In the event of refusal to justify the use of delegation hours, the employer may directly submit a request for reimbursement to the employment tribunal.

The use of delegation hours by an employee representative is presumed to be in line with the purpose of his mandate. However, in order to avoid possible abuses, the employer may ask the employee representative for details of the activities carried out during these hours.

• The first was to obtain the requested justifications,

• Then, a second one to request the reimbursement of the disputed representative time-off hours.

The Court of Cassation has reversed the case law in a decision date February 16, 2022 where the staff representative had simply sent the delegation vouchers to his employer, without any further details. Such a reply, which does not allow the employer to control the use of representative time-off, must be analyzed as a refusal to reply.

In the event of a refusal to answer, the employer is entitled to demand the reimbursement of the representative time-off, without first having to request by judicial means the indication of the activities for which they had been used.

The procedure for contesting the use of delegation hours is thus simplified.

A judgment to be found in full on the website site of the Court of Cassation.

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