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Companies in difficulty
Collective procedure: failure to apply the 30-day period for notifying dismissal on economic grounds
Publié le null - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
The employer of a company with less than 50 employees placed in receivership or liquidation may notify the dismissal for economic reasons of more than 10 employees without having to observe the statutory 30-day period. This is what the Court of Cassation said in a ruling by the Social Chamber on May 17, 2023.
An employee dismissed on economic grounds brings an action for compensation before the court for irregular dismissal. In the present case, her employer was placed in receivership because of financial difficulties and dismissed the applicant in connection with a planned dismissal 26 days after the notification of the planned dismissal to the Dreets: titleContent. The applicant maintains that her employer should have respected the 30-day legal period between that notification and the announcement of the termination of her employment contract.
The Court of Appeal condemns the employer for the failure to comply with the dismissal procedure.
The Court of Cassation quashes and quashes the judgment of the Court of Appeal. It considers that judicial redress or winding-up renders inapplicable the 30-day period from which the employer must notify the dismissal for economic reasons of more than 10 employees. This is due to the emergency situation faced by the company and the short delay in insurance of employees against the risk of non-payment.
Thus, in companies of less than 50 employees in collective proceedings, the employer is not obliged to respect the legal period of 30 days for notifying the dismissal for economic reasons of at least 10 employees.