It is a rare fact in business. Last week, the employees of the audit branch EY voted greatly to restore the limit of the maximum of 48 hours of work per week, eliminated by an agreement signed in 2021.
This “referendum” Organized by unions (CFDT, CGT, CFTC and FO) only has an advice value. Management, therefore has no legal obligation, has not planned to follow this opinion. Rather, it proposes to “establish additional equilibrium measures.”
In detail, participation amounted to 40% (almost 1,200 people participated in the almost 3,000 employees in question). And among voters, 96% voted to restore the weekly work time limit at 48 hours.
The organizing unions, which had established 25% participation as a threshold for success, were delighted with employee mobilization. The latter were invited to vote from April 14 to 21 on a platform thanks to a code sent by the private message on LinkedIn.
“Disease license explosion”
According to unions, during high activity, work weeks can rise to “50, 60 or even 70 hours”. And this, legally.
Since an agreement signed in 2021, the 48 hours of weekly work has increased for employees on the day of the audit branch, or approximately half of the payroll. Commercial agreements can repeal collective agreements in certain areas from the orders of Macron (2017), even in case of less favorable conditions.
Agreement 2021 had been signed by Management and CFE-CGC, the major union at that time. Except that to cancel this agreement, the signing of one of these parties is necessary. “In the CFE-CGC (Organization of the Minority Union), we ask to unite ourselves in the application of the will of the employees,” he urged the organizing unions of the referendum in a press release.
“Recruit or reorganize work”
They also asked management that “they take a step towards major trade union organizations” and “listen to employees” to avoid aggravating the gap that has expanded between employees and management. “Therefore, unions ask management to reopen the negotiations.
Questioned by BFM Business, the company wishes to remember that “equilibrium measures” have been established in compensation for agreement 2021. Among them: the possibility of placing up to 6 days a year in a time savings account (CET) and the granting of additional rest days in case of particularly intense load.
“Proposals have also been made for trade union organizations to strengthen existing devices in terms of workload and establish additional equilibrium measures,” adds the company, which does not evoke at the moment the idea of returning at 48 hours per week.
However, according to CGT delegate Marc Verret, this would not raise a fundamental problem for EY. “This would possibly force recruiting or reorganizing work to avoid hurried weeks,” he believes. But that would not endanger operations. “
Source: BFM TV
