According to Articles L1226-2-1 and L1226-12 of the French Labour Code, when an employee is declared unfit for their job, the employer must offer the employee another job suited to their abilities and comparable to the job previously held (unless the occupational health doctor expressly mentions that no redeployment is possible for the employee).
If the employer complies with such provisions, its redeployment obligation is deemed satisfied.
However, French case law holds that this does not prevent the employer from making proposals to the employee in good faith (French Supreme Court, January 22, 2022 n°20-20.369).
In a recent decision, the French Supreme Court ruled that it is up to the employee to prove the unfair nature of the Company’s redeployment proposals, when the latter is deemed to have fulfilled its obligations.
In this case, the employee, declared unfit for work by the occupational health doctor, had been offered multiple positions, in other regions, all geographically distant from his home. The employee refused every offer and was dismissed by the company.
The employee then brought a claim before the employment tribunal, claiming that the company had deliberately failed to offer him other positions that were available in his region.
The Court of Appeal of Rouen ruled that the employer failed to demonstrate that it had fulfilled its obligation to redeploy the employee fairly and seriously.
The French Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s judgment and stated that the burden of proof relies on the employee.
As a conclusion, when the employer’s redeployment obligation is deemed satisfied according to Articles L1226-2-1 and L1226-12 of the French Labour Code, the employee will have to prove that the company did not fulfil its obligation in good faith.