Obligations of employers
In Article L4121-1 of the Labor Code, “The employer takes necessary measures to ensure the safety of employees and protect their physical and mental health.”
As recalled in a note published on the website of the Ministry of Labor and updated on Monday, it “must launch an organization and means adapted to episodes of high heat”.
The employer must “refresh the air” and “provide fresh drinking water” especially in closed rooms. The fact remains that “the law does not provide for a temperature at which an employee can leave his post,” CFDT says on its website.
What can employees do?
The Ministry of Labor advises workers to take “simple actions” to limit the effects of the heat, inviting them to, among other things, “drink water regularly”, “protect the sun”, “adjust the pace of work” or “dress up”. light clothing that allows sweat to evaporate”.
However, be careful with clothes that are too light: as social law lawyer Me Diane Reboursier explains, the employer can impose restrictions. For example, “if the employee has safety shoes, he will not be able to wear flip-flops.”
Finally, if there is a “serious and unforeseeable danger” to the life or health of the employee, he has the right to exercise the right to leave the job after giving notice to the employer. The latter cannot require the employee to return to work while this threat exists and no sanctions or wages can be withheld.
What to do when working outside?
The ministry states that in the construction sector, the company must “arrange a climate-adapted rest room or area” to allow for breaks, and “give at least three liters of fresh drinking water per day to each worker.” Labor.
In the case of a red alert issued by Météo-France, it can “adjust the workload plan” and “organization of the work” or even “decide to stop the work” – for example, roof insulation or covering on works, handling repetitive heavy loads.Some sunscreen filters are toxic to coral reefs. Others, in the form of nanoparticles, can cross biological membranes, raising questions about whether they are harmful. So should we opt for UV protection clothing with protection levels equivalent to SPF 50 sunscreen?
The decree published on June 28 thus recognizes the heat wave as a cause of technical unemployment for construction workers and allows for compensation in the event of work stoppages, but only if the heat wave lasts for more than two days.
Olympic Games-2024: do athletes and volunteers have rights?
Denis Gravouil, a member of the CGT confederal office, points out that “volunteers are not subject to questions of labor law, but of the right to union”. Me Reboursier adds, “They are not employees within the meaning of the Labor Code and therefore they do not have the ‘right to quit’.”
When it comes to athletes, we have “army, post office, etc. Athletes recruited by the Federation”, generally, athletes who have an “employment contract with the employer” and are “presented to the federation” during the Olympics, we must distinguish between others. refers to the head of the CGT without a contract.