Posting of drivers in France: Challenges and Solutions

The challenges of posting drivers in France go far beyond the world of transportation. It is estimated that more than 500 000 foreign workers are posted in France, mainly in the agriculture and construction sector. For those unfamiliar with the technical term, a posted worker is someone who works for a non-French company within the European Union and travels to France for work, usually for a specific period.

The law that rules these detachments in France is commonly called “Law Macron,” the name of the current President of France, who at the time was the Minister of Economy. The Macron law has implemented a series of amendments in the French economy, toughening the law on the posted workers by creating a scheme for registering workers in the Ministry of Labour & Employment, a system known as SIPSI. The Law has also made it mandatory for companies to appoint a representative in France which consents the authorities to have means of communication with the company employing these workers.

The concept of posted workers (not to be confused with cross-border workers) was created by the European Union to allow further substantial liberalization of the labour market. Although posted workers should not be earning less than the minimum wage for that sector in France, we know that in practice, this is not what is happening.

It should also be noted that the tax rates for Social Security in other countries, often lower than in France, allows a certain amount of social dumping to occur. However, in statistics, many posted workers are from countries where the salary difference is not significant (like in Germany or Belgium).

That said, the question of whether or not, freight transport drivers are posted workers do not reach consensus. Several associations have tried to defend a different perspective with the European Union. However, the jurisprudence currently in force has been in place for some years now, making the Macron Law apply to drivers who load or unload in France and (contrary to what workers and companies may deem), regardless of whether they do cabotage or not.

It is crucial to consider that the application of the Macron Law did not reduce the number of workers posted in France, but it gave a clear legal foundation to controls instead. It facilitates authorities to inspect and verify the Worker’s documents.

For drivers, compliance with the Macron Law is essential. Most authority inspectors from the Ministry of Labour prefer to control drivers than posted workers from other sectors. Effectively, the control of posted workers is challenging, especially in construction and agriculture, since several means are needed to prevent their escape.

By being unique and following defined routes, the drivers are easily targeted by government authorities. Generally, these controls are performed by several entities at the same time (police, gendarmerie, Ministry of Labour), and since there is no defined rule, it implies successive controls in other aspects (tachographs and cabotage and other control measurements).

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