The industrial tribunal of Sète stays the course

Bertrand Lacabanne (collège salarié) vice-président du conseil de prud'hommes a laissé sa place de président à Joachim Yapi (Medef). H.A.

Quand certaines juridictions se grippent, le conseil des prud’hommes de Sète réduit les délais de traitement des dossiers.

"On est petits mais on marche bien", summarizes Joachim Yapi (Medef), the new president of the industrial tribunal of Sète, one of the smallest in France (and the oldest, 1850) ended the year 2023 and started 2024 under good auspices.

With 15 advisors on the employee side and 13 on the employer side elected in 2023, the industrial tribunals of the singular island, responsible for judging disputes linked to labor law (excluding fishing and agriculture) held no less than 148 hearings in 2023 and closed no less than 147 cases (four more cases than in 2022), 45 were the subject of appeal. The jurisdiction, made up of five sections (commerce, industry, management, miscellaneous matters and summary proceedings) was seized 160 times last year compared to 172 times in 2022. But there remain 152 cases to be processed as of January 1, 2024 (there were 143 on the same date in 2023). Tie-breaks (when the advisors cannot reach an agreement and call on a deciding judge) are down with 7 cases (12 in 2022). 

The composition of the industrial tribunal

The composition of the council according to the sections: the president for commerce Joachim Yapi (Medef), for miscellaneous activities Lionel Menardo (CGT), the industry section Bertrand Lacabane (CGT), the management section Valérie Gouin (CFDT). In total, after the 2023 election, on the employee side, the CGT holds 6 seats, CFDT, 4 seats, FO, 3 seats and the CFE-CGC, 2 seats.

"Generally speaking, there is economic gloom but no acceleration in business closures and therefore conflicts. On the trade side, we have an increase in the number of cases , there was the Camaïeu case for example, we have less on the industry side because the town is no longer industrial or the procedures do not take place here, analyzes the president.

"It's catastrophic"

The field of personal services is particularly exposed to litigation, note Joachim Yapi and his vice-president (and predecessor) Bertrand Lacabanne (CGT). "It's catastrophic, these new bosses, whether individuals or small structures, have no knowledge of social law, there is really something to do", continues the president. 

The Sète court, despite two unfilled advisor positions in the commerce section on the employer side, but thanks to its two clerks, can be proud of reducing the processing time of cases which goes from 9.7 months compared to 11, 3 in 2022. As of December 31, 2023, the oldest inventory dispute was 28.9 months ago. In 2022, the oldest was recorded 38.1 months earlier. "We have the capacity to take on more business, with the same number of advisors we could handle double the number of files, assures Joachim Yapi. We proposed to expand our jurisdiction in the Hauts Cantons area. According to the vice-president, Bertrand Lacabanne, there is a change in culture among the youngest employees. "Rather than asserting their rights, they prefer to leave the companies, it's less conflictual than before. The conventional termination has also reduced appeals but there are also slippages". 

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