Easyjet in court over work rights
Low-cost airline could be fined millions of euros in unpaid social charges in row over staff based at Orly airport
EASYJET is to be prosecuted over claims it failed to declare the number of staff it had working in France.
The low-cost airline has been under investigation since December 2006, when social charges collection body Urssaf carried out a spot check at Orly airport.
Investigators say they found 170 Easyjet staff working at the airport to the south of Paris with British employment contracts.
A government decree introduced in November 2006 requires foreign airlines with staff based in France to comply with French employment law.
Easyjet said at the time that its staff had British contracts because the company was British and their workplace was the plane, not French soil.
If found guilty, Easyjet could face a bill of millions of euros in unpaid social charges.
The trial will take place at the Tribunal Correctionnel in the Paris suburb of Créteil. A date has not yet been confirmed.
An Easyjet spokesman said that, since 2007, all of its staff in France had employment contracts with a French-registered company.
He told AFP: "Today the company complies entirely with French law. It was a grey area beforehand. As soon as we were asked, we complied with the legislation."
Photo: lucamascaro/Flickr
