Back

Monaco modernises its labour legislation

The Bill n°989 of February 18th, 2019 amending the Law n°870 on the employment of employed women in the event of pregnancy or maternity, extending the duration of maternity leave from 16 to 18 weeks and the possibility to postpone prenatal leave up to six weeks at the time of the postnatal leave instead of four weeks formerly was unanimously adopted on June 12th, 2019. It should be noted on this last point that this system therefore allows equal treatment between public and private workers (Bill of 18/02/2019 n° 989).

Moreover, of the 18 bills currently being examined by the National Council, three projects concern directly and exclusively Monegasque labour legislation.

This reflects a real desire to develop the Monegasque legal arsenal and to adapt it to the needs of private employers while ensuring better protection for the Principality’s workers:

  • Implementation of a “whistle-blower” status in the context of labour relations conferring a protection similar to the one granted to the personnel representative, in particular provided when the alert has been issued in “good faith” and in a “disinterested manner”. It also provides the possibility to designate an internal or external referent to the company. This designation is mandatory for companies with more than 10 employees (Bill of 10/12/2018 n°987);
  • Flexibility of the Sunday weekly rest regulations to allow certain retail trade to facilitate their opening on Sundays by introducing a new derogation system by simply notifying the Labour Inspectorate, which carries out control “a posteriori”. This system based on the employee’s voluntary service is not without compensation. The common agreement with the Employer would benefit the Employee with an increase in working hours or an additional rest. However, this text differs from the Bill of September 30th, 2018 tabled by the National Council on several points and in particular on the creation of two tourist areas, which promises to extend the debates (Bill of 16/10/2018 n° 979);
  • Definition of “night work” for any work between 22.00 pm and 05.00 am and of the night worker as an employee performing at least 37% of his weekly working time between 22.00 pm and 05.00 am. Compensation rest or a compensation cash, which should not be less than 10% of the overall effective monthly night working time, could be provided (Bill of 02/10/2018 n°980).

In addition to the bills currently under debate, the Government wishes to provide a better framework for temporary work (Interim) without imposing new rules to the temporary employment agencies and their clients. The Monegasque Government should rely on the Ethics Code of the profession and not on the French Law, which is extremely rigid in this matter. This new project is expected to start in the coming weeks with the presentation of a bill by the Government. A discussion has also been launched with the Principality’s social partners since the beginning of 2019 on the legal simplification of the trade union process and on providing flexibility in terms of duration and implementation of the mandates of trade union delegates.

Finally, the Monegasque self-employed workers will not be left behind, since a bill providing for the introduction of family benefits paid by the CARTI, like the family benefits for employed workers by the CCSS, is currently under development.