Employment law
Internal rules (règlement intérieur)
The company's internal law, but a tightly framed power: limited content, mandatory procedure, capped sanctions.
The internal rules are the document by which an employer sets the rules of company life. They are often described as the establishment's "internal law", and the image holds on one condition: like any law, they exist only if the adoption procedure was followed.
This is the point practice most often neglects. Rules posted but not approved by the labour inspector, or approved but applied too early, are not enforceable against employees. Content matters; procedure determines existence.
1. Who must have them?
Internal rules are compulsory in every industrial, commercial or agricultural undertaking employing at least ten salaried workers.
Below that threshold, an employer may adopt them voluntarily, but must then follow the same procedure. An internal document titled "service note" or "charter" that in fact lays down disciplinary rules does not escape the internal-rules regime merely because of its title. Labour Code, Article L.62 (French).
2. What may they contain, and what may they not?
The content is exhaustively defined. Internal rules are devoted exclusively to four areas:
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Technical organisation of work | Hours, entry and exit, exceptional arrangements, use of premises and equipment |
| Discipline | General and permanent rules, the scale of applicable sanctions |
| Hygiene and safety | Requirements applicable in the establishment, protective equipment, procedures to follow |
| Salary payment arrangements | Date, place and form of payment, in accordance with the law |
Anything outside these four areas has no place in internal rules. In practice, the most frequent and most questionable additions are:
| Frequently encountered clause | Why it is irregular |
|---|---|
| Setting or changing pay | Salary belongs to the contract and the collective agreement, not the internal rules |
| Fines or deductions for breaches | Fines are formally prohibited |
| Distinctions based on sex, family situation, political or religious beliefs | A discriminatory provision has no effect |
| Waiver of a statutory or contractual right | Internal rules cannot reduce an acquired right |
Labour Code, Articles L.64 and L.69 (French).
3. How do they become binding?
The procedure has four steps, each with its own deadline. It is what turns a draft into an enforceable norm.
| Step | What to do | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Consultation | Send the draft to the staff delegates, or failing that to the staff representatives | They have 15 days to submit observations |
| 2. Transmission | Send the draft in two copies to the labour inspector, with the delegates' written observations and, where applicable, written reasons for those not retained | - |
| 3. Approval | The labour inspector reviews the draft: approves it, or requires changes | One month |
| 4. Entry into force | The rules take effect | 20 days after approval, the inspector's date and stamp being conclusive |
Two classic mistakes. Sending the draft without the delegates' observations: the file is incomplete. And applying the rules from the date of approval: the twenty days must elapse first. A sanction imposed during that period rests on a text not yet in force. Labour Code, Articles L.65, L.66 and L.68 (French).
4. Posting
The internal rules must be posted at hiring points and at the workplace, in an easily accessible position and in conditions that keep them legible.
This is not decorative: posting is what makes the rules knowable to everyone. A properly approved text kept in an office supports poorly the argument that the employee ought to have known it. Labour Code, Article L.67 (French).
5. What sanctions may the rules provide for?
The rules set the scale of sanctions applicable in the company. Those commonly used run from lightest to most serious:
- the warning;
- the reprimand;
- temporary lay-off, which suspends the contract and may not exceed eight days;
- termination of the contract, where the facts justify it.
Two absolute limits frame this power. Fines are prohibited: the employer may impose no pecuniary sanction. And no deduction may be made from remuneration beyond those the law provides : tax withholdings, social contributions, and lawful assignments or garnishments. A financial penalty disguised as a deduction is still a fine. Labour Code, Articles L.34, L.69 and L.121 (French).
6. What the rules cannot do
Three limits are worth retaining, because they recur in drafts submitted to the inspectorate:
- They create no right against the employee. Internal rules may neither reduce a statutory or contractual advantage nor introduce an obligation contrary to law.
- They do not replace the contract. The position, pay and place of work belong to the individual contract; changing them through internal rules has no effect.
- They cannot be amended unilaterally. Any amendment follows the same procedure as adoption: consultation, transmission, approval, twenty-day period.
On drafting method and the implementation timetable, see Drafting the internal rules.
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| Compulsory from 10 workers | In industrial, commercial and agricultural undertakings |
| Four areas only | Work organisation, discipline, hygiene and safety, salary payment |
| 15 days for the delegates, one month for the inspector | Consultation precedes transmission |
| Entry into force 20 days after approval | Not before, and not without approval |
| Posting is mandatory | Hiring points and workplaces |
| Lay-off capped at 8 days | Disciplinary fines and deductions prohibited |