Decree: Presumption of resignation: the decree is finally published!
Decree No. 2023-275, of 17 April 2023, on the implementation of the presumption of resignation in the event of voluntary abandonment of post by the employee

This Decree sets out the formal notice procedure to be implemented by the employer who intends to invoke the presumption of resignation of the employee in the event of voluntary abandonment of his or her workstation.
Clarification 1 – formal notice: if the employer finds that the employee has abandoned his or her post, he or she may invoke the presumption of resignation under Article L. 1237-1-1 of the Labour Code. To do so, he must give the employee formal notice. This notice must be sent by registered letter or by hand-delivered letter.
Clarification 2 – the legitimate reason for obstructing this presumption of resignation: the employee may claim from the employer, in particular, medical reasons; the exercise of the right of withdrawal; the exercise of the right to strike; his refusal to carry out an instruction contrary to law; or refusal to modify the work contract.
Clarification 3 – the minimum response time: the time given to the employee by the employer to return to work after notification of the formal notice may not be less than fifteen days.
These new provisions are currently the subject of numerous comments and questions concerning situations like that of the protected employee and the choice left to the employer to prefer another cause of dismissal like dismissal for unjustified absences.

Decree-Law: After the pension reform, beware of the undesirable effects of the conventional rupture
Law No. 2023-270 of 14 April 2023, amending the financing of the Social Security system for 2023

As from September 1, 2023, the employer’s contribution rate for the retirement indemnity and the social security rate for the conventional termination indemnity will be harmonized, and both will now be set at 30% (for the part excluded from social security contributions). On the one hand, the contribution rate of the retirement indemnity will be reduced by 20 points (it was previously 50%) and its calculation base will also be reduced. On the other hand, the rate of the social security rate “forfait social” applied to the conventional termination (substituted in this case by a “contribution payable by the employer on the homologated conventional termination indemnity”), will be increased by 10 points from 20% to 30%, whether the employee is entitled to a retirement pension or not. In other words, and in order to “put an end to the incentives to separate seniors” before their retirement, the social regimes of the conventional termination indemnity and the retirement indemnity will be unified.

Case law news : The reduction of the remuneration: determining criterion for the constitution of a modification of the employment contract
CE 1st and 4th joint chambers, 12 April 2023, n 449229

The change in the method of determining the variable part of a protected employee’s remuneration following a change in the customer portfolio constitutes a change in the employment contract. Consequently, the employee’s refusal cannot be considered as a fault justifying his dismissal and the judge is competent to establish a reduction in the employee’s remuneration.

Case law news: Unfitness: possible dismissal for gross misconduct when the employee’s attitude prevents the employer from fulfilling his obligation to reclassify
CE 1st and 4th joint chambers, 12 April 2023, n 449229

When an employee refuses to attend the meetings his employer has sent him to find another job, the court must find out whether the employee had not made it impossible for his employer to fulfil his obligation to find another job. Indeed, in these particular circumstances, the employer could have legally considered dismissing the employee for a reason other than unfitness, such as a disciplinary reason.