A new day of strike is planned for Thursday, December 5, during which schools and certain public services will be largely disrupted. This complicates the situation of employees, especially those who have to look after their children. Can they cite these problems as reasons not to travel?
A complicated day to travel. Thousands of public sector agents announced that they were going to take to the streets this Thursday, December 5, responding to the call of the inter-union, while 65% of teaching staff in schools will not teach classes that day. A situation which could prevent employees, who have to look after their children, from going to work.
But to be able to skip your working day in the event of a strike, force majeure must apply.
This case of force majeure implies that the event is both unforeseen, insurmountable and independent of a person's will. It is therefore difficult to invoke it in the context of a mobilization announced in advance.
What are we risking?
Salary withholding hangs in the face of anyone who, despite the strikers' warnings, did not go to their workplace. Indeed, except in the case of a specific collective agreement, the boss is not obliged to pay an absent employee, including in the event of a strike.
A disciplinary procedure for serious misconduct can be initiated by the employer in the event of repeated absences, but such a procedure, in the event of a strike, is unlikely to end up before the Industrial Tribunal.
If this is the case, proof issued by a striking establishment and press clippings may constitute proof of your good faith.
What solutions?
To avoid problems, it is always possible to take a day of rest in the form of RTT or a day off, in agreement with the employer, who cannot, however, impose it on his employee.
Exceptionally, the employer can also offer teleworking or the possibility of working from a company premises closer to their place of residence. “The enforceable right” to teleworking put in place by labor orders could also allow employees to “not suffer too much” from the strike movement.
From now on, if the employer refuses teleworking to one of its employees, it must “motivate its response”. While this possibility had to be provided for by the employment contract or an amendment, teleworking is now set up by a collective agreement or a charter, and can even be formalized “by any means” by the employee and the employer when it is practiced on an “occasional” basis. To avoid being caught off guard, some users are mobilizing and resorting to carpooling.
Additionally, some employers are more accommodating than others. To avoid salary deduction, it is also possible, in agreement with your boss, to compensate for your absence or lateness by recovering lost hours, before or after your working day, or on Saturday.
