Group decisions in France: why the French consultation process must come first
A strategic decision may be prepared, or even agreed in principle, at headquarters. Where consultation is required, the French Works Council must still be consulted before the decision affecting the French subsidiary is formally taken. A group-level decision cannot turn the French consultation into an information exercise after the event.
Updated: 2 August 2026
Where the difficulty comes from
For international groups investing in France, the key issue is often timing. A strategic decision may be prepared — or even agreed in principle — at headquarters, while its implementation concerns the French business.
This does not remove the need to consult the French Works Council — the comité social et économique, or CSE. Where consultation is required, the Works Council must be consulted before the decision affecting the French subsidiary is formally taken1. A group-level decision cannot be used to turn the French consultation into a simple information exercise after the event.
This does not mean that the parent company cannot prepare a project, discuss it internally or define its preferred strategy. It means that, where the French subsidiary is concerned, the process must leave genuine room for consultation before the decision becomes final.
This distinction matters. A consultation held after the decision has already been taken is not simply a late consultation: it may no longer qualify as a proper consultation at all.
This is why French management may ask headquarters not to formally approve, announce or implement a project until the local consultation process has been completed. They are not slowing down the group's decision-making; they are making sure that the group's timetable works in France.
Failure to respect this process can create legal risk, including criminal liability where the proper functioning of the Works Council has been obstructed2. The range of subjects concerned is wide: it covers the organisation, management and general running of the business, any measure affecting headcount levels or structure, and any change to the company's economic or legal organisation3.
Consultation is a process, not just a meeting
The French Works Council must receive sufficiently detailed written information and have enough time to review it before giving its opinion4. The consultation period only starts once the necessary information has been provided — which also gives the employer greater control over the consultation timetable.
Unless a company agreement provides otherwise, the consultation period is generally one month, two months if an expert is appointed, and three months in certain cases involving expertise at both central and establishment level5. Once the applicable period expires, the Works Council is normally deemed to have been consulted and to have given its opinion.
If the Works Council considers that the information provided is insufficient, it may ask the court to order the employer to provide the missing information. This does not automatically extend the consultation period unless the judge decides otherwise4.
Consultation does not mean approval
Importantly, the French Works Council does not have a general right to approve or block management decisions. Its role is consultative: it must be properly informed, given sufficient time to review the project and invited to give its opinion. Once this process has been completed, management remains free to proceed, even if the Works Council gives a negative opinion.
In other words, a negative opinion does not stop the project. The legal risk lies in the consultation process itself — for example, if the information provided is insufficient, if the consultation is not conducted properly, or if the decision has effectively been taken before the Works Council has had an opportunity to express its views.
This distinction is particularly important for international groups familiar with different employee representation systems. Similar institutions may have very different powers. In France, consultation means giving the Works Council a genuine opportunity to understand and comment on the project before the decision is final; it does not mean sharing management's decision-making power.
This does not make consultation a mere formality. The process can involve significant issues and requires both sides to engage seriously. In practice, the most effective approach is not to disclose the minimum required or to treat every request for information as an obstacle. It is to establish a clear process, provide the information needed to understand the project, and make sure that everyone understands both what consultation requires and where its limits lie.
Handled this way, consultation becomes part of the decision-making process rather than a confrontation — and the business timetable becomes much easier to manage.
For an international investor, the practical takeaway is simple: build the French consultation process into the group's decision-making timetable from the outset. The Works Council does not take the decision, but it must have a genuine opportunity to be consulted before that decision becomes final.
What headquarters sees, and what is actually happening
| What headquarters sees | What is actually happening | What the law requires |
|---|---|---|
| The French team cannot confirm the launch date | The consultation process has not been completed | The Works Council must be consulted before the decision is taken1 |
| The French team objects to a group-wide announcement | Announcing the project would show that the decision has already been taken | The Works Council must have a genuine opportunity to comment before the decision is final |
| "The Works Council will give a negative opinion anyway" | A negative opinion does not stop the project | The Works Council gives an opinion; it does not approve the decision |
| The Works Council asks for more documents | The consultation period does not start until the information has been provided | Written information detailed enough for the Works Council to review the project4 |
| The Works Council appoints an external expert | A right the Works Council has in defined cases, and the employer usually pays for it | The employer pays all or most of the cost6, and the consultation period is longer5 |
| Local management sounds unusually cautious | Obstructing the Works Council is a criminal offence | A fine of €7,5002 |
Three scenarios
The same-day global announcement
A group schedules a worldwide announcement of a reorganisation for a Tuesday morning. The French subsidiary is included, in the interest of consistency. The French Works Council has not been consulted. The announcement establishes that the decision was taken before consultation — and the evidence is a recording distributed to every employee. The project has to be restarted, and the delay is longer than the consultation would have been.
The consultation held as a briefing
The French subsidiary convenes the Works Council, presents a finished plan with dates and figures, answers questions and records that consultation took place. But nothing in the plan could still change. The form was respected and the substance was not: an opinion which cannot influence anything is not an opinion. Presenting options rather than a conclusion costs nothing and changes the legal character of the meeting.
The information given in English only
Supporting documents are shared in the group's working language, as they are everywhere else. Members cannot form a reasoned view on documents they cannot fully read, and the sufficiency of the information is precisely what gets challenged. Translation is not a courtesy here — it is what makes the information usable, and therefore what makes the consultation valid.
How to sequence a group project
- Map the French timetable before fixing the group calendar. The consultation period is the fixed point; the rest of the schedule can be built around it. Doing this after the group dates have been announced is what creates the problem.
- Present the project while it is still open. Options, scenarios and a preferred direction, rather than a conclusion. This is the single change that most improves both the legal position and the quality of the discussion, and it costs nothing.
- Provide the information in French, and in writing. Detailed enough for the Works Council to understand the project, and readable by the people who are expected to comment on it. The consultation period only starts once this has been done.
- Let the Works Council give its opinion. Then take the decision, and be able to show that the opinion came first. A negative opinion does not stop the project.
- Announce the decision. Group-wide, once the French process is complete. A one-week gap in a worldwide communication plan is a minor inconvenience; restarting a reorganisation is not.
Frequently asked questions
Which companies must have a French Works Council?
The obligation arises once the headcount reaches at least eleven employees over twelve consecutive months. The Works Council's powers expand significantly at fifty employees, where the general information and consultation attributions apply3.
Can the Works Council block a decision?
No. It gives an opinion, favourable or not, and management remains free to decide. The risk is not the opinion itself but a consultation process that has not been properly conducted.
What if the Works Council does not give an opinion?
Time limits apply, and once they expire the Works Council is normally deemed to have been consulted and to have given its opinion. Silence does not block the project indefinitely — but the time limit only runs if the employer has provided sufficient information.
Does consultation apply to a decision taken abroad?
What matters is the effect in France. A decision taken by a foreign parent company which affects the organisation or the headcount of the French subsidiary requires consultation at that level, whoever took it and wherever it was taken.
Are the discussions confidential?
Works Council members are bound by confidentiality on information that the employer identifies as confidential and presents as such. The designation has to be made deliberately, item by item, rather than applied to a whole file at once.
What does obstruction actually cost?
Obstructing the proper functioning of the Works Council is punishable by a fine of €7,5002. The figure itself is rarely the real issue. The reputational and operational consequences of criminal proceedings against local management are.
How we help
my-people is the HR service offered by Convergent, a French employment law firm. We handle the Works Council relationship for foreign companies operating in France — setting it up, supporting its chair before meetings, and sequencing group projects so the French timetable and the global one fit together.
Because the service is delivered by an Avocat admitted to the Toulouse Bar, the information you share is covered by professional secrecy from the moment we receive it7.
References
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2312-14.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2317-1.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2312-8.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2312-15.
- French Labour Code, art. R. 2312-6.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2315-80.
- Act no. 71-1130 of 31 December 1971, art. 66-5.
This page sets out the applicable legal framework for general information purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and cannot replace the review of a specific situation.