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Collective Agreement for the Metallurgy Industry: What Are the Stakes of the New Job Classification?

Published

04 July 2024

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4 minutes

Collective Agreement for the Metallurgy Industry: What Are the Stakes of the New Job Classification?

As part of the overhaul of all the provisions of the branch’s collective agreements and accords, the social partners in the metallurgy sector have demonstrated their commitment to building a social project that addresses the current challenges of this sector.

ccn métallurgie

The case of national transportation

For national road transport, article D.3222-1 of the Transport Code provides that in the absence of a conventional agreement or the application of a specific standard contract, the general standard contract applies. The standard contract, which is included in the appendix of the third regulatory part of the Transport Code, specifies the liability limitations applicable according to the weight of the shipment.

For shipments of less than 3 tonnes, the compensation amount is set at 33 €/kg, never exceeding 1,000 € per lost or damaged package.

For shipments of 3 tonnes or more, the repair amount is set at 22 €/kg, never exceeding 3,200 € per ton of goods (per shipment).

Therefore, in the context of an organized road transport from Le Havre to Nantes, in accordance with the general standard contract for a total load of 7 tonnes consisting of a 5-ton shipment and a 2-ton shipment with 4 pallets. The maximum amount of compensation that the carrier will be required to pay to the shipper is 20,000 euros, broken down as follows:

- Shipment of 2 tonnes with 4 pallets: (2,000 kg) x (33 €) = 66,000 euros, never exceeding 1,000 € per package, so (1,000 €) x (4 pallets) = 4,000 euros. The maximum compensation amount for this shipment is 4,000 euros.

- Shipment of 5 tonnes: (5,000 kg) x (22 €) = 110,000 euros, never exceeding 3,200 € per ton of goods, so (3,200 €) x (5 tonnes) = 16,000 euros. The maximum compensation amount for this shipment is 16,000 euros.

road transport 1

The case of international transportation

For international road transport, the 2008 CMR Convention, concerning the international carriage of goods by road, is intended to apply. The limit set by the convention corresponds to 8.33 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) per kilogram of gross weight missing or damaged. Therefore, regardless of the number of packages in a shipment, in case of a claim, the responsible road carrier will be required to compensate for the total weight of the goods expressed in kilograms, multiplied by 8.33.

Of course, if the amount of damages is below the limitation ceiling, the carrier will only be required to compensate for the amount of damages. This principle applies to all conventions, whether they concern land or maritime transport.

(1) The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) is a composite of 5 major international currencies that ensures stability in currency conversion operations (1 SDR is equivalent to 1.22513 euros as of 01/07/2024).

A new classification system

In a second phase, a new classification system has been developed, replacing the notions of workers, supervisors, and engineers with 9 groups of non-executive and executive jobs (classified from A to I and from 1 to 18).

The agreement specifies the classification thresholds at which employees can be categorized as executives or non-executives; the joint committee of APEC fully validated the proposals of the social partners, thus allowing employees who do not fall under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 to be affiliated with a specific SSP scheme for executives:

  • Employees at levels C6 to D8 fall under the category of 'integrated executives' (or 'APEC integrated').

  • Employees at levels E9 to E10 are 'assimilated executives' under Article 2.2 of the ANI of November 17, 2017.

  • Employees at levels F11 to I18 are executives under Article 2.1 of the ANI of November 17, 2017.

The evolution of this classification may have led to 'reclassifications' of employees, thereby modifying the designation of the beneficiary categories. This change in the scope of beneficiaries automatically ended the benefit of the transitional period (as of 12/31/2024, see D. No. 2021-1002 of July 30, 2021).

In other words, the scope of beneficiaries of the supplementary social protection schemes, which may be altered by the new professional classification, necessitated an immediate update of the beneficiary category labels. This update cannot wait until the end of the transitional period (12/31/2024).

If only part of the non-executives 'approved by APEC' can be integrated into the executive group, it will be necessary to modify the beneficiary category listed in their company scheme to clearly identify the levels of non-executive employees integrated into the executive scheme and inform the insurer.

In any case, you must ensure that the category label in your company scheme is compliant and that there is consistency between the beneficiary categories in the company scheme and the insurance contract.