Termination of employment contract
How to find your ways through the options
What type of termination mode should you think about under French law when you contemplate to terminate one or more employees in France ?
What are the criteria that determine the terminaton mode . Do tehy all offer the same rights and benefits ?
What type of termination ?
Employer or employee initiative ?
Employment contract can be terminated by a mutual termination ("rupture conventionnelle") which requires the agreement of both employee and employer to end the contractual relationship. The mutual termination is different from settlement agreement which must be signed after a termination procedure and whose purpose is to settlle the financial consequences of the termination.
The mutual termination ends the relationship and requires the payment of a minimum severance (not necessarly linked to any prejudice).
At any time, the employee can decide to resign and leave the company. The employer cannot refuse a resignation, but the employee has to observe a notice period.
And if the employer takes the initiative, it is always possible to envisage termination in consideration of differents grounds, either personal or non personal, disciplinary or not ?
Procedure and rights
Once an employee's trial period has expired, any termination of employment at the employer's initiative should be justified by real and serious grounds. Hence, the employer should be able to prove the existence of such grounds in the event of litigation. If this is not possible, the company could be liable for damages for termination without real and serious grounds. These damages are determined and capped since the scale known as "Barème Macron" came into effect in 2017.
Each type of termination triggers different rights and benefits fro the employee. In principle serious and gross misconduct disqualify the employee from benefits such as notice period and legal /CBA severance indemnity. A mutual termination agreement does not include a notice period but there are mandatory time lines for completing the procedure. The table below summarizes employee rights and benefits for each type of termination.
How long does it take ?
Each of the procedures for terminating an employment contract follows its own rules with certain constants. Please see below a comparative time line for individual terminations.
