By two rulings of March 15, 2018, the Court of Cassation specifies the contours of the quality of action of user companies when a temporary employee is the victim of an industrial accident or an occupational disease while working in their service. .
As a reminder, theArticle L. 241-5-1 of the Social Security Code provides that in the event of an industrial accident or occupational disease of a temporary worker during a mission, the cost of the accident or occupational disease is partially charged to the user company.
In practice, one third of the capital representing the rate of partial permanent disability (if it is greater than or equal to 10%) which will be allocated to the victim, if applicable, will be entered in the employer's account of the user company.
The latter therefore has an interest in contesting both the decision to cover the claim and the decision granting the degree of permanent partial disability.
However, the temporary employment company remains the only legal employer of the temporary employee made available bound by an assignment contract (Article L.1251-1 of the Labor Code).
Based on this notion of legal employer of the temporary worker, the Court of Cassation considers that, even if it is true that the law confers on the user company specific rights and obligations in matters of industrial accidents and occupational disease, the law does not reserve for all that the right to challenge the decision awarding a pension and the enforceability of the coverage of an occupational accident.
Since then, the user company does not have the possibility to contest:
- the enforceability of the coverage of an industrial accident or occupational disease before the courts of general litigation (Cass. 2th Civ March 15, 2018, n ° 17-10640);
- the decision granting annuity before the technical litigation jurisdictions (Cass. 2th March 15, 2018, n ° 16-19043).
The temporary employment company is therefore the only one authorized to lodge disputes relating to the opposability of the work accident or occupational disease and to the challenge of a decision fixing the rate of permanent partial disability.
Consequently, it is essential that the user company, including one of the temporary workers it employs, is injured, works in partnership with the temporary employment company to jointly consider possible disputes.
The aim being that the user company does not bear part of the cost of a rate of permanent incapacity which is not justified.
Cass 2è Civ March 15, 2018, n ° 17-10640
Cass 2è Civ March 15, 2018, n ° 16-19043
