Right to strike of a private sector employee

A strike is a collective and concerted cessation of work in support of occupational claims.

The strike must therefore bring together the 3 following conditions :

• Shutdown total of work
• Shutdown collective of work by all striking employees
• Knowledge by the employer of professional claims (on wages, working conditions, defense of rights...).)

To qualify as a strike, the movement must be followed by at least 2 employees.

However, an employee may strike alone within the company under the following conditions:

• Either the employee accompanies a strike call launched at the national level
• Either he is the only employee in the company.

The law does not say who can strike. The strike can be called by a union, an employee representing staff or not.

Any employee can strike. You don't have to be a union member or employee representative to strike.

No, the employee does not have to inform his employer of his intention to strike.

It is up to the employer to note the absence of the employee on the day of the strike and to ask him the reasons for his absence. However, the employee can inform his employer of his absence if he wishes.

In the private sector, a strike may be called at any time.

Employees who want to use their right to strike do not have to give notice.

A strike is possible even if it has not been preceded by a warning or an attempt at conciliation with the employer. The employer must, however, be aware of the employees' professional demands at the time of the strike. No formality is provided for the submission of claims (oral or written transmission).

Employees are not obliged to wait for the negative response of their employer before starting the strike.

One agreement or collective agreement may not limit or regulate the exercise of the right to strike.

An employee cannot be punished or dismissed for having gone on strike. Nor can they be discriminated against (for example, in the area of salary increases).

However, in the event of gross misconduct of the employee (personal and active participation in illegal acts in particular), the employee may be dismissed.

It does not exist no minimum or maximum legal duration.

The strike may be short-lived (1 hour or even less) or may continue for a long period (several days or weeks).

It can be repeated.

The strike suspend the employment contract, but does not break it.

The employer deducts from the employee's pay a share of the salary and any accessories (travel allowance, for example).

Deduction from remuneration must be proportional the duration of the work stoppage. Any higher restraint is prohibited.

The exercise of the right to strike must not be mentioned on the striker's pay slip.

No, the strike is not a circumstance to recover the hours lost as a result of the strike.

Strikers must respect the work of non-strikers. They cannot prevent them from working (for example, occupancy of premises may, depending on the circumstances, be an abusive act).