France: Asking for current pay, contracts for hiring process

Question

In France, as a Nuclear Engineer, I was asked to give a copy of my current working contract, of my three last monthly pay documents AND those involving a bonus. Online, I found this article L-1221-6 of the Code du Travail. This states that information asked during a hiring process should be relevant to the ability of the worker to perform.

I called the free public hotline for juridic advices and they tell me "Oh, you should,'t refuse to cooperate them, but you aren't forced" but that's didn't help me, I wanted to know if it was legal or not and it feels illegal. In the end, I ended up cooperating by giving one pay document, and reminding the reader of the document of L-1221-6, I hope it goes fine for me; however I ask this question in a broad manner so that people in France who ask themselves this question can get a proper answer.

Answer 1

The employer's request is illegal. At most, you should have provided redacted documents that don't disclose unnecessary information such as salary figures. Unless the salary for the new position is fixed beforehand, having the candidate inform about his salary history is detrimental to him because it worsens the information asymmetry that plays a role in negotiations.

The employer's request violates the article you mention because a candidate's salary has no direct and necessary relation to that candidate's professional skills set. This is especially true in environments that are inefficient and bureaucratic, like most of Europe.

Redacted documents can still reflect your ability to retain akin employment, which is the other purpose envisioned in the article you identified. That is what the hotline for juridic advice should have explained to you. It was outright inept for that office to suggest you to waive protections enacted in the Code du Travail.

Also, it is obvious that a prospective employer cannot force a candidate to do anything. The response you got from them is totally useless.