Wage-setting in France: a Complex Interaction between Law, Case Law and Collective Bargaining

Abstract

Wage-setting in France obeys to the principle of contractual freedom and refers to the effective working time performed by the employee (par. 1). That freedom is however limited twofold: from the one hand, by the Legal Minimum Wage (Salaire Minimum Légal hereinafter also SMIC); from the other, by the principle “equal pay for equal work” (par. 2). Moreover, it is limited by the right to collective bargaining, which includes, since some years, a peculiar mechanism – the Collective Performance Agreements – that allows, among the others, a reduction of wages, excluding, de facto, any possibility of opposition by the employees (par. 3).