Companies may benefit from greater flexibility of working time by adopting a reference period.
In the case of companies that are not covered by a collective work agreement, a subordinate agreement or an agreement reflecting interprofessional social dialogue, the head of the company or his representative must, before the introduction of or any change to a given reference period, initiate the information and consultation procedure provided for in Article L.414-3 of the Labour Code, which provides that the staff committee is called on to give its opinion on matters relating to working time.
If there is no staff committee, all the employees concerned must be informed and consulted.
Any decision on the introduction of, or a change to, a given reference period will be applicable at the earliest one month after the information and consultation procedure has been started.
The decision thus taken is valid for 24 hours and it may be renewed tacitly.
The employer is required to give notice of those decisions to the ITM within one month after their entry into operation.
The legal duration of the work organisation plan (WOP) is one month, except for companies that have opted for a reference period shorter than one month. In any such case, the duration of the WOP must correspond to the duration of the reference period.
In order to be able to adopt a flexible approach to working time, the company must draw up a WOP in due time, and no later than 5 clear days before the start of each reference period,
- For companies that have opted for a reference period longer than or equal to one month, a WOP must cover at least one month.
- For companies that have opted for a reference period shorter than one month, the duration of the WOP must correspond to the duration of the reference period.
In cases where the reference period is covered by several successive WOPs, the latter must all be established within the same time limits before the commencement of the WOP in question.