Tripartite agreements organizing employee transfers between two companies of the same group provide for both the termination of the employment contract with the first company and the continuation of contractual relations with the second.
However, their legal validity seemed to be weakened since the Court of Cassation ruled that, unless otherwise provided by law, the termination of a permanent employment contract by agreement of the parties can only take place within the framework of a conventional termination agreement (Cass. Soc. October 15, 2014, n° 11-22.251).
In a 2016 decision, the Court clarified that intra-group transfers do not fall within the scope of its 2014 ruling : « Whereas the provisions of Article L. 1237-11 of the French Labor Code relating to termination by agreement between an employee and his employer are not applicable to a tripartite agreement concluded between an employee and two successive employers whose purpose is to organize, not the termination, but the continuation of the employment contract » (Cass. Soc. 8 juin 2016, n° 15-17.555).
In other words, the Court of Cassation secures tripartite agreements organizing intra-group transfers.
This practical and common-sense solution can only be approved. It should be noted, however, that the transfer must be a continuation of the initial contract, which implies at least a resumption of seniority.
