An insight into the French distance trading collective bargaining agreement.
What is the distance trading collective bargaining agreement?
It is a French collective bargaining agreement applicable in the distance trading industry.
It applies to all e-commerce companies whose main activity is the retail sale of all types of products through all types of distance mediums. The distance trading collective bargaining agreement also applies to the staff of these companies working in all services related to the main activity such as warehouses, call centers, head offices.
The code of the distance trading CBA is IDCC 2198.
When is the distance trading collective bargaining agreement applicable ?
It applies to company whose main activity is distance trading. Distance trade is defined as a sale of goods or services that takes place in a dematerialized manner via telecommunications means such as the internet or telephone. The company’s main activity (code APE NAF) determines the applicable CBA. The APE NAF code is mentioned on the French Payslip.
APE Code Activities
4791A Companies whose main activity is distance selling on a general catalog
4791B Companies whose main activity is distance selling on a specialized catalog
Main characteristics of the distance trading CBA
The distance trading CBA fixes minimum salaries as well as employee benefits. All companies whose main activity is distance selling must apply the regulations of distance trading CBA if these are more favorable for the employee than French Labor Law.
Minimum salary
In the distance trade industry the minimum salaries are fixed per job classifications. For a full-time position, the minimum salary for an entry level executive position (classification F) is set to 2563 Euro per month. For the highest level executive classification (code H) the minimum is 4306 Euro.
Annual bonus
The distance trading collective bargaining agreement provides for an annual bonus :
All employees must receive at least 2/3 of a monthly average salary (based on the last 12 gross wages).
Non-competition clause for executive level staff
Based on the distance trading collective bargaining agreement it is possible to include a non-competition clause in the employment contract of an executive level employee.
According to the distance trading CBA the maximum duration is 18 months. A financial compensation has to be fixed by mutual agreement between the parties. This must not be less than 3 months’ salaries.
Waiver: The employer can waive the execution of the non-competition clause within 15 days following the notification of the termination of the work contract. It can be waived at any time by mutual agreement between the parties.
Severance payment based on the distance trading collective bargaining agreement
The distance trading CBA increases significantly the severance pay in case of an employee termination. These provisions apply to technicians, supervisors and executive level staff.
Technicians, supervisors
| Seniority | Severance payment per year |
|---|---|
| 0 to 5 years | 3/10 monthly salaries |
| 5 to 10 years | 4/10 monthly salaries from the 6th year on |
| more than 10 years | 5/10 monthly salaries from the 11th year on |
The maximum severance payment corresponds to 12 month salaries.
The severance payment is increased by 30 % for employees with an age of 50 years or more (maximum severance payment of 15.6 monthly salaries).
Executive level staff
| Seniority | Severance payment per year |
|---|---|
| 0 to 5 years | 4/10 monthly salaries |
| 5 to 10 years | 5/10 monthly salaries from the 6th year on |
| 10 to 15 years | 6/10 monthly salaries from the 11th year on |
| more than 15 years | 8/10 monthly salaries from the 16th year on |
The maximum severance payment corresponds to 15 month salaries.
The severance payment is increased by 30 % for executives 50 years or older. The maximum severance payment is increased to 19.5 monthly salaries).
Example :
Executive with a salary of 3000 € per month, 12 years of service, 40 years old
| Seniority | Severance payment per year | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 years | 4/10 monthly salaries | 6000 Euro |
| 5 to 10 years | 5/10 monthly salaries from the 6th year on | 7500 Euro |
| 10 to 12 years | 6/10 monthly salaries from the 11th year on | 3600 Euro |
| Total | Severance payment for 12 years | 17100 Euro |
The severance based on the distance trading CBA is significantly higher than the severance payment based on the labor code which would only be 9500 Euro.
Family events
The distance trading CBA increases the legal provisions for some absences in case of a family event. For instance in case of a marriage the employee gets one additional week instead of just 4 days.
Maternity leave
The distance trading CBA provides for a complementary payment for technicians, supervisors and executives.
Sickness
For staff with 6 months of seniority, the distance trading CBA increases the maintained salary in case of sickness from 90 % to 100 %. The maximum duration increases with indreasing seniority. In case of a work accident the duration is doubled.