Brussels, 01/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - In considering French labour law, the Court of Justice of the EU came to the conclusion on Thursday 1 October that it is acceptable that young people working during their holidays be accorded fewer rights than other workers on fixed-term contracts.
The Court was asked in this case, C-432/12, to determine whether French law unreasonably discriminates against some workers because of their age. In France, when a fixed-term contract is not followed up by a permanent contract, workers are entitled to receive a wage top-up at the end of their contract to compensate for the uncertainty of their situations. However, young people, often under the age of 28, do not have this entitlement when they work during school or university holidays.
The Court held that discrimination on the grounds of age cannot be argued since the young people are not in a situation comparable to that of workers on fixed-term contracts eligible for the top-up. School or university students take summer jobs which are by their very nature are temporary and ancillary since the students are likely to resume their studies at the end of the holidays. At the end of their contracts, they do not find themselves jobless and uncertain of their future, a situation for which it is right to provide an end-of-contract benefit. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)