european-union france students
French University: are remote internships legal?
<p>I am a master's student, part of a two-years dual degree: first year in Germany, second and last year in France.</p>
<p>For my last semester, I am required to do a 6 months internship and thesis in a company, it is my responsibility to find the internship. I found a very exciting opportunity to work on natural language processing for a company that is fully remote (the company is based in Europe).</p>
<p>Now, the French university has to approve my internship (also from a legal perspective) but they say that <strong>a fully-remote internship is prohibited by French law</strong>. Only a fully on-premise <strong>or</strong> hybrid internship is considered legal.</p>
<p>If what they are saying is true, what is the rationale for this law?
Can exceptions be made somehow?</p>

<p>Article 40 of the Cherpion Law of July 28, 2011 (L. n°2011-893, JO 29 juill.) amended <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/id/LEGIARTI000024422242/2011-07-30" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Articles L. 8241-1 and L. 8241-2</a> of <em>le Code du Travail</em>.  It did not mention - let alone restrict - remote/home working for interns. Instead, it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>introduces measures that strengthen the legal framework regulating internships. The new law states that internships:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>cannot consist of tasks that could be undertaken by a worker in a permanent position within the organisation;</p>
</li>
<li><p>must be established through a tripartite contract signed by the employer, the intern and their educational establishment;</p>
</li>
<li><p>must offer training to individuals and be integrated into the intern’s degree or other training. <a href="https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2011/strengthened-regulation-of-internships" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>The only reference to the intern's (i.e. employee's) place of work can be found in 8241-2, which states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The non-profit labor loan between companies requires:</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>An amendment to the employment contract, signed by the employee, specifying the work entrusted to the user company, the hours and <strong>the place of performance of the work, as well as the specific characteristics of the workstation</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Note that these two provisions in <em>le Code</em> were further amended in 2015 and 2017 respectively to the <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006072050/LEGISCTA000006178275/#LEGISCTA000006178275" rel="nofollow noreferrer">versions currently in force</a> with no change to the quoted requirement.</p>
<p>Also, I'm not familiar with the current COVID-19 restrictions in France but I find it odd that remote working is not being considered.  See the <a href="https://u-paris.fr/en/faq-internships/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Université de Paris</em> FAQs</a> for an example of where it is being implemented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Internships outside of Université de Paris can take place or continue on face-to-face basis, however, only <strong>when working remotely is not possible</strong> or relevant.</p>
</blockquote>
