The national French trade unions French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), French Confederation of Christian Workers (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), and Workers' Force(Force Ouvrière, FO) have signed the draft agreement on the employee side. In contrast, the French Business Confederation (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)  confederation, and the union of local businesses have signed on the employer side.

The agreement provides two primary measures: 

(1) the generalization of profit sharing in companies with less than 50 employees and 

(2) the obligation to negotiate on value profit in case of exceptional results.

According to the provisions that will be applicable on an experimental basis for five years, from 1 January 2025, companies with fewer than 50 employees will have to provide at least one profit-sharing scheme - compulsory (participation) or optional[intéressement], value-sharing bonus (VSB) [prime de partage de la valeur], etc. - if the following conditions are met:

- they are incorporated as a commercial company

- they have a positive tax net profit of at least 1 per cent of sales for three consecutive years;

- they are not already covered by a profit-sharing scheme, except VSB, when they realise those mentioned above taxable net profit.

Moreover, companies with 50 employees or more and having at least one trade union delegate and subject to the obligation to set up mandatory profit-sharing will have to negotiate with the trade unions when they achieve an exceptional result in France.

This obligation concerns the automatic payment of a mandatory or optional profit-sharing supplement or the postponement of the payment of a profit-sharing scheme to a new discussion.

The draft also provides for several secondary measures to encourage the implementation of all types of profit-sharing and points out that the sharing of profit within the company could also take the form of the allocation of salary accessories (meal vouchers, vacation vouchers, prefinanced universal service employment cheque, various gift vouchers, etc.).

French Prime Minister said: “I am making a commitment on behalf of the government: we will respect the compromise reached between the social partners, and we will propose the faithful and total transcription of this agreement into law. This agreement is first and foremost proof that, despite the context [du conflit sur la réforme des retraites], the social dialogue continues and is bearing fruit”. 

Geoffroy Roux de Béziers, President of the French Business Confederation (MEDEF), commented: “I hope the government will renew this agreement” and “any violation of this agreement would be a stab in the back of the social partners for me.”