You have a new business partner and want to frame your relationship with a contract. Your new partner has made you an offer but you don’t know what to think.
Here’s a summary of what you need to pay particular attention to.
1. Contract preamble
Contracts often contain a preamble that describes the context in which the parties came together. If the contract is unbalanced, this can often be seen in the preamble, in the way the objectives and roles of the parties are described. If the preamble already doesn’t reflect your vision of the relationship, pay particular attention to what follows.
2. Contract duration and termination options
Many contracts proposed by one of the parties provide several possibilities for one of the parties to terminate the contract early (in the event of misconduct, late payment, change of economic situation, etc.) without giving the other party the same possibility.
The contract is then very unbalanced, with the other party having to rely on the legal provisions of the Civil Code, which are sometimes less free, to terminate if it so wishes.
3. The parties’ liability clause
Contracts most often contain a clause on the liability of the parties, which may exonerate one party from all responsibility in the event of non-performance, or on the contrary place a heavy burden on the party who performs imperfectly. The middle ground is most often found in the liability of the parties for direct and foreseeable damage resulting from their non-performance, and within the limit of the contractual amount. In this way, the parties can be made responsible without incurring costs that are totally disproportionate to the purpose of the contract.
4. Special clauses
Depending on your situation, certain clauses may be particularly important to you. These may include, for example, the following clauses:
confidentiality clause,
intellectual property clause,
non-solicitation clause,
clauses stipulating a timetable or minimum number of orders, etc.
There is no standard wording for these clauses, which must perfectly reflect your wishes. However, a lawyer can help you to formulate your wishes clearly, so that there are no misunderstandings when the contract is applied.
5. Sanctions
If an obligation is not accompanied by a sanction, then nothing obliges your co-contractor to respect it. It is therefore important to check that each obligation is accompanied by a sanction. It’s by anticipating any malfunctions in your contractual relationship that you can ensure that your relationship is secure.
The aim of our monthly newsletter is to help you adopt a CSR approach, if you so wish, and to give you concrete examples of steps you could take. We’ll start with good practices that can be implemented within your company to benefit your employees.
CSR policies that benefit employees are indeed of considerable interest. Indeed, since the health crisis, 63% of French people are more attentive to the commitments made by companies. 84% of French employees believe that corporate social responsibility should be a priority, along with health and safety in the workplace. Quality of life in the workplace and equal opportunities are also high on the list.
So if you want your company to be attractive, and if you want to keep your existing employees, here are a few tips.
What actions can be implemented as part of a CSR policy to benefit employees?
Offer good social conditions within your company
Respect and enforce the basic rules of health and hygiene at work (washing hands, using personal protective equipment (PPE), observing safety signs, avoiding overwork, maintaining cleanliness, having a first-aid kit to provide first aid in the event of an accident at work, respecting the anti-smoking policy, offering your team a day of first-aid training (PSC1), etc.).
Above and beyond any CSR policy, this objective must be the first to be respected within your company to guarantee a good quality of life at work for all your employees.
Join the collective bargaining agreement for your industry, which guarantees working conditions adapted to your company’s sector.
Promoting diversity and fighting discrimination in the workplace :
Have an inclusive hiring policy (neutral job advertising, structured interviews that are the same for all candidates, implementation of a transparent hiring policy, establishment of clear and objective selection criteria, providing positions for employees with disabilities, etc.).
Promote equality between men and women (policy of fair pay for equivalent work, adapting working hours for people with family responsibilities, etc.).
Evaluate annually the fairness of salaries for all staff (comparative analysis of salaries in particular).
Implement a mentoring policy within the company. In concrete terms, this means creating a structured program…
Be attentive to employees’ personal well-being:
Create a healthy and pleasant working environment: make premises welcoming and convivial by installing plants, optimize workplace lighting: good lighting improves productivity and employee well-being, optimizing direct access to sunlight can also have a positive impact on your employees’ well-being, dedicate rooms to employee well-being with a break room for example, reduce noise pollution;
Focus on ergonomics to enhance your employees’ well-being at work and improve their productivity (comfortable chairs, adjustable tables, etc.);
Encourage the use of telecommuting: telecommuting is an environmentally-friendly alternative that also enables employees to be more rested and productive. It also ensures a better balance between employees’ private and personal lives. For the company, the development of telecommuting reduces the carbon footprint by cutting down on employee travel, as well as reducing energy consumption on company premises. To ensure that telecommuting is effectively implemented within the company, it will be necessary to establish clear rules for organizing telecommuting within the company, by adopting a telecommuting charter for example. Finally, you’ll need to equip your employees to enable them to work properly from home.
Annual appraisal interviews: these ensure that the employee is satisfied with his or her working conditions, and also identify any difficulties he or she may be experiencing.
Adapting working hours: whenever possible, employees should be able to adapt their working hours to ensure a balance between their professional and personal/family lives, through the introduction of part-time working, flexible working hours or working time modulation. These working time arrangements can be put in place by means of a collective labor agreement.
Ensuring a good atmosphere within the company
By organizing solidarity team-buildings (zero waste activity, Run for the Planet, an introduction to permaculture…) and/or by organizing impact challenges within the company. The ma petite planète application offers examples of three-week challenges that can be carried out within companies.
Introduce “solidarity” days off, during which employees can help an association.
Some companies go so far as to opt for corporate philanthropy: employees contribute their skills to a public-interest organization during their working hours, and are paid for doing so.
For employees, it allows them to become fully and personally involved in their company’s CSR policy, while feeling particularly useful.
For companies, corporate philanthropy entitles them to a tax reduction of 60% of the employee’s salary. In practical terms, corporate philanthropy is implemented through the provision of services or the loan of manpower.
Important: It is essential to communicate your company’s CSR policy to your employees, so that they can become involved and appreciate the benefits.
To this end, you can set up a CSR roadmap that will be sent to employees or posted within the company to keep them informed of the projects envisaged and their progress.
It is also possible to appoint a CSR manager within the company, or assign responsibilities to various employees in this area.
It may also be worth setting up an open dialogue within your company to find out what your employees expect from a CSR policy.
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