France: Staff Must Receive Information in Writing Regarding Staff Elections by Electronic Means

When organizing staff elections by electronic means, staff must receive detailed information in writing with regards how the vote will be organized, on the technical specifications with regards the tool used and information on how their personal data will be handled during such process.

Companies with over 11 employees regularly need to organize staff elections. In larger companies, this is usually done using an electronic voting tool.

When organizing staff elections via electronic means, employees first need to be given access to the technical specifications with regards to the tool used. This information does not necessarily need to be communicated to each individual employee. It can for example be communicated via the company’s intranet. Displaying it on the employee information notice board is however not enough.

Moreover, employees also need to be individually informed of how their personal data will be handled. This can be included in the general GDPR notice which each employee must receive when joining the company.

In a ruling dated September 17, 2025, the French Supreme Court indicated that in addition to the information listed above, each employee also needs to receive a detailed written document explaining how the vote would be organized. The content of such information is not specified.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

Ensure that staff are provided with all the necessary information when organizing staff elections to avoid the election results being invalidated.