Employee Representative Elections and the CSE

The workforce threshold: the 11-employee rule

The obligation to hold employee elections arises once a company reaches a workforce of 11 employees. This threshold must be maintained for 12 consecutive months. A company that reaches 11 employees in January and falls below that number in November is not subject to this obligation for that period.

The calculation of the workforce follows the rules of the Labor Code: full-time employees on permanent contracts count as 1; part-time employees are counted on a pro-rata basis according to their contractual hours; and employees on fixed-term contracts are counted based on the duration of their actual presence over the last 12 months (unless they are replacing an absent employee). Apprentices, employees on professional training contracts, and employees seconded from an outside company are not counted.

📌 Practical example: A communications agency with 9 employees on permanent contracts hires two additional employees on permanent contracts as of February 1. If this headcount of 11 is maintained without interruption until January 31 of the following year, the employer is required to hold CSE elections within 90 days of determining that the threshold has been exceeded.

Affected Companies

This requirement applies to all private-sector employers: commercial companies, associations under the 1901 Act, foundations, sole proprietorships, and public industrial and commercial establishments (EPICs). It applies at the level of each legal entity, but a company-wide agreement—or, in the absence thereof, a unilateral decision by the employer—may provide for the creation of an establishment-level CSE when the company has multiple establishments or internal entities with sufficient managerial autonomy.

Risks in the Absence of Elections

Failure to organize employee elections in a company that meets the threshold constitutes the offense of obstructing the establishment of the CSE, as defined in Article L. 2317-1 of the Labor Code. This offense is punishable by one year of imprisonment and a fine of €7,500 for individuals, and a fine of €37,500 for legal entities.

Beyond criminal penalties, the absence of a CSE has major operational consequences. Several procedures are blocked without prior consultation with the CSE: collective redundancy, « PSE », certain amendments to internal regulations, and major reorganization projects. A company without a CSE—and which has not yet received a formal notice of non-compliance—is in a state of structural non-compliance that can paralyze its management decisions.

⚠️ Important note: Even if no employee stands for election, the employer is not immune from legal action. The employer must have initiated the election process and retained evidence of it—such as posted notices, trade union invitations, and the official notice of failure to establish the CSE. It is this official notice of failure that exempts the employer from any liability.

The election process is governed by a specific timeline. Failure to meet any deadline may result in the elections being declared invalid. Here are the steps to follow in order.

Informing Employees

The employer must inform employees of the election by posting a notice on company premises. This notice must specify the proposed date for the first round of voting. It must be posted at least 90 days before the scheduled date of the first round. This information may also be communicated by any other means that provides a verifiable date: email with a read receipt, a signed internal memo, or a notice posted on the intranet.

📎 Practical tip: Always keep records of proof that the notice was posted (a dated photograph, a copy of the email used to distribute the notice). In the event of a subsequent legal challenge to the procedure in court, this evidence will establish that the process was conducted properly.

In companies with fewer than 20 employees, if no candidacy is received within one month of the employees being notified, the election process is terminated, and the company draws up a report of lack of candidates.

Inviting Labor Unions

The employer must then invite representative labor unions to negotiate the Pre-Election Agreement (“PAP”). Invited are labor unions that are representative within the company or industry, those that have established a local branch of of the trade union within the company, as well as unions affiliated with a representative confederation at the national and cross-industry levels.

Negotiating the Pre-Election Agreement

The PAP is the foundational document for the election. Negotiated between the employer and the labor unions, it establishes the rules of the election: the distribution of seats between the employee and management electoral colleges, the number of regular and alternate members to be elected, the voting procedures (paper or electronic voting), and the specific dates of the two rounds.

The number of seats to be filled is determined by the Labor Code based on the size of the workforce.

To be valid, the PAP must be signed by a majority of the labor unions that participated in its negotiation, including at least one representative union. In the absence of a union or if negotiations fail, the employer sets the election procedures itself through a unilateral decision, in accordance with legal provisions.

Organization of the Election (1st and 2nd Rounds)

The first round is reserved for lists submitted by labor unions. To be valid, it must meet a quorum: the number of votes cast must exceed half of the registered voters. If this quorum is met, seats are allocated using the highest-average proportional representation method.

If a quorum is not reached in the first round, or if seats remain unfilled, a second round is held within 15 days. This second round is open to all candidates, including independent candidates who are non-unionized employees. There is no quorum requirement for the second round.

Announcement of Results and Minutes of Vacancies

Following the election, the employer prepares a report of results listing the names of the elected representatives and the results by list and by electoral college. This report must be submitted within 15 days to the service provider designated by the Ministry of Labor (currently the Center for the Processing of Workplace Elections, CTEP) via the website élection-professionnelle.travail.gouv.fr.

If no candidates ran, or if the second round failed to fill all seats, the employer prepares a report of no candidates, which is submitted under the same conditions. This document is essential: it certifies that the employer has fulfilled its obligation to organize the elections, even in the absence of candidates, and exempts the employer from liability for the offense of obstructing the election process.

📎 Submitting the minutes (whether of results or of a lack of candidates) to the CTEP is mandatory and is the employer’s responsibility. It also determines the extent of union representation and the potential appointment of a union representative to the CSE.

The Legal Term of Office

CSE members are elected for a term of 4 years. A company-level agreement may reduce this term to as little as 2 years. Since the entry into force of Article 8 of Law No. 2025-989 of October 24, 2025 (known as the “Seniors and Social Dialogue Act”), the limit on the number of consecutive terms has been repealed.

As of October 26, 2025, it is possible to serve consecutive terms as an elected member of the CSE without any limit, regardless of the company’s workforce size (between 11 and 50 employees or more than 50 employees).

The Renewal Schedule

The renewal of the CSE follows the same procedure as its initial establishment. The employer must plan ahead: employees must be notified and unions must be invited at least 90 days before the end of the current term. In practice, it is recommended to initiate the process 4 to 6 months before the expiration date to allow for a comfortable margin of time in light of the uncertainties involved in negotiating the PAP.

The first round of voting must be held within the two-week period preceding the anniversary date of the term’s end. If the employer allows the term to expire without having initiated the process, the employer finds itself in the same situation as if it had no CSE: it faces the risks associated with the offense of obstruction.

The Case of a Decline in Workforce Size

When a company’s workforce falls below the 11-employee threshold on a permanent basis after establishing a CSE, the current term of the elected representatives continues until its normal expiration. The employer is not required to hold new elections at the end of the term if the workforce has remained below 11 employees during the 12 months preceding the term’s expiration.

However, if the workforce fluctuates around the threshold, the employer must accurately document headcount figures on a month-by-month basis. A calculation error or a lack of traceability could put the employer in a difficult position in the event of an audit or legal dispute.