[France] Organisers of Miss France taken to labour court over employment status

A French court in the town of Bobigny has been asked to determine whether Miss France contestants are employees or volunteers, SIA reports.

According to reporting by The Local France. the feminist group Osez-le-Feminisme (Dare to be Feminist) made a complaint about the Miss France organisation in October 2021, along with Endemol Productions the television channel that airs the programme. 

Osez-le-Feminisme is representing three former Miss France contestants. It reportedly said that the competition breaches France’s labour laws because contestants had previously not been given work contracts for their time participating in the television show. 

Violaine De Filippis-Abate - A lawyer for Osez-le-Féminisme - said that if contestants are to be viewed as full employees, with employment contracts, then the labour code would apply. Specifically, the legal framework that forbids companies from ‘discriminating on the basis of morals, age, family status or physical appearance’.

By these standards, some of the requirements that competitors with the Miss France competition are expected to follow, such as size requirements, a height of at least 1.70 meters, and expectations regarding personal behaviour, such as not having been photographed nude, could be ruled discriminatory under French labour law. 

The verdict was set to be announced this week, on November 8 but will now wait until November 18 after judges were unable to reach a decision. Since the original filing of the complaint in 2021, the Miss France organisation has reportedly announced that it would make some changes.

In addition, Osez-le-Féminisme is addressing working conditions for contestants with Miss France. The Miss France company agreed in December 2021 to create three-day work contracts for the 29 participants in the national contest, however, the feminist group wants to turn the spotlight to the work that Miss France contestants provide during the weeks of preparation prior to the show.

Source: SIA

(Link and quote via original reporting)

A French court in the town of Bobigny has been asked to determine whether Miss France contestants are employees or volunteers, SIA reports.

According to reporting by The Local France. the feminist group Osez-le-Feminisme (Dare to be Feminist) made a complaint about the Miss France organisation in October 2021, along with Endemol Productions the television channel that airs the programme. 

Osez-le-Feminisme is representing three former Miss France contestants. It reportedly said that the competition breaches France’s labour laws because contestants had previously not been given work contracts for their time participating in the television show. 

Violaine De Filippis-Abate - A lawyer for Osez-le-Féminisme - said that if contestants are to be viewed as full employees, with employment contracts, then the labour code would apply. Specifically, the legal framework that forbids companies from ‘discriminating on the basis of morals, age, family status or physical appearance’.

By these standards, some of the requirements that competitors with the Miss France competition are expected to follow, such as size requirements, a height of at least 1.70 meters, and expectations regarding personal behaviour, such as not having been photographed nude, could be ruled discriminatory under French labour law. 

The verdict was set to be announced this week, on November 8 but will now wait until November 18 after judges were unable to reach a decision. Since the original filing of the complaint in 2021, the Miss France organisation has reportedly announced that it would make some changes.

In addition, Osez-le-Féminisme is addressing working conditions for contestants with Miss France. The Miss France company agreed in December 2021 to create three-day work contracts for the 29 participants in the national contest, however, the feminist group wants to turn the spotlight to the work that Miss France contestants provide during the weeks of preparation prior to the show.

Source: SIA

(Link and quote via original reporting)