Capstan News

The key updates in employment law.
Practical insights from Capstan lawyers.

Pay transparency : ten changes in the latest draft transposition law
Pay transparency : ten changes in the latest draft transposition law

Draft law transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970 – version of 4 June 2026France is transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970, the EU’s pay transparency directive, which reinforces the principle of equal pay be...

New birth leave : the conditions are set
New birth leave : the conditions are set

Decree no. 2026-419 of 30 May 2026 and Decree no. 2026-425 of 30 May 2026The 2026 Social Security Financing Act created a new supplementary birth leave (congé supplémentaire de naissance). Two decrees...

Parents of seriously ill children : what the new law changes
Parents of seriously ill children : what the new law changes

Law No. 2026-492 of 12 June 2026A law strengthening the protection and support of parents of a dependent child suffering from cancer, other serious illness or a disability has been published. Its main...

Reduced unemployment benefits after an individual mutual termination : the law has been published
Reduced unemployment benefits after an individual mutual termination : the law has been published

Law No. 2026-470 of 11 June 2026Following the agreement reached by the social partners on 25 February 2026, the bill required to implement shorter unemployment benefits after an individual mutual term...

Minimum wage raised to €12.31 an hour from 1 June 2026
Minimum wage raised to €12.31 an hour from 1 June 2026

Order of 22 May 2026 on the raising of the statutory minimum wage (NOR TRST2612929A, Official Journal of 24 May 2026)The order raising the statutory minimum wage (Smic, salaire minimum de croissance) ...

A resignation validly challenged four months later
A resignation validly challenged four months later

A resignation must reflect a clear and unequivocal intention to end the contract. Where an employee later challenges their resignation and asks for it to be reclassified as a dismissal without grounds...

Two sexually suggestive text messages are enough
Two sexually suggestive text messages are enough

Harassment cases call for a two-stage analysis : the employee puts forward facts suggesting harassment, after which it is for the employer to prove that the conduct does not amount to harassment and t...

‘Ambient’sexual harassment : a witness to offensive conduct can be a victim
‘Ambient’sexual harassment : a witness to offensive conduct can be a victim

Sexual harassment is defined by its effects, not by the identity of its target : the Labour Code prohibits repeated sexual or sexist comments or conduct that undermine a person’s dignity or create an ...

A former employee’s image kept online : open-ended consent lapses when the contract ends
A former employee’s image kept online : open-ended consent lapses when the contract ends

The right to one’s image, an aspect of the right to respect for private life protected by Article 9 of the Civil Code, covers the capture, storage, reproduction and use of a person’s image. The Court ...

Residence clauses : the needs of the business alone do not justify restricting a free choice of home
Residence clauses : the needs of the business alone do not justify restricting a free choice of home

Anyone has the right to choose where they live, as an aspect of the right to respect for the home protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. An employer may interfere with that...

Reorganising the spread of working hours over the day falls within the employer’s management powers
Reorganising the spread of working hours over the day falls within the employer’s management powers

Subject to any excessive infringement of the employee’s right to respect for their personal and family life or their right to rest, deciding on a new distribution of working time across the day falls ...

A pregnancy-related dismissal is void even where the employee concealed her pregnancy which allegedly led the employee to expose her foetus to a dangerous environment
A pregnancy-related dismissal is void even where the employee concealed her pregnancy which allegedly led the employee to expose her foetus to a dangerous environment

Under French law, any dismissal based, even in part, on an employee’s pregnancy is void. A pregnant employee is, moreover, not required to disclose her pregnancy – save where she claims the protection...

Daily sickness benefits : attending a job interview during sick leave is an unauthorised activity
Daily sickness benefits : attending a job interview during sick leave is an unauthorised activity

To receive daily social security benefits while on sick leave, an employee must refrain from any activity that has not been expressly and previously authorised by the prescribing doctor. The case law ...

Data protection in recruitment: CNIL announces 2026 enforcement priority
Data protection in recruitment: CNIL announces 2026 enforcement priority

CNIL – Press Release of 3 April 2026In a press release of 3 April 2026, France’s data protection authority (CNIL) announced that recruitment will feature among its 2026 enforcement priorities. Three y...