ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

In December 2023, the Paris Judicial Tribunal found La Poste in violation of the French Duty of Vigilance law in relation to a claim brought by the Federation of Trade Unions for Postal and Telecommunications (SUD PTTT), and ordered the company to amend its vigilance plan. This was the first time a court decided a case brought under the Duty of Vigilance law on its merits.

SUD PTT began a legal action against La Poste in 2021 on the grounds that it violated the Duty of Vigilance law by failing to sufficiently address human rights risks, particularly with respect to subcontractors within its own operations in France.

The tribunal’s judgment was based on a detailed analysis of La Poste’s 2021 Vigilance Plan (Vigilance Plan). In its decision, the court found that the initial risk assessment, aimed at identifying, analysing and prioritising risks, which it noted was fundamental to the effectiveness of the Vigilance Plan, was vague and therefore did not comply with the legal requirements.

The court considered that the risk assessment described the risks in a highly generalised way, then analysed and prioritised them broadly. As a result, it did not adequately identify factors linked to the business or the organisation that may give rise to risks, nor did it identify the actions that needed to be introduced or reinforced.

It acknowledged the existence of potentially effective tools, but noted it was not possible to confirm whether these were directed at the appropriate risks. In addition, the court found that La Poste had not shown that it had consulted trade unions when establishing its reporting (grievance) mechanism, as required by law.

• The court did not impose a penalty or a fine on La Poste because it has published a vigilance plan annually since the Duty of Vigilance law entered into force and continually improved it. It ordered La Poste to strengthen its vigilance plan through the following actions:
• supplement the Vigilance Plan with a risk assessment designed to identify, analyse and prioritise risks;
• establish procedures for assessing subcontractors on the basis of the specific risks identified by the risk assessment
• supplement its Vigilance Plan with a mechanism for alerting and collecting reports, after consulting representative trade unions; and
• publish a system for monitoring vigilance measures.

On 11 March 2024, La Poste published a notice stating it was appealing to clarify points of interpretation and application of the Duty of Vigilance law.