Employment Law Europe Conference
Event Review
JSB`s Employment Law Europe 2008 conference took place on 23-25 April 2008 at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in London and was a great success. Delegates from across the UK and also from the USA and continental Europe participated.
FRANCE: keeping your personal life to yourself
Day one kicked off with a three hour session on French Employment Law from Denise Broussal, Partner at the Baker & McKenzie Paris office. Denise covered key differences between UK and French law, including the hiring of employees, dealing with discrimination, discipline and dismissal and recent legislative developments. Some interesting points arose in this session, particularly the fact that in France, fixed term contracts can only be entered into for specific purposes as defined by law and must be in writing. They cannot be terminated prior to the normal end date, except in the case of gross misconduct. If they are, the individual is entitled to receive his/her total remuneration up to the end of the contract period. Except when the contract is entered into in order to replace an employee, the standard maximum duration is in principle equal to 18 months. However, a draft bill currently being examined by the French parliament has created a new type of fixed-term contract (which will be trialed over a 5 year time period), the duration of which should be of 18 to 36 months.
When hiring individuals in France, the recruiter is not under any circumstances allowed to ask any personal questions, including whether an individual has ever been declared bankrupt - even if the role they are being recruited for involves handling finances. It is assumed that an individual’s personal matters have no impact on their working lives. Another interesting point covered by Denise was that all contracts and surrounding documentation must in principle be drafted in French. Indeed, since 2006, French courts tend to order companies to pay fines of a significant amount for not having provided employees with documentation or software in French. Some interesting points were also made on the 35-hour working week and working time.
BELGIUM: how you could unwittingly end up paying an extra month`s salary
After lunch, Stefan Corbanie from the Brussels office of Eversheds covered Belgian employment law in an interactive and engaging format. Delegates learned that Belgium is one of the few countries that differentiates between manual and non-manual work, and what this means for the employment contract. Employment contracts must be in Dutch or French, in writing and be signed by both parties prior to work commencing. Stefan also mentioned the importance of ensuring non-competition clauses are designed to enable these to be waived - failure to do so can leave the employer liable to huge payouts. Another key recommendation made by Stefan was that employers should never offer Belgian employees a monthly or net salary because employees receive double holiday pay in Belgium. By offering a monthly salary you would be obliged to pay an extra month`s wages!
GERMANY: no option to claim unfair constructive dismissal
On day two of the conference delegates heard from Edzard Clifton-Dey and Frank Achilles from Eversheds on the law in Germany. This truly interactive and well-received session started with an introduction to the employment scene in Germany, including the current infrastructure and unemployment situation. Discrimination law is comparatively undeveloped in Germany where the General Equal Treatment Act was introduced in August 2006 and there are only a few claims made in this area compared to the position in the UK. Edzard and Frank also explained that the entire employee representation system is significantly different from that in the UK in that works councils have not only far reaching information and consultation rights but also significant veto-rights. On the law of redundancy they explained that selection criteria are fixed by law, leaving little scope for the employer to determine the desired remaining workforce. Unfair constructive dismissal is not known in Germany.
THE NETHERLANDS: pensions, working conditions, working time
Day two continued with an interactive session on Dutch employment law in the afternoon by newly appointed Freshfields Partner Brechje Nollen. Brechje covered key areas of the Dutch legal framework. In Holland there is no unilateral termination of employment except during a trial period or in case of an urgent cause. Managing directors however stand apart from `employees` and do not enjoy protection from dismissal (except in the case of illness). Other important areas covered included recent changes to the Pension Act, Working Conditions Act, Working Time Act and Dismissal Decree. Brechje delivered excellent feedback to questions raised throughout the session.
Day three, a new addition to the established annual conference programme, covered an overview of the employment law scenes in Italy and Spain.
ITALY: new time limits for fixed term contracts
Aldo Calza from DLA Piper in Milan highlighted the new time limits for fixed term contracts, new rules for contracts of procurement of services carried out by employees and the new Supreme Court`s decision about executives` disciplinary dismissals. Case studies presented on tribunal proceedings in Italy were useful in understanding the key differences to UK law.
SPAIN: key elements of hiring employees in Spain
The Spanish legal session was delivered by Daniel Cifuentes and Maria Eugenia de le Cera from Bird & Bird who presented the various issues where the law in Spain differs from the UK position. One of the key areas Daniel and Maria discussed were the differences in practice and procedure when hiring employees in Spain, including social security, employment contract, holiday, working time and pay considerations. An analysis of an actual Spanish employment contract at the end of the session really helped delegates apply the law in the workplace.
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Employment Law Europe 2009 will take place on 22-24 April 2009. To request a brochure email us at enquiries@jsbonline.com.