“When you are the mother of a child with a disability, it is already a daily struggle. There, I also have to fight with my employer” : in her living room, Christelle Deschamps has tired eyes but a determined voice. Since April 1, 2024, this employee of the Larnay Sagesse association, a Poitou structure that takes care of people with disabilities, has denounced a new organization of working hours that is unsuitable for her role as a family caregiver. However, the law provides for measures for the workers concerned.
Incompatible evening hours
For several years, Christelle Deschamps has benefited from informally arranged schedules to ensure she has working hours during the traditional day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. With the new organization within the association, “I have four out of six weeks where I work evenings, from 1:30 p.m. to 9 or 9:45 p.m.she explains. “Since March 2023, I have contacted management to tell them that the reorganization of schedules would be complicated for me because I was a family caregiver, explains Christelle Deschamps. They didn’t want to know anything, they explained to me that there were financing problems.”
“Having failed to ensure the safety of my child, when I go to work in the evening, it’s difficult, I’m not at peace, blurted Christelle. I’m always afraid the phone will ring with a problem. Her son, now in middle school, is visually impaired and suffers from behavioral problems. There is no question for this Poitevine, single mother, of entrusting her care to the big sister: “My son has already threatened her, I have to protect both of them”she whispers.
“I work in a structure that supports people with disabilities, we see the difficulties of families every day… And yet, we are not helped!”The paradox is that the Larnay Sagesse association takes care of disabled people, “adds his lawyer Richard Filipiak, it’s all the more annoying!”
Rejected by the industrial tribunal, appeal on July 3
Christelle Deschamps embarked on legal proceedings to win her case: she was rejected in March of its request by the industrial tribunalfor questions of form. “We had made an interim appeal, therefore urgently, explains his lawyer Richard Filipiak. The industrial tribunal ruled that there was no urgency. The law and the labor code, however, provide that a family caregiver, recognized as such by the departmental home for disabled people, benefits from flexible working hours. individualized in their work, “to facilitate their access to or retention in employment”, without requiring prior authorization from the employer.
Christelle Deschamps therefore appeals to have the case judged on the merits. “Our demand does not vary, insists his lawyer. It is to force the employer to respect the individualized schedule which was initially granted to him.” The case is due to be heard again by the courts on July 3. “I am leading this fight because I realize that there are many women, single parents, with a disabled child, who do not know what to do, concludes Christelle Deschamps. I hope that my voice will be heard to help those people who are active and who are not aware of the existence of this law which allows for flexible working hours.”
