The protection of employees in the event of bankruptcy is not threatened by the government's draft order on the restructuring of companies, said Christophe Brasse, president of the National Council of Judicial Administrators and Judicial Representatives (CNAJMJ) on Wednesday.
This text, which aims to transpose the European directive "restructuring and insolvency", "
does not affect the rights of employees
" and "
guarantees the super-privilege they enjoy,
" said Christophe Basse in an interview with AFP.
It “
clarifies
” only an “
extremely complex order of distribution of debts
” currently in French law, he justified, thus refuting the criticisms of the Medef of the CFDT and FO.
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These organizations have denounced a project that would ultimately threaten the current system of payment of wages during collective proceedings.
During such a procedure, the payment of wages of an insolvent company is ensured by the wage guarantee scheme, the AGS, managed by the employers' organizations.
Its financial resources come on the one hand from company contributions, and on the other hand from the sums recovered at the end of the procedures by the realization of the assets of the companies in liquidation, that is to say their sale.
As part of this achievement, the draft ordinance explicitly classifies the reimbursement of salary advances to the AGS after the payment of the fees of administrators and legal representatives.
"
We are very demanding that the super-privilege of the AGS not be demoted,
" Medef deputy chairman Patrick Martin told AFP on Friday, highlighting the risk on the financial balance of the regime, and to term on its survival.
A text that is too complex as it stands
"
It is not new that administrators and legal representatives pay themselves before the AGS
", replies Christophe Basse, who insists on the fact that the payment of salaries remains a super-privilege.
“
I want to reassure the employees.
Tomorrow, they will continue to be paid,
”he says.
More broadly, he considers that "
the current text is too complex and has been settled over time especially by decisions of the Court of Cassation, so this system must be clarified
", which is what the draft ordinance does.
He also regrets a "
little responsible controversy
" at a time when many companies are strongly weakened by the health and economic crisis.
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“
For two years, we have felt a bit of a backpedaling of the AGS in a number of cases.
They are reluctant to play their role of insurer,
”he also accuses.
