French Employment law -  Right to Evidence (Overtime) - A Director of La Bonbonnière Obtains its Professional Email from the Paris Conseil de prud’hommes  (CPH Paris Encadrement, BCO Ordonnance July 9th, 2026)

In its order of July 9th, 2026, the Paris Conseil de prud’hommes, Management Section:

ORDERS SAS LA BONBONNIERE to produce the emails sent and received by Mr. X within one month of notification of this order.

Beyond this period, a penalty of €50 per day of delay will apply.

ORDERS the referral of the case and the parties to the Judgment Bureau:

SETS the following deadlines for the parties to exchange claims, documents, and arguments:

Application: October 8, 2026

Defense: December 10, 2026

End of exchanges: March 24, 2027

In its BCO order of July 9, 2026, the Paris Labor Court affirms that:

Pursuant to Article 15, the employer is required to provide the full content of emails.

The Court of Cassation ruling of June 18, 2025 (No. 23-19022) clarifies and confirms this obligation imposed on the employer.

The court therefore orders the company to provide copies of the emails within one month of notification of this order.

Beyond this period, a penalty of €50 per day of delay will apply.

1) Reasoning behind the order of the Industrial Tribunal of July 9, 2026, Management Section

Pursuant to Article R. 1454-14 of the French Labor Code, "the conciliation and orientation board may, notwithstanding any procedural objection and even if the defendant fails to appear, order:

1° The issuance, where applicable, under penalty of a daily fine, of work certificates, pay slips, and any document that the employer is legally required to provide;

2° When the existence of the obligation is not seriously contestable:

• The payment of provisional sums for wages and wage-related benefits, as well as commissions;

• The payment of provisional sums for paid leave, notice periods, and severance pay;

• The payment of the compensatory allowance and the special severance pay in the event of medical incapacity resulting from a work-related accident or occupational disease as mentioned in Article L. 1226-14:

(e) Payment of the end-of-contract allowance provided for in Article L. 1243-8 and the end-of-assignment allowance mentioned in Article L. 1251-32:

3° All investigative measures, even those initiated by the court:

4° All measures necessary for the preservation of evidence or disputed items.

Based on the documents provided by the employee, the judge may issue a provisional decision to compensate for the employer's failure to provide the certificate required by Article R. 1234-9. This decision summarizes the elements of the standard certificate provided for in Article R. 1234-10, enabling the employee to exercise their rights to the benefits mentioned in Article L. 5421-2.

This decision does not release the employer from their obligations under Articles R. 1234-9 to R. 1234-12 concerning the unemployment insurance certificate.

It is notified to the France Travail operator in the employee's place of residence. A third-party objection may be filed by the France Travail operator within two months.

Pursuant to Article R. 1454-15 of the French Labor Code, "the total amount of provisional payments allocated pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article R. 1454-14 is calculated by the conciliation and guidance board. It may not exceed six months' salary calculated on the average of the last three months' salary.

The conciliation and guidance board may provisionally enforce the penalties it has ordered.

When the article mentioned in the first paragraph is applied, the conciliation and guidance board meetings are public." »

*** The conciliation and mediation board, after deliberating in accordance with the law, has made the following decision:

Mr. X contests the termination of his probationary period, which he attributes to harassment.

Mr. X requests the provision of emails received and sent on his work email account, with a penalty of €50 per day of delay.

The company SAS LA BONBONNIERE opposes this request, as Mr. X's email account was deleted after he left the company.

The requested emails are those received and sent on the requester's email account.

Their content and metadata constitute personal data under Article 4 of the GDPR.

Under Article 15, the employer is required to provide the full content of the emails.

The French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) ruling of June 18, 2025 (No. 23-19022) clarifies and confirms this obligation for the employer.

The court therefore orders the company to provide copies of the emails within one month of notification of this order.

Beyond this period, a penalty of €50 per day of delay will apply.

Frédéric CHHUM avocat et ancien membre du conseil de l’ordre des avocats de Paris (mandat 2019-2021)

CHHUM AVOCATS (Paris, Nantes, Lille)

e-mail: chhum@chhum-avocats.com

www.chhum-avocats.fr

https://www.instagram.com/fredericchhum/?hl=fr

Paris: 34 rue Petrelle 75009 Paris tel: 0142560300

Nantes: 41, Quai de la Fosse 44000 Nantes tel: 0228442644

Lille: : 45, Rue Saint Etienne 59000 Lille – Ligne directe +(33) 03.20.57.53.24