Staff Safety During Protests: An Employer's Guide
When demonstrations fill the streets near your office, shop or warehouse, your first responsibility is the people who work for you. Staff need to get to work, do their jobs and get home safely, sometimes through closed roads, disrupted transport and tense crowds. This guide explains your duties as an employer and gives you a practical plan for protest days, before, during and after.
Key takeaways
- French employers have a general duty to protect employees' health and safety, and protest-related risks belong in your risk assessment (DUERP).
- The most effective measures are simple: remote work, adjusted hours, travel checks and a contact chain.
- Decide in advance who makes the call to close early or keep staff at home, and on what information.
- Employees who cannot reach work because of transport strikes are not on strike: agree fair arrangements with them.
As of late October 2026, France is in the middle of a wave of cost-of-living protests. The nationwide day of action on 17 October 2026 brought together students, yellow vest groups and trade unions. The Interior Ministry estimated about 550,000 demonstrators, while unions claimed about 800,000. Clashes, burned vehicles and damaged or looted shops were reported in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Lille and Marseille, and partial curfews were imposed in some areas afterward. More actions are planned on 24 and 31 October and on 5 November 2026.
Most protest days pass peacefully for most workplaces. But when trouble does happen, it can happen fast, and employers who planned ahead make better decisions. This guide focuses on France, with principles that apply in the UK, US and elsewhere. It is general information, not legal advice. Check the latest official information from your préfecture, local authorities and service-public.fr.
Your legal duty to keep staff safe
In France, employers have a general obligation to protect the health and safety of their employees. In practice, this means identifying risks, putting reasonable prevention measures in place and keeping them up to date. The main tool is the document unique d'évaluation des risques professionnels (DUERP), the written risk assessment every employer must keep.
Protest-related risks are not something to file away as "outside our control." If your premises are on a usual demonstration route, if staff travel through city centers or if your employees work late shifts, these are foreseeable risks that belong in your assessment, with matching measures.
The UK and US have similar general duties under health and safety law: assess foreseeable risks and take reasonable steps to reduce them. The details differ, but the planning steps below work in any country.
Before protest days: assess and plan
Good decisions on the day come from preparation done in calm weeks. Work through these steps with your managers and, where you have them, employee representatives.
- Update your risk assessment. Add risks such as travel disruption, crowds near the premises, damage to the building, aggressive behavior from passersby and late-night travel. Note the prevention measures for each.
- Map exposure. Which sites are near frequent protest routes or busy squares? Which roles must be on site, and which can work remotely? Who travels by public transport, and who has long or late commutes?
- Set decision rules. Decide who can authorize remote work, early closing or a full closure, and what information they will use: announced routes, official advice, curfews and local news.
- Build a contact chain. Collect up-to-date phone numbers, create a group message channel and agree how staff confirm they are safe.
- Prepare the premises. Know how to lock down quickly, where staff can shelter inside, and which entrances to use if the main one is blocked.
- Brief your team. Explain the plan, what you expect from them and what they can expect from you, including how pay works on disrupted days.
Common mistake
Waiting until the morning of a protest to decide whether staff should come in. By then, transport may already be disrupted and employees are on their way. Announce your plan the day before, with a clear time and channel for any last-minute update.
Practical measures that work
You do not need complex security arrangements. A handful of simple measures cover most situations for small and mid-sized businesses.
Remote work on protest days
Where the job allows it, remote work is the simplest way to remove travel risk. Agree the rules in advance, check that people have the equipment and access they need, and make sure the arrangement complies with any remote work agreement or charter you already have.
Adjusted hours
Protests and clashes often follow predictable timing, such as marches in the afternoon and tension in the evening. Starting earlier, finishing earlier or splitting shifts can help staff avoid the riskiest hours. For shops and restaurants, closing a few hours early can be a sensible trade-off.
Travel checks
Before staff leave home and before they head back, check announced routes, transport disruptions and any curfew in the area. Encourage people to avoid crowds, choose routes away from demonstrations and travel together when possible. For staff who must drive, avoid parking near announced protest routes.
A contact chain
Each manager is responsible for checking on their team: who is on site, who is at home and who is traveling. Agree a simple "I'm home" message for evening shifts. A contact chain also helps you reach people quickly if you decide to close.
During the day: what to do if tension rises
If a protest comes close to your premises or the situation changes quickly, people need clear, simple instructions. Write them on one page and make sure every manager has a copy.
| Situation | Suggested response |
|---|---|
| Peaceful march passes nearby | Keep working, stay inside, keep doors closed if noise or crowds are heavy |
| Crowd gathering outside, tension rising | Close the shop or office to the public, move staff away from windows, lower shutters if you have them |
| Damage or violence in the street | Stay inside in a safe room, call emergency services if needed, do not confront anyone |
| Curfew or police instructions announced | Follow official instructions, send staff home early in time to travel safely |
| Staff member unaccounted for | Use the contact chain, call their emergency contact, alert authorities if you are worried |
Above all, tell staff never to protect stock or property at the risk of their own safety. Goods and windows can be replaced, and damage from riots is usually covered by multi-risk business policies, subject to deductibles, limits and exclusions.
Pro tip
Name one person as the "information lead" on each protest day. Their job is to follow official announcements, local news and transport updates and to pass clear updates to managers every hour or two. One reliable source of information prevents rumors and conflicting instructions.
Strikes, transport disruption and pay
Protest days often come with strikes, including in public transport. It helps to keep three situations apart.
- Employees on strike: in the private sector, no advance notice is generally required, with exceptions such as some transport services. You may withhold pay in proportion to the time on strike, but the payslip must not mention the strike: use a neutral "unpaid absence" line. Penalizing employees for lawfully striking is prohibited.
- Employees who cannot reach work: staff stuck because of transport strikes are not on strike. Discuss remote work, flexible hours or leave. Pay rules depend on the situation and your collective agreement.
- Employees you send home: if you decide to close or send staff home for safety reasons, check your collective agreement and get advice on how those hours are paid.
The site's separate guide to strike rules for employers in France covers pay, notice and rights in more detail.
Hypothetical example
Imagine Sophie manages a 12-person design studio in central Lille. The day before a national day of action, she checks the announced route, which passes two streets away. She tells the team to work from home, asks the two people who must handle a client delivery to come in from 8 am to 2 pm, and arranges a taxi home for one of them. At 1 pm, the information lead reports crowds building nearby, so both leave early and confirm they are home by message. Nothing dramatic happens, and nobody had to improvise. The names and details are made up.
After the event: support and review
When a protest day turns difficult, the aftermath matters too. Check in with staff who were on site, especially if they witnessed violence or damage. Offer time to talk, and point them to any employee assistance or occupational health service you have.
Then review what happened. Did the contact chain work? Were decisions made in time? Did everyone receive the right information? Update your DUERP and your one-page plan with what you learned. If premises were damaged, follow your insurer's instructions: after the 17 October 2026 violence, insurers extended the deadline to declare damage to 30 days.
Your protest-day staff safety checklist
- Add protest and travel risks, with prevention measures, to your DUERP
- Identify which roles can work remotely and which must be on site
- Decide who can authorize remote work, early closing or full closure
- Build and test a contact chain with up-to-date numbers
- Prepare a one-page plan for rising tension near the premises
- Announce the plan the day before each protest day
- Name an information lead to follow official updates on the day
- Check in with staff and review the plan afterward
Frequently asked questions
Can I require staff to come in on a protest day?
Generally, you can ask employees to work as usual, but your safety duty means you must assess the risks and take reasonable measures. If there is a clear danger, insisting on attendance without precautions could expose you to liability. Remote work and adjusted hours are often the best balance.
Can employees refuse to work if they feel unsafe?
French law gives employees a right to withdraw from a work situation they reasonably believe presents a serious and imminent danger to their life or health, after alerting the employer. Whether it applies depends on the facts. Take concerns seriously and discuss practical solutions.
Should I close my shop on every protest day?
Not necessarily. Many protest days pass without trouble. Base the decision on your location, announced routes, official advice and any curfew. Closing early or lowering shutters at set times can be a sensible middle ground.
Where can I find official information on protest days?
Check announcements from your préfecture and local authorities, service-public.fr, local news and transport operators. Official travel advice from your own government can also help if staff travel to France from abroad.
Related reading
The bottom line
Keeping staff safe during protests is mostly about preparation: a current risk assessment, clear decision rules, remote work where possible, adjusted hours, travel checks and a contact chain that everyone knows. Those measures cost little and make protest days far less stressful for everyone.
Write your one-page plan this week, brief your team and announce your arrangements the day before each protest. Keep following official information as the situation develops, and review the plan after every difficult day.
