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Strikes, protests and work

Key points

  • Private sector: a strike is a collective stoppage, no notice needed; no sanction except for serious misconduct.
  • Civil service: union notice of 5 full days; primary school teachers: declaration 48 hours beforehand.
  • Public employees: the duty of discretion is about how you express yourself, not about the right to protest.
  • Pay is docked in proportion to the stoppage (for example 1/30 per day in the civil service).
  • Protesting outside working hours is your private life; otherwise, take leave or join a strike.
  • Social work, care, support: public hospitals can assign strikers back to work and the prefect can requisition staff; organise with colleagues and a union first.
  • A job that blocks nothing: numbers count, a few hours can be enough, and you can support those whose stoppage weighs more.

Striking is a right; so is protesting. But time off work is handled differently depending on the case and your sector.

Private sector

  • A strike is a collective, concerted stoppage of work in support of work-related demands (pay, pensions, working conditions…).1
  • No notice is required, neither to your employer nor by a union (except public services run by private companies).1
  • You can be neither sanctioned nor dismissed for striking, except for gross misconduct (for example active participation in illegal acts).1 A dismissal pronounced without gross misconduct is void by operation of law.2
  • The employer deducts pay in proportion to the time stopped.1

Public service

Going on strike

  • One or more unions must file a notice at least 5 full days before the strike, stating its reasons, place, start time and length.3 It must come from a representative union, and the parties must negotiate during the notice period.4
  • Who is covered: staff of the State, regions, départements and municipalities of more than 10,000 inhabitants, and staff of bodies running a public service, public or private.5
  • Rotating stoppages are banned: the start and end times cannot differ between categories or staff members, and staggered or concertedly rotating stoppages across sectors or services are prohibited.6
  • Nursery and primary school teachers: declare your intention to strike at least 48 hours beforehand, including one working day. Breaking these rules exposes you to disciplinary sanctions.3
  • Employees alone hold the right to strike: in public services, they are not required to stop work for the whole period stated in the notice.7
  • Pay deduction: in the State civil service, 1/30 of pay per strike day, even for part of a day, bonuses included; in the local and hospital civil services, it is proportional (1/30 per day, 1/60 per half-day, 1/151.67 per hour).3
  • No right to strike: active police officers (including CRS), prison staff, judges, the military and Interior Ministry communications staff. In the local and hospital civil services, all employees can strike.3

Duty of discretion and neutrality

  • Like everyone, you have the right to protest.8 The duty of discretion (devoir de réserve) is not about your opinions but about how you express them, on duty and off duty.9
  • It is assessed case by case: your rank, the circumstances, the visibility (social media or private conversation) and the words used (insulting or not).9
  • Union representatives have more freedom within their mandate.9
  • On duty, you must remain neutral: no sign of your political convictions in front of the public or colleagues.9
  • In practice: no uniform, work badge or mention of your job at protests or in your posts; measured words; a separate account if your position is exposed (social media).

If you are prosecuted

  • A conviction recorded in bulletin no. 2 of your criminal record can, if deemed incompatible with your duties, lead to a disciplinary sanction, up to dismissal. It is not automatic: the administration must go through disciplinary proceedings, under a judge's review.10
  • From the moment you are taken into custody, inform your lawyer and your union (police custody).

Protesting without striking

  • Protesting outside working hours is your private life.
  • Leaving during working hours without being on strike (or on leave) is an unauthorised absence: take leave or join a strike.

If your absence blocks nothing

An office or administrative job rarely blocks a production chain on its own. That is no reason to stay on the sidelines. The pointers below are organising common sense, not established rules:

  • Numbers count: a strike is also measured by its turnout, which is counted and seen. You count even if your job is not critical.
  • A few hours can be enough: the pay deduction is proportional to the length of the stoppage.1 Half a day costs less than a full day.
  • Protest outside working hours, or on leave: see above.
  • Support those whose stoppage really blocks: see financially supporting strikers.
  • Join a union or a workplace group: decide the form of action with your colleagues instead of guessing it alone.

Slowdowns and work-to-rule

  • To be protected from any sanction for striking, the movement must be a total stoppage of work, collective, with work-related demands known to the employer. Otherwise it can be ruled unlawful: no more protection, and sanction or dismissal become possible.1
  • Slowing your work down (a "grève perlée") or following the rules to the letter without stopping (a "grève du zèle") is not a total stoppage: these forms are risky. In the civil service, taking part is a fault that can justify a disciplinary sanction.3 Talk to a union first.
  • In a transport dispute (a public service), the Versailles court of appeal held that one notice can cover short work stoppages spread over several days, and that a strike only becomes abusive in case of serious disorganisation, which the employer must prove. The Cour de cassation rejected the appeal, without publishing the ruling in its bulletin.11 This concerns public services: do not assume it applies to your company.

Social work, care and support work

When people depend on you, striking raises a real dilemma: feeling guilty about "abandoning" them is common. It says nothing about your right, which stays the same. What changes is what your employer can impose on you.

What the law provides, depending on your employer

  • Public hospital: the head of the establishment organises the minimum service. They can assign a striking employee back to work, by an individual letter, to ensure continuity of care.3
  • Requisition by the prefect: if the strike seriously undermines the continuity of the public service or the population's needs, the prefect can requisition staff, stating the reason.3 The general provision lets the prefect, in an emergency, require by reasoned order "any person necessary" to run the service. Refusing to comply is an offence (six months' imprisonment and a €10,000 fine).12
  • Local civil service: a minimum service can be negotiated for care of older and disabled people, nurseries, after-school care, school and collective catering, public transport and household waste collection. Without an agreement after 12 months, it is set by council resolution. In these services you must declare your intention to strike 48 hours beforehand (including one working day), and the declaration is used only to organise the service.3
  • Ordinary private employer (a company, an association with no public-service mission): unless a statute says otherwise, the employer can never requisition striking employees. The Cour de cassation overturned the sanction of a striker who had refused to take part in a "minimum security service" imposed by the employer (a factory, not a care service).13 Requisition by the prefect, above, remains possible.
  • Private body running a public service: the 5-clear-day notice applies.5 The Conseil d'État held that its management bodies can limit the exercise of the right to strike, under a judge's review, but only where no alternative exists and through strictly necessary measures (the case concerned EDF).14 A private health establishment authorised to provide the public hospital service, including private non-profit establishments of collective interest, carries out a public-service mission: it presumably falls into this category.1516 For the medico-social sector, the Code of Social Action and Families speaks of "general-interest and social-utility missions", carried out by public or private bodies, without calling them a public service.17 We found no decision settling it: it depends on the organisation's mission. Ask your union before acting.
  • You will read broader claims about what management can impose (on managers, for example). We could only verify the mechanisms above: if in doubt, ask a union or a lawyer.

Striking without abandoning the people you support

These pointers are organising common sense, not established rules:

  • Do not leave alone: an isolated absence shifts the load onto a team that is already short-staffed. Decide with colleagues and a union.
  • Prepare continuity: knowing in advance which vital needs stay covered avoids being assigned or requisitioned in an emergency.
  • Inform the people you support and their families: they also suffer from falling resources.
  • Involve them: an open assembly or a presence at the picket lets you frame shared demands rather than set them against each other.
  • Do not slow down in silence: slowdowns do not protect you (see above). If stopping is impossible, consider protesting outside working hours or financial support.

Financially supporting strikers

If you earn more than most strikers, you can help them hold out. From the most pooled to the most direct:

  1. A solidarity fund: Caisse de solidarité is a French non-profit (loi 1901) that helps workers in struggle. Donations come with no counterpart, the accounts are public and a map shows the local funds.
  2. Your union's strike fund: ask the local or departmental union of the sector concerned what exists.
  3. Union dues: if you are a member, they give a 66% tax credit, capped at 1% of your gross taxable income (salaries, pensions…). It cannot be combined with actual expenses.18 The credit covers dues: ask the union whether a payment to its strike fund is treated as such, with a receipt.
  4. Giving to a person: gifts of money are subject to gift tax whatever the amount, with some exceptions. For a gift from a friend there is no allowance, and the recipient must declare it within a month.19 That is a reason to prefer a fund over a personal transfer.
  5. An online fundraiser: check who runs it (a union or an identifiable non-profit), who the money is paid out to and whether the accounts are public.

A payment by card, transfer or cheque leaves a trace in your name. If that matters to you, look at each fund's payment methods before giving.

Work resources in the directory

In one of these situations? not in a position to block anything (office job…) but I want to support a strike · a civil servant or public employee · an employee · I work in social work, care or supporting people

Sources

Each note links to the source of the information. Most sources are in French. Laws change: check the date of the source and, if in doubt, ask a lawyer.

  1. Service-Public — Droit de grève d'un salarié du secteur privé · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Labour Code, article L2511-1 (right to strike and employment contract) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  3. Service-Public — Droit de grève dans la fonction publique · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Labour Code, article L2512-2 (strike notice in public services) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  5. Labour Code, article L2512-1 (scope: public services) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  6. Labour Code, article L2512-3 (staggered or rotating work stoppages) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  7. Cour de cassation, social chamber, 11 February 2015, no. 13-14.607 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  8. Constitutional Council — Decision no. 94-352 DC of 18 January 1995 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  9. Service-Public — Duties of reserve, discretion, neutrality and professional secrecy in the public service · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩↩

  10. Acteurs publics — Civil service: a criminal record entry can lead to dismissal · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  11. Cour de cassation, social chamber, 14 September 2017, no. 16-12.215 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  12. General Code of Local Authorities, article L2215-1 (requisition by the prefect) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  13. Cour de cassation, social chamber, 15 December 2009, no. 08-43.603 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  14. Conseil d'État, Assembly, 12 April 2013, no. 329570 (strike and private body running a public service) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  15. Public Health Code, article L6112-3 (establishments providing the public hospital service) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  16. Public Health Code, article L6161-5 (private non-profit health establishments of collective interest) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  17. Code of Social Action and Families, article L311-1 (missions of social and medico-social action) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  18. impots.gouv.fr — Union dues: tax credit · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  19. Service-Public — Gift of a sum of money · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

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