Following a year of media disclosures detailing harsh management practices in specific Prime Minister’s Office departments, the government is establishing a novel alert mechanism. On January 1st, a governmental order establishing a “System for reporting and addressing acts of violence, discrimination, harassment, and distressful workplace situations” within the Prime Minister’s Office was published in the Official Journal.
This measure clarifies that this reporting system is accessible to current and former employees (within six months of departure) who have either experienced or witnessed such incidents. An anonymized review of reported incidents and their handling will be “submitted to the health, safety, and working conditions committee [CHSCT]“, the order states, providing a comprehensive, longitudinal perspective.
This initiative stems from a statutory requirement for all public sector employers, mandated by the August 6, 2019, public service reform law, but previously unimplemented within the Prime Minister’s Office. A preliminary decree was presented to labor unions in late September.
Illness, burnout, and antidepressant use
Recent investigations have unveiled instances of severe management flaws within these offices.
In June, the trade publication Public actors highlighted a tense environment within the interministerial digital department (Dinum), a division chiefly responsible for government modernization. The focus: the new policy of not renewing contracts for personnel whose fixed-term agreements had ended. Further reporting on Dinum, in December, by Le Monde, featured accounts from twenty employees describing escalating sick leave, burnout, and antidepressant prescriptions within the department. Its head, Nadi Bou Hanna, declared his intention to step down in “mid-January”.
In July, Le Monde detailed similar issues within the government information service (SIG). An audit, initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office concerning its director, Michael Nathan, concluded an absence of harassment.