Restructuring and Employment Protection Plans (EPP)

Business reorganisations, workforce transformation, industrial change, competitiveness initiatives and post-acquisition integration projects all require companies to balance business continuity, employee relations, cost management and legal compliance. 

We help management teams assess risks at an early stage, compare available options and build realistic implementation timelines so that employment law considerations become an integral part of strategic decision-making rather than obstacles during execution. 

Our lawyers structure and secure all aspects of workforce transformation projects, including information and consultation procedures, negotiations with trade unions, collective redundancies, Employment Protection Plans (EPPs), voluntary departure programmes, collective mutual termination schemes, internal mobility measures, redeployment obligations and support measures for affected employees. 

Our extensive experience of administrative practice and litigation enables us to combine legal certainty, operational feasibility and constructive social dialogue, even in highly sensitive situations involving tight deadlines or conflicting interests.

We support executive management, legal departments and HR teams throughout the entire process, from the assessment of strategic options to implementation. 

We help structure decision-making processes, prepare consultations and negotiations, manage interactions with labour authorities and anticipate issues that may delay or undermine the project. Where disputes arise, we defend employers with a detailed understanding of the project, its economic rationale and the decisions taken throughout the process. 

Complex restructuring projects rarely involve employment law issues alone. Working closely with our corporate, tax and finance teams, as well as CMS colleagues across jurisdictions for international projects, we assess the interaction between consultation timelines, transaction documentation, governance issues, financing arrangements and tax considerations. 

This integrated approach helps avoid inconsistencies between different workstreams, facilitates informed decision-making and provides management with a consolidated view of the project. 

Our involvement is tailored to the stage and complexity of each project. We can review existing practices and risks, develop legal and social strategy options, prepare consultation and negotiation processes, support implementation or manage post-implementation challenges. 

At every stage, we identify available options, key decisions and their implications for timing, cost, workforce management and reputation. This provides management teams with a clear and practical roadmap that can be readily implemented internally.

Our main areas of support:

• Legal and strategic assessment: analysing the applicable legal, collective bargaining and case law framework to identify risks, alternatives and mitigation strategies before irreversible decisions are taken 
• Preparation of project documentation: drafting project frameworks, collective agreements, separation schemes, support measures, negotiation materials and documentation for employee representatives and labour authorities 
• Management of employee relations and regulatory processes: preparing communications, assisting during consultation meetings and negotiations, and managing interactions with labour authorities to maintain control of the timetable and overall project strategy 
• Multidisciplinary coordination: coordinating employment, corporate, tax, finance, data protection and international aspects of the project to address legal and operational interdependencies through a single integrated approach 
• Implementation and dispute management: securing implementation, monitoring sensitive issues, adapting strategies where required and, where necessary, preparing litigation strategies from the outset of the project. 

Technical expertise only creates value when it supports effective decision-making. Our advice prioritises risks, presents clearly reasoned options and translates complex legal requirements into practical business decisions. 

This approach, combined with our responsiveness and in-depth understanding of our clients’ businesses, enables management teams to retain control of their transformation projects throughout even the most sensitive restructuring processes.