Right to organize in the public service
Verified 26 September 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The right to organize allows public officials to benefit from trade union information and to exercise trade union activity over their working time. We present the conditions for the exercise of these rights in the 3 public functions: State (FPE), territorial (FPT) and hospital (FPH).
EPF
The right to organize is guaranteed to each agent public.
Agents may freely establish a trade union. Each agent may freely adhere and to exercise mandates there.
No distinction, direct or indirect, may be made between staff members on account of their trade union opinions.
No mention of union opinions or activities may be made in an officer's file or in any other administrative document.
Skills acquired in the exercise of trade union activity shall be taken into account for the acquired professional experience.
Electronic display and dissemination of information
Boards reserved for union display are settled in easily accessible premises staff, but to which the public does not normally have access.
Trade unions may also use intranet and have their own e-mail address to distribute union flyers to conditions laid down by the administration.
Distribution of union documents
Union documents may be distributed to staff in the administrative buildings, outside premises open to the public.
These distributions must not disrupt the proper functioning of the service.
When it takes place during working hours, leaflets may be distributed by staff who are not in service or who are granted a service discharge.
Statutory or information meetings
Trade union information meetings are held under different conditions depending on whether they concern representative trade union organizations or not.
Trade union organizations are considered to be representative in the following cases:
- They shall have at least one seat on the administrative social committee concerned, depending on the service or group of services concerned
- They shall have at least one seat on the ministerial administrative social committee or on the administrative social committee of a public establishment attached to them.
All trade union organizations may hold briefings inside administrative buildings outside of duty hours.
They may also hold information meetings during hours of service but, in this case, only the agents not in service or who are granted a special leave of absence may attend.
The representative trade union organizations may also hold, during hours of service, monthly information meetings. Each staff member shall have the right to attend one of these meetings, up to one hour per month.
Representative trade union organizations may organize their monthly information meetings in the event, in particular, of the dispersal of services, if service requirements allow it. Meetings resulting from a grouping shall take place in one of the buildings of the departments concerned.
Each staff member shall have the right to take part in one of those meetings resulting from a grouping, up to 3 hours per quarter. The holding of such meetings may not result in the special leave authorizations granted to staff exceeding 12 hours per year, excluding travel time.
In addition, during the 6 weeks preceding election day of the staff representatives to HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent and social administrative committees, trade union organizations applying for election can organize special briefings. Each staff member may attend a special information meeting, subject toone hour per agent.
Please note
Special conditions are laid down in National Education for monthly information meetings and special information meetings prior to professional elections.
A public official (official or contract staff) may benefit from a paid leave to attend training organized by trade union organizations on a list established by ministerial order.
The duration of the leave shall be 12 working days maximum per year. In services and establishments subject to the rhythm of the school year, the reference year is the school year.
The number of agents who may be granted leave is limited in each head office, each external service and each public establishment.
This number shall be determined on the basis of the number of votes obtained by the trade unions responsible for the formations in the last election of the staff representatives of the HEADING: titleContent, within the limit of 5% of actual staff in the central administration, foreign service or public establishment concerned.
The request for leave must be made in writing to the head of department at least 1 month in advance. If no response is received at least 15 days before the start of the training period, the leave shall be considered as accepted.
Leave shall be granted subject to service requirements. Reasons must be given for any refusal and the reasons must be communicated to the HEADING: titleContent at its next meeting.
On his return from training, the staff member shall provide his head of department with a certificate of attendance issued by the training organization.
Special leave of absence shall be granted to members of trade union organizations with a mandate to attend trade union congresses or other bodies.
Congresses or meetings of management bodies
Special leave of absence shall be granted to representatives of trade union organizations authorized to attend congresses or meetings of the management bodies of which they are members.
Such special leave authorizations shall be granted, subject to service requirements, on presentation of the notice of meeting.
The maximum number of days of leave that can be granted depends on whether or not the union is represented on the Joint Council of the Public Service.
Relevant trade union organizations | Number of days of absence authorizations per agent per year |
|---|---|
| 10 days |
| 20 days |
The 2 limits of 10 and 20 days per year cannot be combined with each other. Any time-lags along the way are added to these ceilings.
Reasons must be given for any refusal to grant leave.
Other bodies
Leave of absence shall be granted to trade union representatives, members and alternates, and to experts who may sit on other bodies.
Leave of absence shall be granted on presentation of the meeting notice or the document informing about the meeting.
These instances are:
- Joint Civil Service Council and Supreme State Civil Service Council
- Social Administrative Committees, HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent, specialized training in health, safety and working conditions
- Regional Economic and Social Committees
- Interministerial Committee for Social Action, Regional Interministerial Sections and Ministerial Commissions for Social Action
- Boards of directors of social or mutual organizations, including pension organizations
- Public bodies responsible for promoting diversity in the public service
- Boards of directors of hospitals and educational institutions.
In each ministerial department, meetings of certain consultation bodies fixed by ministerial decree may also give rise to authorizations of absence.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Working meetings convened by the administration
Leave of absence is compulsory for trade union representatives who participate in working meetings convened by the administration or national negotiations.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Trade unions shall enjoy union time credit usable as discharges of service activity or hour credit according to the needs of trade union activity.
Service activity discharges allow union representatives toto work full or part-timeduring their working hours, trade union activity in place of their administrative activity.
The hours credit allows union representatives to benefit of absence authorizations a minimum of half a day to participate in union activities.
The union time credit shall be determined, in each ministry, after each election of the staff representatives to the social administrative committee. It shall be renewed each year until the following elections, unless the scope of the ministerial department changes by more than 20% manpower.
The union time credit of each ministry shall be calculated on the basis of the number of staff registered on the electoral roll for election to the social administrative committee according to the following scale:
- 1 FTE per 230 staff up to 140 000
- 1 full-time equivalent per 650 staff, over 140 000.
Half of the union time credit shall be allocated among the trade unions represented on the administrative social committee on the basis of the number of seats they have obtained in the elections.
The other half shall be distributed among all the trade unions which have submitted their candidacy for election to the Administrative Social Committee in proportion to the number of votes obtained.
The trade union shall freely designate among its representatives the beneficiaries of the trade union time credit granted to it.
Leave of absence shall be granted subject to service requirements.
In the case of discharges of service activities, if the appointment of an agent is incompatible with the proper functioning of the service, the administration shall give reasons for its refusal and shall invite the trade union organization to choose another agent. The HEADING: titleContent or the CCP: titleContent shall be informed of such decision.
FYI
Each trade union represented on the Supreme Council of the State Civil Service is also entitled to a number of service discharges fixed by ministerial decree according to the number of seats it has on that council.
A permanent official may be detached to a trade union to exercise a trade union mandate.
FPT
The right to organize is guaranteed to each agent public.
Agents may freely establish a trade union. Each agent may freely adhere and to exercise mandates there.
No distinction, direct or indirect, may be made between staff members on account of their trade union opinions.
No mention of union opinions or activities may be made in an officer's file or in any other administrative document.
Skills acquired in the exercise of trade union activity shall be taken into account for the acquired professional experience.
Display, broadcast electronically
Boards reserved for union display are settled in easily accessible premises staff, but to which the public does not normally have access.
Trade unions may also use intranet and have their own e-mail address to distribute union flyers to conditions laid down by the administration.
Distribution of union documents
Union documents may be distributed to staff in the administrative buildings, outside premises open to the public.
These distributions must not disrupt the proper functioning of the service.
When it takes place during working hours, leaflets may be distributed by staff who are not in service or who are granted a service discharge.
Statutory or information meetings
Trade union information meetings are held under different conditions depending on whether they concern representative trade union organizations or not.
Trade union organizations are considered to be representative when they are represented on the Territorial Social Committee or the Higher Council of the Territorial Civil Service.
All trade union organizations may hold briefings inside administrative buildings outside of duty hours. In the absence of available premises, such meetings may be held outside the administrative buildings in premises made available.
All trade union organizations may also hold information meetings during hours of service but in this case, only the agents not in service or who are granted a special leave of absence may attend.
The representative trade union organizations may also hold, during hours of service, monthly one-hour information meetings. Each staff member shall have the right to attend one of these meetings, up to one hour per month.
A representative trade union organization may group together several of its monthly information hours per quarter.
The holding of such meetings may not result in the special leave authorizations granted to staff exceeding 12 hours per year, excluding travel time.
In addition, during the 6 weeks preceding election day of the staff representativesto HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent and territorial social committee, trade union organizations applying for election can organize special briefings. Each staff member may attend a special information meeting, subject toone hour per agent.
Leave to attend monthly information meetings and special information meetings before the professional elections must be requested at least 3 days before. They shall be granted subject to operational requirements.
A public official (official or contract staff) may benefit from a paid leave to attend training organized by trade union organizations on a list established by ministerial order.
The duration of the leave shall be 12 working days maximum per year.
In communities or establishments employing 100 or more employees, the number of employees who may be granted leave for trade union training in the same year shall be limited to 5% of the actual number.
The request for leave must be made in writing to the head of department at least 1 month in advance. If no response is received at least 15 days before the start of the training period, the leave shall be considered as accepted.
Leave shall be granted subject to service requirements. Reasons must be given for any refusal and the reasons must be communicated to the HEADING: titleContent at its next meeting.
On his return from training, the staff member shall provide his head of department with a certificate of attendance issued by the training organization.
Special leave of absence shall be granted to members of trade union organizations with a mandate to attend trade union congresses or other bodies.
Congresses or meetings of management bodies
Special leave of absence shall be granted to representatives of trade union organizations authorized to attend congresses or meetings of the management bodies of which they are members.
Such special leave authorizations shall be granted, subject to service requirements, on presentation of the notice of meeting.
The maximum number of days of leave that can be granted depends on whether or not the union is represented on the Joint Council of the Public Service.
Relevant trade union organizations | Number of days of absence authorizations per agent per year |
|---|---|
| 10 days |
| 20 days |
The 2 limits of 10 and 20 days per year cannot be combined with each other.
The request for authorization must be made at least 3 days before the date of the meeting. Reasons must be given for any refusal to grant leave.
Other bodies
Leave of absence shall be granted to trade union representatives, members and alternates, and to experts who may sit on other bodies.
Leave of absence shall be granted on presentation of the meeting notice or the document informing about the meeting.
These instances are:
- Joint Civil Service Council and Higher Council of Territorial Civil Service
- CNFPT: titleContent
- Territorial social committees, HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent, specialized training in health, safety and working conditions
- Economic, social and environmental council or regional economic, social and environmental councils
- National Fire and Rescue Conference
- Municipal Police Advisory Commission
- Boards of directors of pension organizations, social security organizations and mutual societies
- Any other national or local authority for which the presence of representatives of the staff of the territorial civil service is required by law or decree.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Working meetings convened by the administration
Leave of absence is compulsory for trade union representatives who participate in working meetings convened by the administration or national negotiations.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Trade unions benefit from a trade union time credit that includes an hours quota and a service activity discharge quota.
The hours quota allows union representatives to benefit of absence authorizations to participate in congresses or meetings of the management bodies at a level other than those giving entitlement to special leave of absence within 10 or 20 days.
This absence quota is calculated correctly one hour of leave per 1 000 hours of work performed by officials registered on the list of electors of the territorial social committee.
The service activity discharge quota permits trade union representatives to work full-time or part-time, during their hours of service, a trade union activity instead of their administrative activity.
This union time credit shall be determined in each community after each election of staff representatives to the territorial social committee. It shall be renewed each year until the following elections, unless the scope of the Territorial Social Committee is changed or there is an increase of more than 20% manpower.
The number of hours of discharge of service activities depends on the number of staff registered on the list of electors of the Territorial Social Committee:
Number of voters | Number of service activity offload hours per month |
|---|---|
Less than 100 | Equal to the number of voters |
100 to 200 | 100 |
201 to 400 | 130 |
401 to 600 | 170 |
601 to 800 | 210 |
801 to 1,000 | 250 |
1,001 to 1,250 | 300 |
1 251 to 1 500 | 350 |
1,501 to 1,750 | 400 |
1 751 to 2 000 | 450 |
2 001 to 3 000 | 550 |
3 001 to 4 000 | 650 |
4 001 to 5 000 | 1,000 |
5 001 to 10 000 | 1,500 |
10 001 to 17 000 | 1,700 |
17 001 to 25 000 | 1,800 |
25 001 to 50 000 | 2,000 |
Over 50 000 | 2,500 |
Half of the union time credit shall be allocated among the trade unions represented on the territorial social committee on the basis of the number of seats they have obtained in the elections.
The other half shall be distributed among all the trade unions which have submitted their candidacy for election to the Territorial Social Committee in proportion to the number of votes obtained.
Each trade union shall designate the beneficiaries of the trade union time credit it has among its representatives active in the community or establishment.
Leave of absence shall be granted subject to service requirements.
With regard to discharges of service activities, if the appointment of a staff member is incompatible with the proper functioning of the service, the territorial authority shall give reasons for its refusal and shall invite the trade union organization to choose another staff member.
Please note
By agreement, the management center and one or more non-obligatorily affiliated bodies or establishments may, at the request of the trade union organizations, pool the trade union time credits that they have not used during the year. The remainder is used in the signatory communities or institutions the following year.
A permanent official may be detached to a trade union to exercise a trade union mandate.
It can also be made available a representative trade union. It may not be made available less than half-time.
FPH
The right to organize is guaranteed to each agent public.
Agents may freely establish a trade union. Each agent may freely adhere and to exercise mandates there.
No distinction, direct or indirect, may be made between staff members on account of their trade union opinions.
No mention of union opinions or activities may be made in an officer's file or in any other administrative document.
Skills acquired in the exercise of trade union activity shall be taken into account for the acquired professional experience.
Display, broadcast electronically
Boards reserved for union display are settled in easily accessible premises staff, but to which the public does not normally have access.
Trade unions may also use intranet and have their own e-mail address to distribute union flyers to conditions laid down by the administration.
Document distribution
Union documents may be distributed to staff in the administrative buildings, outside premises open to the public.
These distributions must not disrupt the proper functioning of the service.
When it takes place during working hours, leaflets may be distributed by staff who are not in service or who are granted a service discharge.
Statutory or information meetings
Union information meetings are held under different conditions depending on whether or not they concern trade union organizations represented on the Higher Council of the Hospital Public Service (CSFPH) or representative organizations in the establishment.
Trade unions are considered to be representative in the establishment when they have at least 1 seat on the establishment social committee.
All trade union organizations may hold briefings on the premises of the establishment in which only staff members who are not on duty or who are granted special leave may take part. If there is no available room, these meetings may be held outside the premises of the establishment in rooms made available.
The trade union organizations represented at the CSFPH or representative in the establishment may also hold monthly one-hour information meetings which agents may participate in during their hours of service.
The same union organization can group its monthly information hours by quarter. Their holding may not result in special leave authorizations granted to staff wishing to attend exceeding 12 hours per year, excluding journey times.
Leave to attend these monthly information meetings must be requested 3 days before. They shall be granted subject to operational requirements.
In addition, during the 6 weeks preceding election day of the staff representativesto HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent and social committee of establishment, the trade union organizations applying for election can organize special briefings. Each staff member may attend a special information meeting, subject toone hour per agent.
A public official (civil servant or contract employee) may be granted paid leave to attend training organized by a trade union organization on a list fixed by ministerial order.
The duration of this leave is fixed at 12 working days maximum per year.
In each institution, there is a limit on the number of staff members who can be granted leave in the same year.
This number shall be determined, within the limit of 5% the actual number of staff, on the basis of the average number of votes obtained by the trade unions responsible for the formations in the establishment, at the time of the elections, of the staff representatives in the HEADING: titleContent departmental.
Where the establishment has fewer than 20 staff members, the number of days of leave shared by the trade unions shall not exceed 5% the number of staff multiplied by 12.
The request for leave must be made in writing to the director of the institution at least 1 month before the start of the internship. If no response is received at least 15 days before the start of the training period, the leave shall be considered accepted.
Leave shall be granted subject to service requirements. Reasons must be given for any refusal and the reasons must be communicated to the HEADING: titleContent at its next meeting.
On his return from training, the staff member shall provide the director of the establishment with a certificate of attendance issued by the training organization.
Special leave of absence shall be granted to members of trade union organizations with a mandate to attend trade union congresses or other bodies.
Congresses or meetings of management bodies
Special leave of absence shall be granted to representatives of trade union organizations authorized to attend congresses or meetings of the management bodies of which they are members.
Such special leave authorizations shall be granted, subject to service requirements, on presentation of the notice of meeting.
The maximum number of days of leave that can be granted depends on whether or not the union is represented on the Joint Council of the Public Service.
Relevant trade union organizations | Number of days of absence authorizations per agent per year |
|---|---|
| 10 days |
| 20 days |
The 2 limits of 10 and 20 days per year cannot be combined with each other. Any time-lags along the way are added to these ceilings.
Application for authorization must be made 3 working days at least before the meeting date. Reasons must be given for any refusal to grant leave.
Other bodies
Special leave of absence shall be granted to trade union representatives, members and alternates, and to experts, who may sit on other bodies.
Leave of absence shall be granted on presentation of the meeting notice or the document informing about the meeting.
These instances are:
- Meetings of the deliberative assemblies of public hospitals
- Meetings of the National Association for the Training of Hospital Staff (ANFH) and the Committee for the Management of Social Works of Hospital Staff (Cegos)
- Joint Civil Service Council and Hospital High Civil Service Council
- National Advisory Committees
- Social committees of establishments, HEADING: titleContent, CCP: titleContent
- Establishment Medical Commissions
- National Center for the Management of Hospital Practitioners and Management Staff of the Hospital Public Service
- National and Local Committees of the Fund for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities into the Public Service
- Boards of directors of pension organizations, social security organizations and mutual societies
- Economic, Social and Environmental Council and Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Councils
- National Agency for Continuing Professional Development.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Working meetings convened by the administration
Leave of absence is compulsory for trade union representatives who participate in working meetings convened by the administration or national negotiations.
The duration of the leave of absence shall include journey times, the expected duration of the meeting and a time equal to that duration for the preparation and reporting of the work.
Trade unions shall be granted a union time credit which may be used in the form of discharges of service activity or hour credit according to the needs of trade union activity.
Service activity discharges allow union representatives toto work full or part-timeduring their working hours, trade union activity in place of their administrative activity.
The hours credit allows union representatives to benefit of absence authorizations a minimum of half a day to participate in union activities.
This union time credit shall be determined in each establishment after each election of the staff representatives to the social committee of establishment. It shall be renewed annually until the following elections.
The union time credit of each establishment comprises 2 separate volumes of hours:
- 1 volume of hours calculated at the rate of one hour per 1 000 hours worked by the agents registered on the list of electors of the social settlement committee
- and 1 volume of hours depending on the number of staff the number of full-time permanent staff.
The second volume of hours shall be determined according to the following scale:
Number of full-time permanent staff | Number of hours per month |
|---|---|
Less than 100 | Equal to the number of staff holding full-time permanent employment |
100 to 200 | 100 |
201 to 400 | 130 |
401 to 600 | 170 |
601 to 800 | 210 |
801 to 1,000 | 250 |
1,001 to 1,250 | 300 |
1 251 to 1 500 | 350 |
1,501 to 1,750 | 400 |
1 751 to 2 000 | 450 |
2 001 to 3 000 | 550 |
3 001 to 4 000 | 650 |
4 001 to 5 000 | 1,000 |
5 001 to 6 000 | 1,500 |
Over 6 000 | 100 hours overtime for 1,000 additional staff |
Half of the union time credit is allocated among the unions represented on the Social Settlement Committee according to the number of seats they obtained in the elections.
The other half shall be distributed among all the trade unions which have submitted their candidacy for election to the social committee of establishment in proportion to the number of votes obtained.
The trade union shall designate the beneficiaries of the trade union time credit granted to it among its representatives working in the establishment.
If the appointment of a member of staff is incompatible with the proper functioning of the service, the head of establishment shall invite the trade union organization, after consulting the HEADING: titleContent, to choose another agent.
A permanent official may be detached to a trade union to exercise a trade union mandate.
It may also be totally or partially made available a trade union to exercise a trade union mandate at national level.
Freedom of association
Representation of staff and guarantees of the exercise of the right to organize
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