REPRESENTATION OF PERSONNEL : EXCLUDING YOUNG WORKERS WHEN CALCULATING STAFF NUMBERS IS ILLEGAL.

• Position: Brief article

The EU Court of Justice has recommended the annulment of national legislation in France allowing the exclusion of workers under a certain age when calculating staff numbers (judgement of 18 January, C-385/05).

This measure was introduced in 2005 by the Villepin government, as part of an emergency employment plan' to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to recruit young workers without having to fulfil the minimum requirements for the right to information and consultation of employees. The case was referred to the Court by five representative trade unions.

The Court ruled that both Directive 2002/14 (on the right to information and consultation of employees) and Directive 98/59 (collective redundancies) prohibit this clause. They both preclude a "national legislation which excludes, even temporarily, a specific category of workers from the calculation of staff numbers"

The first text provides that "member states are to determine the method for...