How is this McDonald’s franchisee going to get him to sign a contract that doesn’t comply with the labor law? Equipped with a hidden camera, Rebecca is received by the restaurant’s administrative assistant, visibly aware that she is offering working hours below the legal minimum…
“Normally, contracts should be worth at least twenty-four hours. That’s why I’m going to ask you to write a handwritten letter, she explains to him. By saying you want a 15-hour contract.” Indeed, the Labor Code clearly states that “the minimum working time of a part-time worker is set at twenty-four hours a week” (Article L.3123-27). To sign a contract with a working time below the legal minimum, it must be at the request of the employee.
“It’s to say you agreed” to sign this contract
†The idea is not to lie, but to justify why we haven’t signed a bigger contractshe says to the undercover journalist. For us it is that we do not need many hours. Even though I know you’d like more hours, the small letter is just, “Here, our employee would like a 15-hour contract per week.” That is, you have agreed to this contract, even if it doesn’t suit you 100%, but somehow, if you came, it still suits you.” Rebecca asks what to write and sign…”You can put: ‘I, the undersigned, first and last name, want a contract of sixty-five hours per month…’, the assistant dictates. Maybe: ‘…to be able to hold a second job afterwards.’ What do you think about it ?†
The assistant then shows him the availability slots on the schedule: “Every day, from Monday to Friday on the beaches from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. These are indeed availability ranges within which you can be scheduled.“So she must be available for the McDonald’s franchisee sixty hours a week” for a salary of 500 euros net per month. The availability range requested by the franchisee does not comply with the collective labor agreement for fast food restaurants. This prohibits the employer from asking its employees for an availability that is greater than three times the number of hours worked. So this McDonald’s franchisee should have asked Rebecca to be available at forty-five hours.
† McDonald’s France CEO Nawfal Trabelsi declined to be interviewed. About this employment contract, here’s what he replied in writing to “Cash Investigation”: “We share with our franchisees the commitment to strict adherence to labor law. (…) If a breach of this framework were found, we would take the necessary measures to enforce these contractual terms.†
Excerpt from “Is it like that at McDonald’s?”, a survey by Zoé de Bussierre, broadcast on France 2 on Wednesday, April 7, 2022 at 9:10 PM.
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