French Employment law : senior executives and gender equality: details of the questions and answers from the French Ministry of Labour.

Law n°2021-1774 of December 24, 2021, known as the Rixain law, aims to remedy inequalities between women and men, in particular by providing for obligations of balanced representation in management positions in large companies.

In the Q&A published on April 29, 2022, the Ministry of Labor clarifies this obligation further (Questions-answers “Balanced female/male representation in management positions in large companies”, April 29, 2022, Ministry of Labor) [1].

On the Rixain law, you can read our article Equality between women and men: what is provided for in the Rixain law proposal aimed at accelerating economic and professional equality.

We will deal successively with:

  The scope of the balanced representation obligation (1);

  Senior executives (cadres dirigeants) affected by the obligation: exclusion of employees from the daily package (2);

  Publication and transmission of discrepancies (3).

1) The scope of the obligation of balanced representation of senior executives.

As a reminder, from March 1, 2022, in companies which, for the third consecutive financial year, employ at least a thousand employees, the employer must publish each year any differences in representation between women and men among senior executives at meaning of Article L3111-2 of the Labor Code on the one hand, and the members of the governing bodies defined in Article L23-12-1 of the Commercial Code on the other [2].

The reference period over which companies must calculate their possible differences in representation is the period of 12 consecutive months corresponding to the accounting year.

1.1) Hypothesis of a merger-reunion.

Note that in the case of a merger-reunion, the company (A) is merged into a new legal entity (B).

Thus, company (A) no longer has legal personality from the effective date of the merger.

Consequently, the workforce of 1,000 employees for three consecutive financial years, conditioning the subjection of the company to the obligation of balanced distribution between women and men among senior executives and members of governing bodies, is assessed on the basis of from the creation of the new legal entity.

1.2) Hypothesis of a merger-absorption.

In the case of a merger-absorption, i.e. in the case where the absorbing company existed before the merger operation, the workforce threshold of 1,000 employees for three consecutive financial years is assessed with regard to the acquiring company, and not of the absorbed company or companies.

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Frédéric CHHUM avocat et ancien membre du conseil de l’ordre des avocats de Paris (mandat 2019-2021)

CHHUM AVOCATS (Paris, Nantes, Lille)

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