Posted on Feb 23, 2021 2021 at 12:00Updated March 3, 2021, 3:38 p.m.
Elise Fabing lives at 1,000 miles an hour. She continues interviews, prepares the release of a podcast on the basics of labor law, responds live to questions from overdue employees twice a week on the Instagram accounts @balancetonagency and @balancetastartup (a 100% voluntary activity ) and consider writing a book to give legal advice to as many people as possible. “” Because knowledge is power. When employees know their rights, we will take the path to a fairer, more balanced world of work ”, she argues. The young woman is so passionate that she does not count her hours. “My commitment is a non-negotiable part of who I am. “
Lawyer, activist and completely hyperactive
The now thirty-something says she decided on her professional orientation at the age of five. “It was while reading a report on the world of justice in J'aime Lire”, she jokes. As a teenager, she spent her time reading legal stories (like Le Pull-over rouge, by Gilles Perrault on the Ranucci affair) and dreaming about pleadings in a court. Then, at 18, Elise Fabing left her native Alsace to study law at the University of London Descartes (today, the University of London). Here again, it cumulates the commitments. On the one hand, she militates for the Socialist Party and assists a senator in his work, on the other, she joins an association which tries to help asylum seekers. “Unfortunately, we rarely win in this type of case”, she regrets.
Comes his first internship in labor law. She works from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. She might complain about it, but loves it. The only downside: his internship supervisor, “A freak”. The environment is dysfunctional, cruel and leaves no room for privacy. The height for a firm specializing in labor law.
Make labor law more accessible
She continued her studies, passed the bar and joined BDD lawyers, an employment law firm. Proactive, it evolves very quickly. After four years, she was promoted to partner. Eight years later, with Alice Goutner, her partner and best friend, she founded Alkemist. “It is a firm specializing in social and tourism law which aims to be accessible to all”, describes the lawyer who makes the first meeting free. “In addition to adapting our prices to the client's income, we offer unlimited packages so that our clients can ask us without worrying about how much they will have to pay in addition”, she explains.
Despite its commitments in favor of the less privileged, its customers are mainly employees “With quite prestigious courses”, more busy negotiating the terms of their departure. “After the two confinements, they realize that they no longer want to endure so much violence. Many are even moving towards professional retraining ”, she observes.
The lawyer, a claimed feminist, also works on cases of gender pay inequalities, discrimination in hiring mainly affecting women under 40, “The very ones who are likely to get pregnant” and those over 45, “Considered too old to work in certain sectors, such as advertising”. She also deals with cases of sexual harassment, still recurring despite #metoo. “I am appalled by the texts of certain bosses sent to their employees. They are not afraid of anything! “ protests the one who is convinced that the cause of women is also played out before the Prud'hommes.
“You don't have to heat myself up”
After the societal commitment, the political career? “No, I will not walk in Dupond-Moretti's footsteps”, she swears. Even if in matters of justice reform, she is not short of ideas: “Professional judges in labor law should be appointed, rapid procedures opened for victims of harassment, increased penalties for employers found guilty of harassment and made binding, more powers should be granted to the labor inspectorate, mental illnesses linked to work in the table of occupational illnesses ”. Difficult to stop him. “You don't have to heat myself up”, she warned.
