French Labour law - Employee evaluation based on behavioral criteria: it must be based on precise, objective, and relevant criteria (Cass. soc. October 15th, 25, 22-20.716)

While employers derive their managerial authority from the employment contract and have the right to evaluate their employees' work, the evaluation method they choose must be based on precise, objective, and relevant criteria in light of the intended purpose.

This is what the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) affirmed in a ruling dated October 15 th, 2025 (No. 22-20.716), published in its official bulletin.

This confirms established case law (French Supreme Court, Social Chamber, December 14, 2015,14-17.152). The "individual development interview" evaluation procedure for employees of the Vitré Dairy Company, which used behavioral assessment criteria, was deemed unlawful.

The company is prohibited from using performance reviews.

This ruling must be upheld.

1) Analysis.

The Court of Cassation regulates annual performance reviews that use behavioral criteria.

The employee evaluation method it adopts must be based on precise, objective, and relevant criteria in relation to the intended purpose.

Before implementing an evaluation system, the employer must consult the Works Council [1].

An evaluation criterion based on the employee's imagination and foresight has been deemed lawful [2].

However, an employee's performance based on courage has been declared unlawful [3]. The Rennes Court of Appeal noted that:

"The section specifically dedicated to the two 'Group Behavioral Skills' through its three following items, themselves subdivided into three subcategories of behavior for the first, four for the second, and three for the third:

'Ambition',

'Commitment', and

'With Simplicity'."

The Rennes Court of Appeal also noted that:

“The abundance of behavioral criteria and sub-criteria, as used in the overall employee evaluation, without it being possible to know a priori the exact proportion to which they are taken into account in this evaluation, nor whether there is actually a certain balance in practice in their general implementation with the purely technical assessment criteria, raises questions about the guarantee of a sufficiently objective and impartial evaluation system, upon which, for the employees concerned, ‘the awarding of a promotion and/or an individual salary increase’ depends, as stated in the minutes of the works council meeting of August 31, 2017.”

Certain terminology raises questions:

• Item “Commitment”/subcategory “Perseverance”: “Demonstrate optimism” (version end of January 2017).

• Item “With Simplicity”/subcategory “Transparency”: “Act and communicate honestly with superiors and colleagues” (version end of January 2017).

• Item “With Simplicity”/subcategory “Be Pragmatic”: “Be concrete and use common sense” (latest version end of 2017).

The Rennes Court of Appeal concluded that the “notions of ‘optimism,’ ‘honesty,’ and ‘common sense,’ whose moralizing connotation inevitably spills over into individuals’ personal lives, appear too vague and imprecise to establish a direct, sufficient, and necessary link with employees’ work activities for the purpose of assessing their skills.” They lead to an overly subjective approach on the part of the evaluator, resulting in a lack of objectivity and transparency and straying from the primary objective, which is the fair assessment of the professional skills of the company's employees. Judicial oversight of evaluations should be approved.

This puts an end to certain abuses.

To read the full article, click on the link below.

https://www.village-justice.com/articles/evaluation-des-salaries-sur-des-criteres-comportementaux-elle-doit-reposer-sur,54984.html?utm_source=backend&utm_medium=RSS_Linkedin&utm_campaign=RSS_Reseaux

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

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