Section 6: Challenge.

Where the application of an agreement or arrangement is called into question in a given undertaking, in particular as a result of a merger, transfer, demerger or change of activity, that agreement or arrangement shall continue to have effect until the entry into force of the agreement or arrangement which replaces it or, failing that, for a period of one year from the expiry of the notice period provided for in Article L. 2261-9, unless a clause provides for a longer period.

Where the agreement or arrangement which has been called into question has not been replaced by a new agreement or arrangement within the period set out in the first paragraph of this article, the employees of the undertakings concerned benefit from a guaranteed remuneration, the annual amount of which, for a working time equivalent to that provided for in their contract of employment, may not be less than the remuneration paid, in application of the agreement or arrangement which has been called into question, during the last twelve months. This guaranteed remuneration is understood within the meaning of Article L. 242-1 of the Social Security Code, with the exception of the first sentence of the second paragraph of the same Article L. 242-1.

This guarantee of remuneration may be ensured by the payment of a differential indemnity between the amount of remuneration that was due to the employee by virtue of the disputed agreement and his contract of employment and the amount of the employee's remuneration resulting from the new agreement, if any, and his contract of employment.

Where the challenge concerns a fixed-term agreement, the second paragraph of this article :

1° Applies until the end date that would have been the end date of the agreement if it had not been called into question, if this end date is later than the date on which the agreement called into question ceases to have effect in application of the first paragraph;

2° Does not apply if this term is prior to the date on which this agreement ceases to have effect in application of the first paragraph.

New negotiations must begin in the company concerned, at the request of one of the interested parties, within three months of the agreement being called into question, either to adapt it to the newly applicable collective bargaining provisions, or to draw up new stipulations.