Background information

Act No. 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021, on combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects, has introduced a framework to promote collective bargaining and information-consultation on environmental issues. Since August 2021, the periodic supplementary negotiations at both branch and company levels on the GEPP must consider the challenges of the ecological transition. In addition to this obligation to negotiate, the right to information and consultation of the works council has been strengthened.

Content of measure

Act No. 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021 amended the supplementary provisions relating to negotiations on “Management of jobs and career paths” (Gestion des emplois et des parcours professionnels - GEPP)', formerly known as forward-looking management of jobs and skills (Gestion prévisionnelle des emplois et des compétences - GPEC).

Negotiations on 'Management of jobs and career paths'

These negotiations take place at branch level (Labour Code, Article L. 2241-12) and at company level (Labour Code, Article L. 2242-2). The law integrates an environmental dimension into the recurrent branch and company collective bargaining in order to anticipate the consequences of this transition on the decline and creation of new trades, but also on the development of the associated skills. The aim of this measure is to anticipate the effects of the environmental transition on the evolution of the structure of jobs and on the training needs of employees. In this context, the branches and companies may be supported by an observatory set up on branch-level (or several branches together), the Observatoire prospectif des métiers et des qualifications, as well as by the skills operators (OPCO), to whom the law has entrusted a new mission of informing companies about the issues linked to sustainable development and supporting them in their projects to adapt to the environmental transition, in particular by analysing and defining their skills needs (Article L. 6332-1 of the Labour Code).

Strengthened information and consultation on environmental issues

Articles 40 and 41 of Act No. 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021 provide that the Economic and Social Committee (CSE) – i.e. the works council which must be set up in companies with 11 or more employees – is informed and consulted on the environmental consequences within the framework of its general remit as well as within the framework of recurrent consultations. The CSE must be informed and consulted on the environmental consequences of measures affecting the organisation, management and general running of the company, and in particular on:

• Measures likely to affect the size or structure of the workforce;
• The modification of its economic or legal organisation;
• Employment and working conditions, in particular working hours, and vocational training and vocational training;
• The introduction of new technologies and any major change;
• The introduction of new technologies and any major changes to health and safety conditions or working conditions;
• Measures taken to facilitate the introduction, return to work or continued employment of people injured in the workplace, war invalids, civil invalids, people suffering from chronic progressive illnesses and disabled workers, particularly with regard to the adaptation of workstations.

Furthermore, Article L. 2312-17 of the Labour Code specifies that the CSE is informed of the environmental consequences of the company's activity during the following three recurrent consultations:

• The company's strategic orientations
• The economic and financial situation of the company;
• The company's social policy, working conditions and employment.

Economic, social and environmental database

A decree specifies the environmental indicators to be included in the Economic, social and environmental database (base de données économiques, sociales et environnementales -BDESE) in the absence of an agreement, by amending Articles R. 2312-8 and 9 of the Labour Code.

Use of measure

A report (see Source) by the French Economic, Social and Environmental Committee (CESE) highlights the fact that, while the Climate and Resilience Act marks a step forward in bringing environmental issues into the realm of corporate social dialogue, the integration of ecological transition issues and the fight against climate change into the discussion of strategic orientations remains very limited. However, the integration of the challenges of ecological transition and the fight against climate change into the discussion on strategic orientations remains very partial. What's more, the number of delegation hours granted to employee representatives to exercise their mandate has not been increased by law to enable them to cope with the broadening of their remit.

With regard to the BDESE - created to ensure that employee representative bodies have the information they need for high-quality negotiations - the online survey conducted by the EESC's Labour and Employment Commission shows that employee representatives are not very involved in drawing up the BDESE. A CFDT study points in the same direction: while 83% of respondents stated that a BDESE existed, only 36% replied that it had been set up following the negotiation of an agreement. Above all, one of the most frequent criticisms levelled by trade union representatives is that the BDESE is either insufficiently populated or is so profuse as to be unusable.

According to the Syndex/Ifop barometer of 2023, 74% of employee representatives believe that their CSE has not yet seized its new environmental prerogatives. Nearly half said that environmental issues required special expertise and that no specific training had been organised in the company.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment Workers in non-standard forms of employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	Employer

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Peak level organisations have been consulted by the government.

Views and reactions

Trade unions have welcomed the new provisions, while employers' organisation were more reluctant due to the additional costs associated with the new obligations.

Sources

• 22 August 2021: Loi n° 2021-1104 du 22 août 2021 portant lutte contre le dérèglement climatique et renforcement de la résilience face à ses effets (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 26 April 2022: Décret n° 2022-678 du 26 avril 2022 relatif aux indicateurs environnementaux devant figurer dans la base de données économiques, sociales et environnementales (BDESE) et aux formations économiques, sociales, environnementales et syndicales (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 25 April 2023: Conseil économique, social et environnemental, Travail et santé- environnement : quels défis à relever face aux dérèglements climatiques ?, Avis (www.lecese.fr)