The employee is the one who makes a supply of work on request of his employer in return for remuneration.
The employment agreement unites two actors:
* the employee;
* the employer.
Unlike the employer, the employee must be a natural person.
Employee quality: due to the existence of an employment contract
If there is no employment contract, no one can claim the status of employee.
The existence of an employment contract, mainly due to the existence of a relationship of subordination, implies the existence of a qualified person of "employee".
This is because there are employment contract and employee, no matter the type and nature of the contract (written, verbal, indefinite or fixed duration, etc.).
The employee has a specific function
In return for payment, the employee performs a task received from his employer and under his authority.
Under the law, the employee is one who:
* performs a work to accomplish received from his employer,
* submits to the authority of his employer (instructions, leadership, management, discipline),
* receives remuneration for his performance.
Salary does not mean employment contract for the employee
Contrary to popular belief, this is not the salary that makes the employee but the fulfillment of a performance in the context of a relationship of subordination.
Benefit does not always mean employment contract
But any benefit is not necessarily a 'supply of employment".
The achievement of a benefit in some cases does not imply the existence of an employment contract:
* volunteering (at the service of an association, for example);
* Friendly and family assistance (hand given to move, for example).
Employment relationship: lasting benefits
By cons, sustainable benefits in the quantity and value can induce the existence of an employment relationship, especially if performed in a context:
* obedience to authority;
* and respect of discipline and/or a global organization in which the provision is inserted (as a commercial agent directed as VRP in a distribution network).
The employee is necessarily a natural person
Unlike the employer that also can be a legal person, the employee must be a natural person.
This need arises from the nature of the employment contract and employer/employee relations since there are:
* recruitment and hiring of one by the other;
* subordination of one to the other;
* provision of "individual" service to work with one serving each other.
Rights and duties of employee: obligations
In consideration of legal and social rights and guarantees, the employee must respect a number of duties towards his employer.
Foundations of rights and duties of the employee: texts
Employee status implies rights and obligations which arise from:
* employment law: international conventions and agreements to which France is a signatory, the Employment Code, collective agreements and conventions including those of business, atypical agreements, business practices and unilateral commitments of the employer,
* the right to social security: Social Security Code, collective conventions and agreements - including those in business - on social protection and welfare, regulation of National Interprofessional Union for Employment in Industry and Trade (unemployment compensation),
* employment contract content that is law between the parties provided that the terms are consistent with labor law and that of social security.
Non-compliance of its duties by the employee: the risks
The employee has to comply with his obligations. Otherwise, he may be sanctioned by the employer that can use his disciplinary powers.
According to the importance of non-compliance with any duty, the employer may decide several things:
EMPLOYEE DOES NOT RESPECT HIS OBLIGATIONS: CONSEQUENCES
* Terminate the employment contract of an employee for this reason: Dismissal for misconduct if the contract is open-ended; or early termination for misconduct if the employment contract is for a fixed term.
* The personal liability of the employee: liability if he has committed a serious error indicating his intention to harm his employer; eg voluntary deterioration of products manufactured by the company, the employer can proceed the employee to an industrial tribunal to obtain financial compensation for damage and thus compensation by the employee; criminal responsibility if he commits a crime during the time and/or at the workplace, eg violence and kidnapping during a strike; the employee will be prosecuted in a criminal court and will be liable to conviction to pay a fine or to imprisonment: the prosecution can be undertaken by the employer himself or by police and judicial authorities.
Rights and duties of the employee: explanatory table
Here is a summary table of the various rights and obligations of the employee:
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE EMPLOYEE
RIGHTS:
- Profit legal guarantees (International Agreements, Labor Code, Social Security Code):
* compensation for sick leave, including those caused by accidents at work;
* paid vacation;
* overtime pay;
* professional man/woman equality;
* minimum wage;
* staff representation;
* care reimbursement and health expenses;
* maintenance of employment contract in case of transfer of enterprise;
* dismissal proceedings with maintenance and motivated notification;
* unemployment benefits, etc.
- Earnings from conventional warranties (conventions and collective agreements, including those of enterprise):
* classification grid/minimum wage;
* increase in severance payments of the employment contract;
* mutual;
* improvement of union rights, etc.
OBLIGATIONS
- Respect:
* the employment contract content;
* the authority and the employer's guidelines and/or his representatives;
* the organization and/or operation of the enterprise (eg, work schedules);
* the internal regulations and rules, hygiene and safety conditions;
* the goods and people within the company, etc.
- Submission to general obligations (regardless of the employment contract terms and its clauses):
* loyalty towards the employer (eg prohibition of creating a competitor during the employment contract course),
* discretion and trade secrets, etc.
