, to erase the disparities in compensation between the different categories of employees, resulting from the legal provisions and the collective agreement of the Metallurgy. The agreement brings the remuneration of all employees to 92% of their usual net remuneration. According to the President of Renault Trucks France, "this agreement makes it possible to treat all employees fairly during this unprecedented period of crisis. It offers each employee who wishes to do so, the opportunity to approach 100% of his or her remuneration through the use of days off, while safeguarding the future of the company. In addition to the solidarity contribution of the employees, the company's contribution amounts to 8% of the payroll".
In detail, on a voluntary basis, it is possible for all employees on short-time work to give 1.6 days for every 20 days they are unemployed to the company in order to keep their full pay. This agreement also secures the maintenance of individual salary increases with effect from 1 April 2020 and the payment of the profit-sharing bonus (prime d'intéressement) in June. The company will limit mandatory leave during the period of partial employment to a maximum of 5 days in 2020.
In total, Renault Trucks employs around 7,500 employees (excluding consultants and temporary workers) in France. The agreement applies to this entire workforce. A large majority of them are on short-time working. 700 out of 4,500 employees are teleworking.
| Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
|---|---|---|
|
Employees in standard employment
|
Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
| Actors | Funding |
|---|---|
|
Social partners jointly
Company / Companies |
Companies
Employees National funds |
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
| Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | No involvement |
| Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No data available.
The agreement has been signed unanimously by the representative trade unions within the company.
This case is sector-specific (only private sector)
| Economic area | Sector (NACE level 2) |
|---|---|
| C - Manufacturing | C29 Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers |
This case is not occupation-specific.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Renault Trucks: Solidarity agreement, measure FR-2020-16/824 (measures in France), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/FR-2020-16_824.html
Share
All publications are available on the EU PolicyWatch landing page .
Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.