The work teams must benefit from half a day per month on working time to meet and discuss, between colleagues and with the real work delegate, the way they could work better.
The problem
The participation of employees in decisions which concern their work and the prevention of damage to their health is a major factor of efficiency and well-being at work (2023 report of the labor seats). Yet management in France is particularly vertical, and French employees are, relative to the rest of theUeamong the least consulted on these decisions. The psychosocial risks and the loss of meaning of the resulting work have a high economic and health cost. In addition, the absence of consultation on the workplace has negative consequences on the vitality of democracy in the city. The right of expression of employees (Auroux law of 4/08/1982) still appears in the labor code, but it fell into disuse: this right must be renovated.
The proposal
In order to have their saying to the organization of their work, the work teams will benefit from half a day per month on working time to meet and discuss, with colleagues and with the delegate for real work, the way they work and could work better, both from the point of view of the quality of products and services and their health and environmental impact, and proposals allowing to advance in this direction.
How does it work ?
The failure of the Auroux law on the expression of employees certainly comes from the employers’ opposition and the weak commitment, at the time, from most union organizations, but also, according to Jean Auroux himself, of insufficient codification: left to the discretion of business negotiation, its implementation, most often organized by managers, has not always aroused the support of employees who could feel for subordination that binds them to the employer.
This assessment, combined with the current interest of social partners for this issue (often mentioned by the term “ professional dialogue ”) And to the importance of economic and health issues, justifies a renovation of the right of expression around three axes: an increase in time allocated to employees (from a minimum of 6 hours per year to ½ day per month), an animation of meetings by the” Real work delegates “(Dtrcf. previous proposal) in the absence of the hierarchy, and finally an obligation to answer the latter to the proposals brought by the Dtr to the security committee, conditions and deliberation of work (CSDT).
To effectively perform their functions, and in particular the animation of expression meetings, the Dtr will benefit from training specific to the elucidation of individual and collective challenges of real work (P. Davezies, The challenges of the training of union actors, 2022).
On what research work is the proposal founded ?
The mediocre position of France concerning the participation of employees in decisions on their work is well documented (Mr. Bigi, D. Méda, “ Take the measure of the work crisis in France », 2023) ; Unlike Germany or Scandinavian countries, the share of “ learning companies “Decreases in France, for the benefit of the” lean “, Less participative (S. Benhamou, E. Lorenz E., Learning labor organizations: issues and challenges for France, France Strategy, 2020. The participation of employees in decisions in their work favors both economic dynamism (N. Greenan, S. Napolitano,” Invest in the organization’s learning capacity for the double digital and ecological transition “, 2023) and psychic health (T. Coutrot,” Does employee participation protect the depressive risk ? », First syntheses Dares n ° 61, 2017). Conversely, the lack of autonomy at work and the impossibility of expressing themselves on your work have negative consequences on the civic engagement and the political behavior of employees (T. Coutrot, the long arm of the work. Working conditions and electoral behavior, IRES, 2024)
How to implement ?
The renovation of the right of expression of employees presupposes a bill bringing the labor code.