Several employees have recently received a letter from the Human Resources department informing them they have been promoted and inviting them to take an appointment to sign an amendment to their job contract. In the past, beneficiaries of promotions received a simple letter of information. So why the change, when France is in the midst of a campaign of administrative simplification?
At SUD, we believe the measure is aimed at providing legal cover for a practice that is immoral, and frankly counterproductive — that of "ratissage de primes" or wiping out bonuses during a promotion. We have denounced previously this practice of reducing or eliminating certain bonus payments which can result in employees receiving no financial gain when being promoted to a higher category. Here is an example — a real one — of a journalist promoted from RED4 to RED5 that we published in 2013:
(see the printable pdf version)
We not only criticized this measure, but also supported several employees in filing cases at the labour court. A ruling in one case is expected soon.
Alert your union representatives!
The manner in which AFP wipes out bonuses is not transparent, and results in victimizing employees they supposedly intend to reward when a promotion results in no financial gain.
Instead of trying to protect itself legally by forcing employees to sign amendments to their job contracts in which they "accept" having bonuses wiped out, AFP management would do better to abandon the practice.
Before signing such an amendment to your job contract, contact a union representative of your choice to get advice and to allow them to get a better picture of management’s new use of this practice.
Paris, le 10 February 2016
SUD-AFP (SUD Culture & Médias Solidaires)