1. “Social dialogue, collective bargaining, and the recent labour market reform in France”
Marc Ferracci

2. Characteristics of social dialogue in France
Low union density (11% in 2013) vs. OECD average
Affiliation to employers’ organizations : 44% (75% of workers)
High coverage of collective agreements (close to 100%) due to extension mechanisms
Lack of trust between workers, unions, and employers at the firm level => bad quality of labour relations

3. Why is social dialogue unefficient ?
Complexity
Four different bodies in charge of representing workers at the firm level: union delegates, staff delegates, the works councils and the occupational health & safety committee (CHSCT).
In practice, when it comes to certain issues, businesses are currently obliged to consult all four of these bodies separately.
2) Little for room for negotiating at the firm or branch level
Extension of sector agreement is nearly systematic, which builds huge obstacles to the growing of new and little firms and gives little incentives to negotiate at the firm-level
3) Conflictuality

4. What consequences ?
Difficulty in adapting working hours and wages at the firm level => poor adaptation to changing economic conditions
Difficulty in reorganizing businesses => lower productivity gains in the lon run
Systematic extension => barreers to new entrants
Consequences: major losses in competitiveness for firms and welfare for workers

5. “Les ordonnances”: some measures for improving collective bargaining (1)
Better anticipating and adapting swiftly to upward or downward market trends via simplified majority agreements on working hours, pay and mobility will be made possible.
Enterprise level scope for negotiation will encompass new areas such as bonuses or travel expenses, which are currently negotiated at the sector level.
Social dialogue will be made simpler, more operational through the merger of three information and consultation bodies into one – the social and economic council (CSE).
Collective bargaining will be made easier and will be simplified for businesses with fewer than 50 employees thanks to the possibility of negotiating directly with an elected staff representative on any topic.

6. “Les ordonnances”: some measures for improving collective bargaining (2)
Negotiating with employees on any subject will be possible, in all businesses with fewer than 20 employees and no elected staff representative.
Setting up (on the basis of a majority agreement) a works council bringing together all of the staff representation duties (information, consultation, negotiation) will be possible. This brings greater possibility for promoting social dialogue and jointly designing strategy with the employees and their representatives.
Extension of sector level agreement will be limited if those agreements do not protect small and medium enterprises.
The economic and social consequences of all extensions will be evaluated by a newly created committee of experts that will be able to advise refusals to extensions.

7. The need for evaluation
Labor law consists in a wide spectrum of interrelated measures
Anticipated impacts on:
Contents and number of collective aggreements
Quality of labour relations
Productivity, employment
Creation of an independant comitte in charge of evaluating the