Branch Agreement

In the same way as the collective agreement, the enterprise agreement and the internal rules, the branch agreement sets the rules applicable to relations between employers and employees.

Definition of the branch agreement

A branch agreement is a form of contract that binds employers and employees in the same industry. Also known as branch convention, branch agreement is decided and then drafted by staff representatives and employers.

It can also have local, regional or national influence. A branch agreement may also apply to all professionals in a particular sector of activity.

Role of the branch agreement

Because according to their sector of activity the employees have different needs, the branch agreement complements the regulations imposed by the Labor Code.

Like the collective agreement, the branch agreement has the following objectives:

* List the conditions of employment and work.

* Supervise professional training.

* Inform employees about their social protection.

Collective agreements can not be less favorable to employees than laws and regulations, the signing of a branch agreement is always beneficial for employees (or neutral).

Attention: the Labor Code defines for each subject the rules of public policy, the scope of collective bargaining and the residual rules applicable in the absence of an agreement.

Thus, all rules relating to work duration and schedule are open to negotiation. The bargaining limit is no longer the upper standard, but the rules of public policy defined by the legislator for each theme.

This hierarchy is intended to extend to the entire legislative part of the Code in the coming years, in the context of a global overhaul of the Labor Code.

Specificity of the branch agreement

While the collective agreement covers all labor law, the branch agreement deals only with certain themes:

* salaries;

* the professional equality;

* the right to organize;

* the qualification levels and training opportunities;

* the rights of employees according to their seniority and the held position;

* the conditions of recruitment and then work;

* the paid leave, reduction of working time and absences at work;

* the other benefits such as mutual or provident insurance, etc.

The mission of the branch is:

* to define the guarantees applicable to employees, in particular with regard to minimum wages, classification, supplementary collective guarantees, sharing of professional training funds, prevention of pain and professional equality between men and women;

* to define the themes on which the conventions and agreements of company can not be less favorable than the conventions and agreements concluded at the branch level, with the exclusion of the subjects for which the law provides for the primacy of the convention or the company agreement;

* to regulate competition between companies falling within its scope.

Good to know: the branch agreement has a legal value. Do not hesitate to use it in case of conflict with your employer.