Employer/employee: 4 steps to know about a contractual breakup

Since its establishment in 2008, contractual termination, allowing the employer and the employee to break up by mutual agreement, has met with resounding success. In total, more than 2.7 million contractual breaches have been concluded (Statistics from the Directorate for Research, Studies and Statistics (DARES)). However, despite this success, contractual termination still raises numerous practical questions about the applicable procedure and the provisions of the Convention.

1. The preparatory interview (s)

The contractual break is mentioned during one or more preparatory interview (s). No form of invitation to the interview is specified: it is therefore entirely possible to request an interview in order to negotiate a contractual break through a simple email. During the interview, the employee is entitled to be assisted:

• Or by any person of their choice belonging to the company's staff
• Or by an employee advisor selected from a list drawn up by the administrative authority

If the employee is assisted, he must, prior to the interview, inform his employer, who will then be able to receive assistance and inform the employee. There is no time limit between the interview and the conclusion of the agreement: the agreement can therefore be signed at the end of the interview.

2. The withdrawal period

As of the signing of the agreement, the parties must imperatively respect a withdrawal period of 15 days. It is only at the end of this period that the agreement must be submitted for approval by the Regional Directorate for Enterprise, Competition, Consumer Affairs, Labour and Employment (DIRECCTE).

3. Approval of the agreement

The compulsory transmission of the agreement, for approval, to the DIRECCTE can be done both at the initiative of the employee and the employer through a Form established for this purpose. Upon receipt, the DIRECCTE has 15 working days to decide on the approval of the agreement. In the absence of a response within 15 days, the approval is deemed to have been granted. The termination of the employment contract must necessarily be after the approval.

4. The hypothesis of refusal of approval

The DIRECCTE may refuse to approve the agreement. The causes are generally:

• Failure to meet deadlines
• The miscalculation of the legal compensation

In case of refusal, the execution of the employment contract continues under the usual conditions. The employee or the employer may, however, make a new request, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

Source: lesechos.fr [/column]