In the context of the restructuring of its network, a franchisor had acquired, via one of its subsidiaries, shares in franchisee companies whose employees were then laid off. Considering that the franchisor was their co-employer, the employees sued it for the payment of various amounts.
The French Supreme Court refused to recognize the franchisor as co-employer on the grounds that “the fact that an identical management team had been formed [for the franchisee companies concerned] and that [the franchisor] had taken, in the scope of the group’s policy, decisions affecting the future of its subsidiaries, and provided the necessary means to carry out the shutdown of the business [of these] companies, could not suffice to characterize a situation of co-employment‘.
Didier Ferrier, IDI country expert fro France
