Juridique et Administratif

📝 Régions de France and Eurogroup Consulting revealed a study highlighting advancements and ongoing challenges in gender equality within regional administrations. Key findings include improved access to leadership positions, efforts to combat pay inequalities with a narrowing salary gap, and structured commitment to promoting equality culture, egalitarian human resource management, work-life balance, and the fight against gender-based violence. Notable regional initiatives were discussed, acknowledging societal and cultural obstacles in achieving real equality.

🏡 La Badira, a 5-star hotel in Hammamet, Tunisia and the only one featured among the Leading Hotels of the World, offers 130 suites with private pools. Managed by Mouna Ben Halima since taking over her family's hotel group at 24, she graduated from Mediterranean School of Business in 2008. The hotel introduced Tunisia's first Clarins spa in 2017, reflecting its commitment to luxury service diversification. Mouna, a proactive citizen, aided Tunisia's democratic transition during the Jasmine Revolution.

📌 Renowned architect Jean Nouvel, at 79, linked to prestigious projects like TOO Hotel Paris MGallery, Cidade Matarazzo in Sao Paulo, Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom, and more, faces allegations of financial misconduct revealed by "Libération". His firm is accused of falsification and financial embezzlement, leading to legal action against former employees, including the ex-administrative director. Nouvel, having received awards like the Pritzker Prize (2008) and Aga Khan Award, is now a "témoin assisté" in the case. Despite past architectural success, his recent ventures encountered budget overruns, delays, and massive losses due to scrapped energy-guzzling towers at La Défense, along with defects in projects like the Opéra de Lyon and the Nantes courthouse.

🚫 In a ruling on February 12, 2025 (Cass. soc. 12-2-2025, n° 23-22.612), the French Court of Cassation clarified that employers can be exempted from the reclassification obligation of an employee declared unfit for work if the occupational doctor's note uses wording equivalent to the exemption cases provided under Article L. 1226-2-1 of the French Labor Code. The court upheld the employer's dismissal of the employee without the need for reclassification, diverging from previous judicial decisions that required a strict adherence to the specific exemptions listed by the occupational doctor.

📆 La période de référence pour les congés payés est du 1er juin au 31 mai de l'année suivante. La prise légale de congés doit inclure du 1er mai au 31 octobre. Les salariés peuvent obtenir 2 jours supplémentaires pour un congé de 6 jours hors de cette période, ou 1 jour pour 3 à 5 jours. Employeurs doivent informer les salariés 2 mois avant le début de la prise des congés, et si la période commence le 1er mai, l'information via DUE doit être affichée avant le 1er mars 2025. Au moins 1 mois avant l'ouverture de la période, l’ordre et les dates de départ en congé doivent être communiqués, en prenant en compte la situation de famille, la durée de service et l'activité chez d'autres employeurs. Les modifications de dates de congés ne sont pas autorisées moins d'un mois avant le départ, sauf exceptions. En cas de fermeture annuelle de l'entreprise, les salariés doivent être informés par écrit au moins 1 mois à l'avance.

💸 The French Government BAYROU decreed a reduction in social security daily allowances (IJSS), announced in the Official Journal on February 21, 2025. The salary cap for calculating IJSS will drop from 1.8 to 1.4 times the minimum wage (SMIC), effective April 1, 2025. This adjustment reduces monthly IJSS by €360 for employees earning over €2,522.52 (1.4 x SMIC at 35 hours/week). Companies are expected to cover the difference for employees with at least one year's tenure, potentially increasing employer contributions. The reform impacts welfare schemes like those in the HCR branch and may lead to higher contributions for both employees and companies. The CTIP criticized the measure's adoption without social dialogue, warning of significant contribution hikes and social model imbalance.

📚 Charlie assists in the step-by-step module for declaring the obligation to employ disabled workers (OETH), using the fictional company "Agessaf" as a practical case. Targeted at payroll managers, accountants, disability referents, and external service providers (accounting firms), the module aims to prepare for the annual declaration, calculate employment obligations with possible deductions and capping rules, and identify the DSN sections to be filled out. Register at https://appuipro.agefiph.fr/learn/courses/369/declarer-loeth-en-dsn-en-toute-simplicite.

🏥 On February 22, the French government proposed a list of jobs under pressure, which the Union des Métiers de l’Hôtellerie Restauration (UMIH) says is a step forward but requires adjustments. UMIH is requesting a specific ministerial order for the hotel and restaurant sector to ensure all essential jobs are recognized across metropolitan France, including server positions in Brittany, Corsica, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, chef positions in the same regions, entry-level kitchen and server jobs in Île-de-France, and summer seasonal maître d’hôtel roles in all regions.

🏩 The GHR expressed satisfaction after receiving a draft order from the Ministry of Labor in France, which aims to update the list of professions and geographical areas with recruitment difficulties. Hospitality and restaurant professions, previously absent, are now set to be included in all regional lists of stressed trades. Notably, "hotel employees," such as reception and housekeeping, along with cooks, will be listed in all 14 regional lists, while servers are recognized as a "profession under tension" in 10 out of 14 regions. The GHR President, Catherine Quérard, sees this as a significant step following the Immigration Law and two application circulars, marking over three years of effort.