Note : this guide is based on French labour laws, and may not entirely apply to other jurisdictions.
One of the STJV’s main activities is to help workers when they encounter a problem that is directly or indirectly work-related.
We find that, unfortunately, requests for help come rather late, when workers are already in a very critical situation. While it is difficult to defend oneself against the abuses of employers – because of the policies of successive governments – it is not inevitable.
We believe it is necessary to adopt certain habits and set up safeguards before any conflict arises, and to raise awareness among workers, even when working conditions appear to be good. No-one is immune from a sudden reversal of fortune.
Our assistance policy is to be able to protect oneself and take action as early as possible to avoid finding oneself in a serious situation in the first place. This means that prevention, training and individual preparation are essential.
Let’s be clear: we have every reason to believe that in the course of your career (and yes, that includes your student years), you will be confronted with a situation of conflict or abuse with your employer, your superiors, and sometimes your colleagues. Virtually all workers have been or will be victims of abuse in the workplace, the question is to know when and with what level of preparation.
The purpose of this guide is to prevent the situation from getting out of hand by teaching you the basic reflexes you need to show your employer that you are aware of your rights and that you will not be an easy target. These principles have two aims:
- Firstly: to do everything in your power to put an end to any abuse.
- Secondly: to pave the way for possible legal action if your employer perseveres in his abuses.
Justice is biased in favour of companies and, to defend yourself, you need to do things in the right order and show that you have been a good worker. Unfortunately, taking advice too late means missing out on easy opportunities to strengthen your case.
The aim of this guide is to list the tools available to help you navigate the professional world before, during and after a dispute.
Important reminder:
The STJV provides help unconditionally within the limits of its human and financial resources, even if you are not a member. We are not a service but an expression of solidarity. If you think you have suffered any form of prejudice, please contact us using our contact form.
1. Myths to debunk
Protecting yourself and ensuring that you work in a healthy environment means first and foremost being realistic and pragmatic about the professional world.
So it’s important to be aware of the myths that have been created by employers in the video games industry (and elsewhere) and to know the limits that your employer is not allowed to cross.
Myths to debunk
Myth no. 1: “We’re a big family / We’re cool / We’re not complicated”.
An employment contract establishes a relationship whereby the employer exercises his authority over the employee. It is a relationship of subordination. The same applies to the majority of “freelancers”, who are in fact in a situation of undeclared salaried employment.
Any kind of “friendship” between bosses and workers cannot be balanced. This often comes to light when workers start asking for better working conditions.
For this reason, it is best to be wary when the person you work for tries to become your friend.
The family argument is universally used to minimise workers’ perception of employer misconduct (working without a contract, late wages, uncompensated overtime, pressure, harassment, etc.). This is pure manipulation.
It’s better to distance yourself and calmly but firmly demand that your rights be respected, in accordance with labour laws and collective agreements.
Myth no. 2: “You’re lucky to work here.”
Employers like to maintain the idea that they are doing their employees a huge favour by accepting them into their company. This is a complete inversion of reality, which is unfortunately commonly accepted. While a career in video games isn’t necessarily easy to get, it’s important to remember that a company is worth nothing without the people who work there: games don’t make themselves.
Keep in mind that the company that employs you is not doing so out of the goodness of its heart but out of economic interest. If you have been hired, it’s because the company makes a profit from exploiting your work.
You have a trade, skills, knowledge and experience. It’s valuable.
Myth no. 3: “It’s a passion-driven profession”
At the STJV, we firmly believe that taking care of our health is a priority. It’s a matter of giving ourselves the chance to enjoy what we’re passionate about over the long term.
Workers’ passion for their job is a lever that companies abuse on an industrial scale, in all sectors and for all occupations, to justify poor working conditions and widespread violations of the law.
Once again, it is pure manipulation with the aim of squeezing out more and more work, without paying its fair value or providing dignified working conditions.
“Passion” is thus invoked to demand more commitment, extra hours, low pay, dedication to the project and the company, blind obedience, etc.
This myth only leads to stress, burnout, high turnover, loss of knowledge, disorganisation, etc.
Think carefully about who benefits from your time and effort when you work beyond the terms of your employment contract.
Myth 4: “HR is here for your own good”
This is completely false, and the contrary is true. As all the scandals and investigations of recent years have shown us, the role of HR departments is to systematically cover up and defend the company, disregarding the victims. This is despite all the pink-, green-, and other washings.
This is not a question of the quality, benevolence or skill of the people in HR departments, but of structure. The primary function of Human Resources is to ensure the smooth running of the business, to manage the workforce as a resource like any other.
The HR employee you know may well be the nicest person in the world, but that doesn’t change the fact that from the moment you point out an employer’s abuse, he or she will at best be facing a conflict of values. Their employer (on whom their job depends, and therefore their financial security and, more broadly, their life) has no interest in stopping any abuse because it benefits them, and will order them to find a way to avoid it. It’s hardly surprising, then, that HR managers find themselves ignoring, sweeping under the carpet or playing down misconduct committed by people in positions of power within the company.
Myth 5: ‘’I’ll be blacklisted if I speak up‘’.
The fear of blacklisting is understandable, but extremely exaggerated. In our 8 years of trade union experience, actual instances of blacklisting can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Employers may be organised through lobbies such as the SNJV and SELL, but that doesn’t mean they’re friends. And they are far from all having the same standing in their ranks. Ironically, the threat of blacklisting is always used by small, insecure bosses who have absolutely no capacity to enforce any kind of blacklisting. By greatly exaggerating their influence, they hope to further consolidate their hold and domination over the workers.
“John McIndy” may have bumped into a major studio executive in the corridors of the GDC in 2015, but that doesn’t mean that he or she would listen to him.
The French industry may be relatively small, but it is now unionised. At the start of 2025, the STJV was approaching 10% union membership. Omerta can no longer work in this configuration: now everyone is speaking up.
2. Critical points for attention
Critical points for attention
Critical point no. 1: Protecting your freedom of speech at work
Freedom of speech at work is protected by:
- the freedom of individual expression, a fundamental right enshrined in the French Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen.
- the freedom of direct and collective expression, enshrined in the French Labour Code.
The French Labour Code states that:
- Employees have the right to direct and collective expression on the content, conditions and organisation of their work.
- The purpose of the direct and collective expression of employees is to define the actions to be implemented to improve their working conditions, the organisation of the activity and the quality of production in the work unit to which they belong and in the company.
- Opinions expressed by employees, irrespective of their position in the professional hierarchy, when exercising their right of expression cannot be used as grounds for disciplinary action or termination of employment.
Therefore, you cannot be punished in any way for talking about your working conditions or your salary. Employers often pressure on workers using the pretext of excessive “confidentiality within the company: it’s totally unfounded.
If you find that your employer is paying you less than the agreed minimum wage, we encourage you to talk to your colleagues about it and build a collective demand on the subject.
Critical point no. 2: Building solidarity
No matter what, and whether your work is going well or not, there is one constant: together we are stronger. Employers are well aware of this and will do everything they can to break down or prevent the creation of bonds of solidarity.
Working together is an essential prerequisite for improving our common working conditions. As a result, employers always use the same tactic: divide and conquer. This can take many forms: pitting one against the other, setting an example, encouraging submission on individual levels, individualising collective problems, withholding information, changing their tune depending on who they are talking to…
The best defence is always the same: discussing, then acting, collectively. Watch out for any action that isolates colleagues, and cultivate a close-knit working group.
Critical point no. 3: Do not sign anything
Sometimes on their own, but often in response to a conflict situation, for example a request for salary adjustments, employers will try to get you to sign changes to your contract, addendums or similar.
Apart from very specific situations, you are under no obligation to sign a piece of paper just because you are asked to do so. In 99% of cases, the employer believes that they can put pressure on you to backdate a document or amend the contract to their advantage in order to hide a violation on their part.
By default, you should not sign anything without talking to your worker representatives and trade union. Ask your employer which legal grounds they are using to justify their request. Talk it over with your colleagues.
Critical point no. 4: Never belittle yourself
By default, workers are honest. This character trait is easily exploited by employers, particularly during performance reviews.
It’s human and understandable to believe in the merits of these reviews. But most of the time they are a sham, and decisions on pay rises etc. have already been taken beforehand. There is one thing they are good at, however, and that’s finding things to blame on someone the company dislikes and wants to get rid of.
It is common practice for companies to examine past reviews, among other things, in order to fabricate unjustified accusations and justify sanctions or even lay-offs.
To protect yourself, you need to avoid demeaning yourself, being self-critical, pointing out things you could have done better – in short, you need to avoid giving your employer any arguments against you.
Self-criticism is a good and necessary thing, but it should be done with colleagues and comrades, not with your employer.
Rather than belittling yourself, it is useful to mention the external causes of your problems to your employer when you receive criticism: work overload, lack of communication from management, pressure, tasks that do not correspond to your job, etc.
3. The right reflexes to have when things are going well
The right reflexes to have when things are going well
Get your professional entourage used to written communication
The main challenge in asserting your rights in court lies in gathering evidence. Legally speaking, written records are the elements that are taken most seriously when a dispute is examined. Employers are well aware of this, and for this reason will always use oral exchanges, with no paper trail, to commit their misdeeds.
A great way to counter this tactic is to make e-mail your default method of communication. Ask your questions in writing, draw up summaries of meetings and send them by email – in short, keep records and get your professional entourage used to this way of communicating.
Subscribe to legal protection through your insurance
If you can afford it, we strongly recommend that you take out legal protection. The legal protection offered by insurance policies (including home insurance) often covers lawyers’ fees in case you need assistance following a professional dispute. This protection costs an average of €8 per month, depending on the type of insurance, and is sometimes automatically included in your policy.
Labour court proceedings can cost several thousand euros. Having legal protection allows you to finance all or part of these proceedings, and to feel more legitimate and better protected if you have to defend yourself in court.
Join a union
As explained above, the balance of power between employees and employers is uneven. To protect yourself as best you can against abuses and increasingly precarious working conditions, it’s vital to get organised together as workers.
Joining a union means not being alone, learning about your rights, creating a social and mental safety net in the event of professional difficulties, and improving working conditions for everyone in the industry. The STJV has won many victories thanks to the hard efforts of workers. Taking part in the fight restores confidence in one’s ability to take action and dispels the feeling of powerlessness in the face of recurring injustices at work.
Make sure there is a CSE at your company
The role of the CSE (the French version of a workers’ council) is to represent employees vis-à-vis the employer. In France, its presence in a company is mandatory for companies with 11 or more employees (full-time, over 1 year). It is the main point of contact in the event of disputes between management and employees, and has access to a range of rights and information to ensure that employees are defended and represented.
In the video game industry (and especially in small companies), it is common for employers to resist setting up a CSE. They may, for example, fail to meet their obligation to provide information about elections in order to prevent them from taking place, or prolong a period of absence (absence of a CSE in the company).
As an employee, however, you have various means of countering these methods, in particular by requesting that elections be organised when a CSE becomes compulsory, or reorganised four months after a period of absence.
Whichever the case, we invite you to contact the STJV to organise these elections: we will help you to organise them and obtain better conditions.
If your company already has a CSE, get in touch with it and try to assess how well it is fulfilling its role. Depending on its relationship with management and its political engagement, you will be able to assess whether it can help you in the event of difficulties within the company.
Keep a union section alive
Unionised workers in a company constitute a union section. It acts as the union’s representative in dealings with the employer and serves as a means of communicating with fellow workers. It is the best framework for discussing and reflecting collectively on the problems encountered in the company, and for fighting against them.
A section can appoint a union section representative (Responsable de Section Syndicale) or union delegate (Délégué·e Syndical·e), its improved version in the event of a victory in the CSE elections. If there is a union delegate, the company is obliged to obtain his or her signature in order to apply all the provisions of a company agreement. It must also hold mandatory annual negotiations.
4. The right reflexes to have when the situation deteriorates
The first step is to recognise when your professional situation is deteriorating. Certain events in the workplace are classic signs of abuse and are therefore important to watch out for.
The right reflexes to have when the situation deteriorates
Here is a non-exhaustive list of typical cases that should set off alarm bells:
- task priorities change frequently, you are under pressure.
- a significant amount of work is simply thrown away.
- your employer is asking you to work overtime (especially unpaid overtime).
- some workers have no tasks at all.
- someone is the subject of a lot of complaints.
- someone known for their inappropriate behaviour is hired by your company.
- you notice that some of your colleagues are being humiliated, belittled or ostracised.
- wages are paid late.
- more and more people are resigning (high staff turnover).
- key people are being made redundant (particularly those responsible for organising the company and/or the workload).
- your company is starting to run into major financial problems.
We are often led to play down what we experience at work. This is very common and perfectly normal, since our income (and therefore our survival) depends on our ability to keep a job.
However, while turning a blind eye to situations of abuse in the workplace may be relieving in the short term, the risk of paying a high price later through burnout, depression, loss of capacity for work, etc. is considerable.
It is therefore important to be aware of the signals that should alert you. A good, objective way of doing this is to take note of the most common indicators of ill-being at work, such as: finding it difficult to talk about your work other than to complain about it, irritability, eating disorders, difficulty in feeling empathy (a symptom of burnout), sleep disorders, nightmares, memory problems, feeling nauseous before going to work, etc.
We advise everyone to fill in this questionnaire (sadly only available in French) to assess their own state of burnout, as it may reveal some surprises.
Alerting your employer
When you become aware that you are being abused in any way (by your employer, a colleague, a contractor, whether financially, morally or physically, etc.), you must alert your employer.
To do this properly, you need to follow the advice below, but the important thing to remember is that the earlier you warn of a problem, the safer you will be later.
Employers are legally bound to take steps to prevent and stop any danger, risk, harassment, ill-treatment, etc., in the workplace. If they can justify saying that they were not aware of the problem, then the courts will not consider them to be at fault.
Asking around for advice
Many people isolate themselves when they encounter difficulties in the workplace. The reasons for this may vary from person to person, but are often unfounded: fear, shame, guilt and so on. It’s important to overcome this reflex by talking to others about the difficulties you’ve encountered, so that you can assess the situation you’re in.
Talk to your colleagues. Contact associations and trade unions, talk to people you trust and/or doctors. You can even anonymously call the French Labour Inspection (Inspection du Travail) and/or the Labour Court (Conseil des Prud’hommes) to ask for information, without committing to anything and without even having to give your name or that of your company.
When in doubt, talking, trying to understand and asking questions will help you to realise whether what you’re experiencing is normal or not, and will give you access to resources and solutions that you might not otherwise have thought of.
Keeping notes
In cases of workplace abuse, time can move very quickly and the potential state of shock in which the victims finds themselves can affect their memory. Even without evidence, keeping a diary of situations that have been harmful to you, with the facts, the names of the people involved and the dates, will give you a clearer and more objective view of the problems you are experiencing.
Additionally, should you seek help from health and/or law professionals, having access to this diary will allow you to explain the situation much more clearly and obtain better assistance.
It can even help in legal proceedings. For example, having written down your overtime hours with their dates will be admissible as evidence, and the employer will have to prove that he did not ask you to do them and that he took steps to prevent you from doing them.
Seeking the help of a healthcare professional
Realising that you are suffering and taking appropriate decisions to defend yourself in the event of abuse at work can be very difficult when you do not have enough perspective.
If you experience any of the symptoms listed above, your first instinct should be to go and see a doctor and explain how you are suffering because of your work.
Consulting a healthcare professional first allows you to assess the situation from a competent outside perspective. If your doctor deems it appropriate, taking a sick leave will also allow you to review the environment affecting you and take the time to analyse the situation calmly. You can also use this time to make an appointment with specialists for the health problems you are experiencing, to have your mental and physical state of health examined (which also has the advantage of creating evidence in the event of legal proceedings at a later date), and to seek advice from those around you.
In an emergency, you can call SOS Médecins in France (for a fee). Health insurance schemes (which you must have if you have an employment contract) sometimes offer free tele-consultation services.
It’s also a good idea to ask for an appointment with your occupational physician, to assess your health (and any worsening of it), obtain information on any special accommodation you are entitled to request, etc.
The appointments take place during working hours, so the employer will be notified, but will not be informed of the reason for the request or its content.
We urge you to insist that doctors declare your condition an occupational illness.
Gathering evidence
If you feel that your work situation is starting to get difficult, the first step is to gather as much evidence as possible on your own equipment. An employer can cut off access to your professional data at any time (yes, it happens regularly) and, while you have the legal right to request access, in practice the employer can make this very complicated.
That’s why it’s important to download your e-mails as soon as you feel the situation escalating and to take screenshots of anything you think is relevant. Make sure that the date and context appear clearly: your evidence should be as foolproof as possible against the lies and bad faith arguments that the employer will use to defend themselves.
Unfortunately, people in positions of domination know very well when their behaviour is risky from a legal point of view and for this reason tend to impose verbal communication. This means that in the event of a dispute, you find yourself in a situation where it’s your word against theirs, which is bound to be to the worker’s detriment. Hence the importance of putting things in writing: either by asking openly (at the risk of a refusal), or by establishing the facts after the event.
In the latter case, and as soon as you have the slightest doubt about the legality or legitimacy of what you have been told, you can make a written record of it and share it by e-mail with the people present during the discussion. At best, this will force the employer to back down on his/her misconduct by forcing him/her to deny it, and at worst it will add to your evidence.
5. Defending yourself when things get (really) bad
Even when a company ostensibly violates the law and mistreats its employees, it can sometimes be difficult to accept the situation for what it is and to mourn the loss of the project you worked on and/or the team you were part of. Video games remain a trade into which many people put their heart and soul, with a strong desire to give their best. Employers exploit that pride of a job well done against their employees to justify the most unfair and degrading treatment. It’s not doing yourself or the industry any favours to accept such working conditions.
Defending yourself when things get (really) bad
To accept abuses for what they are, especially when you have accepted many abnormal situations in the past, requires a major effort and a great deal of determination. It’s tempting to think that if you’ve accepted this or that little breach of labour law, then you can’t complain if others occur. But you have to remember that it’s never too late to say stop. You don’t have to feel bad or justify demanding that the law and your integrity be respected. The fact that you’ve been accommodating to your employer once doesn’t mean you have to be accommodating all the time, especially if you start to feel that it’s having an impact on your day-to-day life, your family life and/or your health.
It’s important to be able to name things for what they are and to be convinced that nothing justifies them.
If you are routinely belittled, unjustifiably criticised, humiliated (“you’re incapable’”, “you’re useless”, “you don’t do anything well”, etc.), if you are ostracised, if you are subjected to discriminatory mockery, if you are given tasks beyond your capabilities, if you are not given any tasks at all, if you are denied access to work tools, etc., you are a victim of psychological harassment.
If your managers and/or colleagues regularly make sexually charged remarks towards you, if explicit, erotic or pornographic images are sent to you or displayed in your workplace, if you are treated unfairly on the basis of your gender, if comments are made about your body, your clothing or your (real or supposed) sexual orientation, or if sexual propositions are made to you in the workplace, you are a victim of sexual harassment.
If you are denied accommodation for your disability, if your wages are not paid on time or at all, if you are paid less than a colleague for the same work and experience, if you do not have the same benefits as others, if you are forced to work outside your normal working hours or during sick leave, if your fixed-term contract is renewed more than twice or exceeds 18 months, if your management tries to force you to accept a rupture conventionnelle, if you are made to work without a contract, if you work as a self-employed person for a single employer and they treat you as an employee (disguised salaried employment), etc. your employer is not complying with the French Labour Code and is potentially exposing you to danger.
If you find you can’t work any more, if your empathy is at an all-time low, if you’re constantly tired, if you can’t get interested in anything work-related any more, if you tend to withdraw into yourself, to be irritable, if you notice the appearance of sleep or eating disorders, if you feel constantly anxious, if you feel worthless, etc., you’re probably experiencing burnout.
These situations must be taken seriously. If you have the slightest doubt about one or more of them, it’s better to take action and seek help and advice (at the risk of realising it was a false alarm, something that never hurt anyone), rather than continuing to endure until the breaking point.
Contacting the union
Every situation has its own unique characteristics, and even with the longest and most comprehensive guide in the world, it’s not possible to cover every situation and every possible course of action. That’s why it’s important to contact a trade union if you’re suffering at work.
The volunteers who work there are trained to deal with people who need help and are in touch with lawyers if professional expertise is required. They can advise you on the best course of action, listen to you and reassure you. In particular, the STJV will not initiate any action without the victim’s agreement, and will first and foremost provide support, a listening ear and information so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to act.
Through our activism, our experience as workers and our close links with lawyers, we are very familiar with the problems encountered and how to deal with them.
Seeking testimonies / support from colleagues
Depending on the abuse you have suffered, it is likely that you are not the only person in the company to have been affected. And even if you are, your colleagues may at least have witnessed what you’ve been through. Whatever the case, turning to colleagues you trust to discuss the situation, prepare joint actions and think about how best to defend yourself can only be beneficial.
Getting support from worker representatives
Employee representatives have the status of protected employees. They are therefore in a position to help workers in difficulty much more easily, by bringing issues to the attention of company management and alerting the Labour Inspection. You can also turn to these people for support during layoffs or severance procedures (or, failing that, an employee adviser).
6. Returning to work during or after a dispute
Working for an employer with whom you are engaged in a dispute may seem difficult, if not impossible. Unfortunately, the duration of legal proceedings and the difficulties associated with losing one’s job regularly result in this situation. Depending on your situation, we obviously recommend that you protect yourself as much as possible, as working in these conditions can have a serious effect on your health:
- You should continue to be on sick leave as long as your condition does not allow you to return to work with peace of mind.
- Consider the possibility of getting your position adapted, or even gettinp a therapeutic part-time arrangement.
- Make sure you receive the appropriate health care, particularly from psychologists/psychiatrists in the case of depression, anxiety disorders and/or burnout.
7. Conclusions
To summarise this guide, the most important things to remember are:
- You should not wait for the situation to get worse before dealing with it.
- Talking to others (colleagues, worker representatives, STJV, family, doctor, etc.) is always useful.
- In most cases, you can prevent abuses with the right reaction.
- The STJV will help you put in place an effective defence strategy.