The loan of labour for profit

This decision provides important insight into your property law. Here is what it changes for you.

The situation

The loan of labour for profit, which may legally be carried out only by temporary work agencies, is effected by supplying to the user company, for a fixed period, employees whose remuneration is calculated on the basis of that period, the number and qualifications of the assigned workers, who are placed under the sole authority and responsibility of the user company. The contract for services, also known as subcontracting, is an agreement by which an employer offers to the other contracting party work or a service carried out by its own staff, who remain under its direction and responsibility; its purpose is the performance of an objective task, precisely defined, usually remunerated on a fixed-price basis. It is incumbent upon the trial judges, hearing proceedings against an employer on the charge of an operation exclusively for profit of supplying labour, in breach of the provisions of the Labour Code, to determine, by analysing the elements of the case, the true nature of the agreement entered into between the parties. A Court of Appeal decision is justified when, in order to declare the director of a company guilty of the offences provided for by Articles L. 124-1, L. 125-1 and L. 125-3 of the Labour Code, it states, after having found that the management of that company, which had no staff, was actually provided by employees of a temporary work agency occupying the same premises and within which the prosecuted business owner had previously worked, that the said company, from its branch situated on national territory, irregularly supplied German firms, under cover of purported subcontracts used for the purpose of evading the provisions of the law, with labour in fact under the sole responsibility of the user firms, and further states that the employment contracts concluded, ostensibly for an indefinite term, were in fact limited to the time required to carry out the assignments with those companies, and required the employees, on pain of termination attributable to them, to return at the end of those assignments to a French factory of the company, when they had in no way been hired to work at that location.

What the law says

This decision confirms the fundamental principles of property law.

Key points

• Strictly comply with the statutory time limits for appeals
• Keep all your supporting documents (titles, deeds, correspondence)
• Anticipate: preventive advice always costs less than litigation

For an analysis of your situation: 30-minute consultation at €45 with Maître Zakine.