Best Friend, False Friend: The “Favour” Rule in Comparative Labour Law

Authors

Luca Ratti, University of Luxembourg

Abstract

Employment relationships can be governed by multiple legal frameworks, including statutory labour codes, collective bargaining agreements (at both enterprise and sectoral levels), and individual employment contracts. How are conflicts between these sources of law resolved? In many jurisdictions, the “favour rule” addresses such conflicts by prioritising the source that offers the greatest benefit to the employee. This rule aims to prevent employers from leveraging their superior bargaining power in individual contracts to undercut more favourable terms established through collective bargaining. However, comparative analysis reveals that the scope of the favour rule is narrowing in some jurisdictions, where it is increasingly applied as a guiding principle rather than a strict rule.

Recommended Citation

Ratti, Luca (2025) "Best Friend, False Friend: The “Favour” Rule in Comparative Labour Law," Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal: Vol. 45: Iss. 1, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2819-2567.1023
Available at: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cllpj/vol45/iss1/6

References

Adams, Z., Barnard, C., Deakin, S., & Butlin, S. (2021). Deakin and Morris’ labour law (7th ed.). Hart Publishing.

Anderman, S. (2000). The interpretation of protective employment statutes and the contract of employment. Industrial Law Journal, 29(3) 223–242. https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/29.3.22

Auzero, G., Baugard, D., & Dockès, E. (2022). Droit du travail (35th ed). Dalloz.

Baugard, D. (2015). L’ordre public social. Archives De Philosophie Du Droit, 58(1), 129–152. https://doi.org/10.3917/apd.581.0154

Baylos Grau, A. (Ed.). (2013). Políticas de austeridad y crisis en las relaciones laborales: La Reforma del 2012. Bomarzo.

Belfort, S. F. (1998). Demystifying federal labor and employment law preemption. The Labor Lawyer, 13(3), 429–443. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40862619

Bengoetxea, J. (1993). The legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice: Towards a European jurisprudence. Clarendon Press.

Bogoeski, V. (2022). Nonwaivability of labour rights, individual waivers and the emancipatory function of labour law. Industrial Law Journal, 52(1), 179–213. https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwac020

Brodie, D. (2016). Relational contracts. In M. Freedland, A. Bogg, D. Cabrelli, H. Collins, N. Countouris, A. C. L. Davis, S. Deakin, & J. Prassl (Eds.), The contract of employment (pp. 145–166). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198783169.003.0007

Cessari, A. (1966). Il “favor” verso il prestatore di lavoro subordinato. Giuffré.

Chalaron, Y. (1989). L’application de la disposition la plus favorable. In [Editor Missing] Études offertes à G. Lyon-Caen; Les transformations du droit du travail. (pp.243—256). Dalloz.

Däubler, W. (2020). Arbeitsrecht. Bund Verlag.

Daugareilh, I. (2019). The tremendous upheaval in sources of labour law in France. In T. Gyulavári & E. Menegatti (Eds.), The sources of labour law (pp. 213–228). Wolters Kluwer.

Davidov, G. (2020). Non-waivability in labour law. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 40(3), 482–507. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqaa016

Davies, A. C. L. (2016). The relationship between the contract of employment and statute. In M. Freedland, A. Bogg, D. Cabrelli, H. Collins, N. Countouris, A. C. L. Davis, S. Deakin, & J. Prassl (Eds.), The contract of employment (pp. 74–95). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198783169.003.0004

Davies, P., & Freedland, M. (1983). Kahn-Freund’s Labour and the law (3rd ed.). Stevens. https://www.jkhighcourt.nic.in/ebooks/Labour_and_the_Law.pdf

Deakin, S., Lele, P., & Siems, M. (2007). The evolution of labour law: Calibrating and comparing regulatory regimes. International Labour Review, 146(3–4), 133–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2007.00011.x

Del Punta, R. (2021). Diritto del lavoro (13th ed.). Giuffré. https://doi.org/10.36253/978-88-5518-484-7.05

Dworkin, R. (1977). Taking rights seriously. Harvard University Press.

Eurofound. (2015). Collective bargaining in Europe in the 21st century. Publications Office of the European Union. DOI:10.2806/135652

Eurofound. (2022). Favourability principle. European Industrial Relations Dictionary. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/european-industrial-relations-dictionary/favourability-principle

Evju, S. (2008). Imperative law, derogation and collective agreements. In H. Konzen, S. Krebber, T. Raab, B. Veit, & B. Waas (Eds.), Festschrift für Rolf Birk zum siebzigsten Geburtstag (pp. 61–76). Mohr Siebeck.

Finkin, M. W. (2020). Union dispossession of labour protection: A paradox, in two legal systems. International Journal of Comparative Labor Law and Industrial Relations, 36(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.54648/ijcl2020001

Freedland, M. (2016). The legal structure of the contract of employment. In M. Freedland, A. Bogg, D. Cabrelli, H. Collins, N. Countouris, A. C. L. Davis, S. Deakin, & J. Prassl (Eds.), The contract of employment (pp. 28–51). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198783169.003.0002

Gamonal, S. C., & Rosado Marzán, C. F. (2019). Principled labor law: U.S. labor law through a Latin American method. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190052669.001.0001

Gesualdi-Fecteau, D., Johnstone, M. & Richard, G. (2025). Rearticulating labour regulation’s fragmentation, effective protections, and job quality: An analytical framework. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal. In this issue. https://doi.org/10.60082/2819-2567.1021

Ghestin, J., Goubeaux, G., & Fabre-Magnan, M. (1994). Traité de Droit Civil: Introduction Générale. Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence.

Golding, G. (2023). Shaping contracts for work: The normative influence of terms implied by law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192867827.001.0001

Goldman, A. L., & Corrada, R. L. (2014). Labor law in the USA. Wolters Kluwer.

Gyulavári, T., & Menegatti, E. (Eds.) (2019a). The sources of labour law. Wolters Kluwer.

Gyulavári, T., & Menegatti, E. (2019b). Introduction: Recent trends in the hierarchy of labour law sources. In T. Gyulavári & E. Menegatti (Eds.), The sources of labour law (pp. 1–13). Wolters Kluwer.

Hajn, Z. (2003). Collective labour agreements and contracts of employment in Polish labour law. In M. Sewerynski (Ed.), Collective agreements and individual contracts of employment (pp. 191–206). Wolters Kluwer.

Hueck, A., & Nipperdey, H. (1957). Lehrbuch des Arbeitsrechts (Volume II). Franz Vahlen Verlag.

Jacobs, A. (2012). Who is afraid of derogatory agreements at company level? In Liber Amicorum: Spunti di diritto del lavoro in dialogo con Bruno Veneziani (pp. 159–164). Cacucci.

Jeammaud, A. (1999). Le principe de faveur: Enquête sur une règle émergente. Droit Social, (2), 115–124.

Jeammaud, A., Le Friant, M., & Lyon-Caen, A. (1998). L’ordonnancement des relations du travail. Recueil Dalloz, 38, 359–368.

Julén Votinius, J. (2019). Sources of labour law in Sweden. In T. Gyulavári & E. Menegatti (Eds.), The sources of labour law (pp. 335–350). Wolters Kluwer.

Keune, M. (2010). Derogation clauses on wages in sectoral collective agreements in seven European countries. Eurofound. https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1234124/124631_EF1087EN.pdf

Kumor-Jezierska, E. (2018). Employee favourability principle. In B. Krzysztof (Eds.) Principles of Polish Labour Law (pp. 84–90). Wydawnictwo C. H. Beck.

Meyrat, I. (2009). La faveur et le droit du travail. In G. J. Guglielmi (Ed.), Le faveur et le droit (pp. 357–372). Presses Universitaires de France. https://doi.org/10.3917/puf.chev.2009.01.0357

Moizard, N. (2025). The fragmentation of French collective bargaining. Comparative Labor Law &

Policy Journal. In this issue. https://doi.org/10.60082/2819-2567.1022

Monereo Pérez, J. L., Molina Navarrete, C., Moreno Vida, M. N., Vila Tierno, F. (2023). Manual de derecho del trabajo (22nd ed.). Editorial Comares.

Mosing, F. (2018). Das günstigkeitsprinzip im arbeitsrecht (1st ed.). Linde Verlag. Ojeda Avilés, A. (2014). Compendio de derecho sindical. Tecnos.

Palomeque López, M. C., & Alvarez de la Rosa, M. (2021). Derecho del trabajo (29th ed.) Editorial Universitaria Ramón Areces.

Pecinovsky, P. (2018). EU economic governance and the right to collective bargaining. Part I. Standard and extreme governance and the indicators and limits of the right to collective bargaining. European Labour Law Journal, 9(4), 374–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/2031952518817567

Pélissier, J. (2001). Existe-t-il un principe de faveur en droit du travail. In Mélanges dédiés au Président Michel Despax. Presses de l’Université de Sciences Sociales de Toulouse, pp. 389 ff.

Peskine, E., & Wolmark, C. (2023). Droit du travail (16th ed.). Dalloz.

Pittard, M. J., & Butterworth, S. (2015). The rich panoply of sources of labor law: National, regional and international. In M. W. Finkin & G. Mundlak (Eds.), Comparative labor law (pp. 21–61). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781000137.00007

Sanders, A. (2016). The content of contracts of employment — Terms incorporated from collective agreements or from other sources. In M. Freedland, A. Bogg, D. Cabrelli, H. Collins, N. Countouris, A. C. L. Davis, S. Deakin, & J. Prassl (Eds.), The contract of employment (pp. 449–470). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198783169.003.0021

Schulten, T., & Müller, T. (2015). European economic governance and its intervention in national wage development and collective bargaining. In S. Lehndorff (Ed.), Divisive integration: The triumph of failed ideas in Europe — revisited (pp. 331–363). European Trade Union Institute. https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/15%20Chap%2014%20Divise%20integration%20Lehndorff%20EN%20Web%20version.pdf

Shapiro, S. J. (2007). The “Hart-Dworkin” debate: A short guide for the perplexed. In A. Ripstein (Ed.), Ronald Dworkin (pp. 22–55). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139167109

Supiot, A. (2007). Critique du droit du travail (2nd ed.) Presses Universitaires France.

Supiot, A. (2015). La gouvernance par les nombres. Cours au Collège de France, 2012-2014. Institut d’études avancées de Nantes.

Tridimas, T. (2000). The general principles of EC law. Oxford University Press.

Waddington, J., Müller, T., & Vandaele, K. (2023). Trade unions in the European Union: Identifying challenges. In J. Waddington, T. Müller, & K. Vandaele (Eds), Trade unions in the European Union: Picking up the pieces of the neoliberal challenge (pp. 37–92). https://doi.org/10.3726/b20254

Wedderburn, L. (1992). Inderogability, collective agreements, and community law. Industrial Law Journal, 21(4), 245–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/21.4.245

Wlotzke, O. (1957). Das günstigkeitsprinzip im verhältnis des tarifvertrages zum einzelarbeitsvertrag und zur betriebsvereinbarung. Recht & Wirtschaft.