An overview of the most significant provisions of the Wholesale collective bargaining agreement in France.
What is the wholesale collective bargaining agreement?
It is a French national collective bargaining agreement applicable to companies in the wholesale industry. It applies to companies whose main activity is to buy and sell goods and services exclusively to other businesses or professional buyers. This concerns trade with food products (such as fruit and vegetables) and non-food products (plastics, plants, accessories for cars, electrical equipment, etc. .) .
The code of the CBA wholesale is IDCC 0573.
To whom does the wholesale collective bargaining agreement apply ?
As a guidance, your company’s activity code APE NAF can help to determine whether the wholesale CBA is applicable. The APE code as well as the CBA must be mentioned on the French Payslip.
Trade with the following products fall under the wholesale agreement (list non-exhaustive):
Trade with food products :
Fruits, vegetables, dairy products like cheese and butter, eggs, frozen products like ice cream, poultry products, etc.
Trade with non-food products :
Spare parts and accessories for automobiles, electrical and electronic equipment, leather goods, beauty products, ceramics, porcelain, pottery & glassware for table, office supplies, plastic products, sanitary appliances, etc.
Over the last years several smaller wholesale CBAs were merged to the French wholesale collective bargaining agreement. These include the CBA wholesale of confectionery and chocolate, the CBA wholesale for fabrics, rugs and household linen and lastely in 2021 the wholesale CBA for dental supplies.
What are the most significant provisions of the wholesale collective bargaining agreement ?
The wholesale CBA fixes minimum salaries for different employment levels in the wholesale industry. It also provides for a seniority payments. Furthermore, it stipulates employee benefits such as in case of a family event.
What is the minimum salary according to the wholesale CBA?
The CBA WHOLESALE minimum salaries are fixed per job classifications.
For a 35 hours/week, the minimum salary for an entry level technician position (classification code V 1) is fixed to 1667.02 Euro per month. For the lowest executive level position (classification code VII 1 : education degree with little or no experience) the minimum salary is 25954.34 Euro per year. For the highest executive level position (code X 2 : for instance a managing director of a large company) the annual salary is at least 66908.98 Euro.
Seniority bonus based on the collective bargaining agreement wholesale
The French union contract wholesale raises the minimum salary with increasing seniority of the employee. This is similar to a seniority bonus. It is calculated on the minimum salary of the branch agreement corresponding to the employees job level.
Different provisions apply to the food and non food sector.
Seniority payment in the non-food sector
| Seniority | Minimum CBA Salary |
|---|---|
| after 4 years | + 5 % |
| after 8 years | + 9 % |
| after 12 years | + 13 % |
| after 16 years | + 17 % |
Seniority payment in the food sector
| Seniority | Minimum CBA Salary |
|---|---|
| after 1 year | + 2 % |
Leave days for family events
| Type of event | Number of days |
|---|---|
| Employee’s marriage | 4 days |
| Child’s marriage | 2 day |
| Birth or adaption | 3 days |
| A Relative’s death | between 1 and 3 days |
| Relocation | 1 day |
Life and disability insurance
The Wholesale collective bargaining agreement stipulates an obligatory life insurance for non executive staff. For executives, the obligatory life insurance based on French Labor Law applies.
Maternity leave payments based on the wholesale collective bargaining agreement
Based on the wholesale agreement, a complementary payment is due for staff with one year of seniority. In total, employees will be paid 100 % of their salary limited to the social security ceiling. Executive level staff can receive a payment of 75 % on their total salary for the first 4 weeks if that is more significant (compared to 100 % limited to the social security ceiling).
Sickness leave
The national agreement for the wholesale industry in some cases increases the maintained salary in case of sickness. For instance, executive level employees with three years of seniority receive a total of 100 % from the first day. Compared to Labor Law in France that only provides for 90 % after 7 days.