Sustainable Tourism Law

380 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW In line with the Act n°2016-1088 of 8 August 2016 which adopted various general labour measures, including specific rules for seasonal workers, their position has been further improved regarding their work conditions following theMountain Act II. A new type of permanent contract has even been introduced on an experimental basis. The purpose of such a contract is to offer some sort of stability for the workers, who would then already know where they would work in the forthcoming season, and for the employers, who are keen to employ the same workers from one season to another. It would also enable them to obtain remuneration throughout the year instead of being limited to a season, if they wish. Another measure has been adopted to facilitate the operation of groups of employers. Therefore, the legal framework has been simplified. In other words, it will be possible for employers situated in the same area to share the workforce in an easier manner to respond to the diversification of activities. On the employees’ side, this will enhance their work conditions, as they will only have one employment contract – with the group, rather than various non-permanent employment contracts with different employers. In addition, various measures were provided to improve the access to accommodation by seasonal workers in mountains. It is obviously not possible to build new accommodations given the complexity to find new building lands in the mountain areas (few lands, construction rules). The housing of local populations, as well as of seasonal workers, is a real issue in the mountain areas given the small number of accommodations available, at an affordable price. Various solutions were therefore presented in the act, such as sub-renting social accommodations to seasonal workers 12 , encouraging municipalities to offer accommodation to seasonal workers 13 , selling by public entities (such as the “HLM entities”) of vacant accommodations to private entities 14 . c) Protecting mountain culture and agriculture A particular focus was put on assisting the agriculture, forest and pastoral activities situated in the mountain territories. The legislator is conscious that such activities are more difficult to develop and to maintain given the specific conditions (geographical, 12 Such sub-renting contracts cannot exceed 6 months. 13 To this end, the municipalities shall conclude a convention with the State to improve the offer of accommodation for seasonal workers on the territory of the mountain resort. After having established the needs for accommodation, the convention sets out the particular measures to be taken by the municipalities within three years. Failure to fulfill the obligations set out in the convention will give rise to a significant fine for the municipalities. 14 This aims at avoiding vacant accommodations that would end up uninhabitable and increasing the number of rents in the resorts for local populations and workers.