OD Flash | An union is not entitled to request the nullity of the entire internal regulations or their inapplicability to all employees of the company

French Supreme Court, Social Division, October 23, 2024, n°22-19.726

According to Article L.1321-4 of the French Labor Code, internal regulations are subject to compliance with filing and publication formalities. Through this decision, the French Supreme Court rules on the admissibility of a union’s action seeking to render the internal regulations unenforceable to all employees due to a failure to complete the required filing and publication formalities.

An employee was notified of a disciplinary suspension and a salary deduction and filed a claim with the Labor court to have the suspension annulled due to the absence in the internal regulations of a mention regarding the maximum duration of this sanction. A union voluntarily joined the proceedings to request that the internal regulations be declared unenforceable to the employees of the company, owing to the employer’s failure to carry out several formalities (publication, consultation, and filing, as well as specifying the effective date of the regulations) following the modification of the internal regulations.

The company’s internal regulations dated back to 1983 and had been amended in 1986. The Labor court dismissed their claims and declared the union’s requests concerning the non-opposability of the internal regulations to all employees inadmissible.

The French Supreme Court reiterates, under Article L.1321-4 of the Labor Code (in the version applicable to the case), that internal regulations may only be introduced after:

• Obtaining the opinion of the works council or, in its absence, employee representatives, as well as, for matters within its purview, the opinion of the Health, Safety, and Working Conditions Committee (CHSCT) ;
• Indicating its effective date, which must be at least one month after the completion of the filing and publication formalities ;
• Being communicated to the labor inspector.

The Court recalls that these formalities must also be fulfilled in the event of a modification or removal of clauses in the internal regulations, as they are substantial formalities that protect employees’ interests.

Regarding the union’s action, the Court specifies that:

• The union is entitled to request, in summary proceedings, the suspension of a company’s internal regulations due to non-compliance with substantial formalities, within the framework of the collective interest of the profession ;
• However, the union is not entitled to request the annulment of the internal regulations or their non-opposability to all employees of the company in proceedings, based on the employer’s failure to comply with the substantial formalities provided for by the Labor Code.

The Court thus rules that the internal regulations were indeed regular and enforceable against the employees of the company.