Esport was enshrined in the Law for a Digital Republic n ° 2016-1321 of October 7, 2016. The Law provides a specific legal framework concerning the status and fixed-term employment contracts specific to professional competitive video game players. .
After our article devoted to legal framework of competitions, it is therefore now necessary to revisit employment contracts specific to e-sport.
The option of joining e-sport to a pre-existing plan
However, this proposal involved recognizing e-sport as the quality of sport.which was not obvious to the legislator. He therefore preferred to create a new fixed-term employment contract, drawing heavily on the specific CSD applicable to the sports sector.
A new regime specific to e-sport
Article 102 of the Law for a digital Republic provides that "any contract by which an association or a company benefiting from the approval [...], in return for remuneration, the assistance of a player [professional video game professional] is a fixed-term employment contract".
The professional player is then defined as " any person whose remunerated activity involves participation in video game competitions in a link of legal subordination with an association or a company benefiting from a license from the Minister in charge of digital [...]".
The duration of employment contracts specific to E-sport
Regarding the duration of employment contracts specific to E-sport, the Law states that it can not beless than the duration of a competitive video game seasontwelve months or more than five years The start and end dates of the season are defined by regulation according to the video game used or the competition circuit concerned, as stipulated in article 10 of No. 2017-872 of 9 May 2017 on the status of professional gamblers of competitive video games.
The Law provides for the possibility of derogating from this legal minimum of the duration of the employment contract only if the contract is concluded during the season and under two conditions:
- The contract must run "at least until the end of the video game season"
- "It is concluded to ensure the replacement of a professional video game player in case of absence of the professional player or suspension of his employment contract".
Similarly, Article 9 of the Decree provides that "a fixed-term employment contract may be signed for a period of less than 12 months in order to:
1 ° The creation of a team to compete on a newly launched game;
2 ° The creation of a team to compete on a game where no other existing team of the employer competes in the same competition circuit;
3 ° The creation of a new position in an existing team."
The duration of employment contracts specific to E-sport
Lastly, the Act provides for the mandatory provisions to be mentioned in the employment contract, namely:
1 ° The identity and address of the parties;
2 ° The date of hire and the period for which it is concluded;
3 ° The designation of the job held and the activities in which the employee participates;
4 ° The amount of the remuneration and its various components, including bonuses and salary supplements, if any;
5 ° The names and addresses of the supplementary pension and provident funds and of the body providing supplementary health cover;
6 ° The title of the collective agreements or agreements applicable."
The employment contract must then be sent by the employer to the competitive professional video game player no later than two working days after the hiring.
In the absence of compliance with legal and regulatory provisions and mandatory information, the employment contract shall be deemed to be of indefinite duration.
While the "report-stage" advocated a reference to pre-existing regimes for the benefit of e-sport, the legislature preferred to grant him a fixed-term contract of its own, thus allowing the construction of a precise legal framework for benefit of all professionals in the video game industry.
