Tag archives: Dismissal

D.C. Circuit Draws Line Between Protected Labor Activities and Discipline-Worthy Employee Misconduct

Photo of Kevin MacNeillBy Kevin MacNeill on Posted in United States
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act) gives employees the right to form unions, bargain collectively and to “engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of … mutual aid or protection”. Speaking out about conditions of employment on behalf of a group of employees would fall  within this protection. And, section 8 … Continue reading

La Cour de cassation valide le barème Macron : fin de la fronde ?

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in Europe, France
Pour mémoire, avant l’entrée en vigueur du « barème Macron », en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse, il appartenait au juge de fixer l’indemnisation visant à réparer le préjudice du salarié et la loi n’avait fixé aucun maximum.  Ainsi le juge fixait le montant des dommages-intérêts avec une grande latitude et sans … Continue reading

Surveillance et recevabilité du rapport d’enquête : un rappel du test applicable

Photo of Geneviève Lay (CA)By Geneviève Lay (CA) on Posted in Canada, General, Québec
La Cour d’appel du Québec, dans Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (Commission scolaire de Montréal) c. Alliance des professeures et professeurs de Montréal (FAE), rappelle le caractère exceptionnel de l’exclusion d’une preuve pertinente – en l’espèce, un rapport d’enquête suite à une surveillance physique d’une employée – dans le cadre d’un litige et ce, … Continue reading

Disciplinary procedure: a preliminary meeting may be necessary before issuing an official written warning to an employee

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in Europe, France, General
Disciplinary procedures are strictly regulated under French employment law. However, when an employer issues an official written warning to an employee because he has committed an act of misconduct, the employer can, in principle, be less formal. Unless the Collective Bargaining Agreement applicable to the company sets out any specific obligation, it is sufficient for … Continue reading

The Financial compensation for a non-compete provision can be invalid if too high says the French Supreme Court!

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France, General
In France, the rules governing post-termination, non-compete and/or non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts have been established through case law. Restrictive covenants in an employment contract are only considered enforceable by French courts if they meet the following criteria (which are cumulative) : – They do not extend beyond what is reasonably necessary to protect the … Continue reading

Comment faire face au Coronavirus en France?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Coronavirus, Europe, France, General
Depuis le mois de janvier 2020, l’épidémie de Coronavirus COVID-19 s’est rapidement propagée à travers le monde, causant des milliers de décès. Le Gouvernement français a réagi en plusieurs temps : après avoir émis des recommandations en matière de gestes barrière, il a ensuite pris la décision de fermer écoles et établissements accueillant des enfants, puis … Continue reading

Ethical Veganism is a Protected Characteristic

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, UK
An employment tribunal in the UK has held that ethical veganism is a protected characteristic under UK discrimination law. In the UK an employee is protected from discrimination in the workplace under one of the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.  This includes protection in respect of religion, religious belief and … Continue reading

Employers should be careful about terminating employment around the holidays

Photo of John SchudloBy John Schudlo on Posted in Canada
While it’s always important for employers to be professional when dismissing an employee, employers would be wise to exercise extra care if they have to let someone go during the holiday season. Canadian courts have long cautioned employers to avoid being unduly insensitive in the way they dismiss employees. Courts don’t look kindly on terminations … Continue reading

France: Le harcèlement sexuel susceptible d’être exclu en cas d’attitude ambigüe de la victime

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Le harcèlement sexuel est défini, dans le Code du travail, par « des propos ou comportements à connotation sexuelle répétés qui soit portent atteinte à [la] dignité [du salarié] en raison de leur caractère dégradant ou humiliant, soit créent à son encontre une situation intimidante, hostile ou offensante ». Le Code du travail prévoit également une … Continue reading

France: Provocative acts do not necessarily fall within the scope of sexual harassment if the victim’s behaviour is ambiguous

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
The French employment Code defines sexual harassment as “repeated sexual comments or conduct that either violate the [employee’s] dignity because of their degrading or humiliating nature or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against the employee“. The French employment Code also assimilates to sexual harassment “any form of serious pressure, even non-repeated, exercised for … Continue reading

Covert monitoring in the workplace – impact on an employee’s privacy

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, UK
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that Spanish shop workers’ right to privacy under Article 8(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights was not violated when their employer obtained evidence of theft from covert CCTV footage of the employees. The case involved five employees who worked as … Continue reading

France: The complex consequences of the occurrence of gross misconduct during the notice period

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
The general rule under French law is that when employment contracts are terminated, employees are entitled to a prior notice period, the length of which depends on the status of the employee (executive or non-executive), their length of service, and in some cases their age. The applicable rules are generally set by the sector-wide collective … Continue reading

Plafonnement des dommages intérêts en cas de licenciement injustifié : la rébellion se poursuit

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in France
La Cour de cassation vient de déclarer conforme aux engagements internationaux de la France, le « barème Macron » qui plafonne les indemnités attribuées par un juge en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse. Avant l’entrée en vigueur du « barème Macron », en cas de licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse , il appartenait au juge de fixer … Continue reading

The beginning of a revolution (by the French lower courts) ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron implemented a significant reform of the French employment code in late 2017, with the intention of providing employers greater flexibility and predictability in managing labour relations. One of the most controversial measures was the creation of a grid applicable to the amount of indemnities due to employees for unfair dismissal, setting … Continue reading

Employees on Long term sickness – when can an employer dismiss?

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, UK
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently confirmed that employers should take care when dismissing an employee who is entitled to participate in a permanent health insurance (PHI) scheme and is absent from work by reason of long term ill health. It held that there is an implied term that an employer will not dismiss … Continue reading

Do managers typically think of personal liability when making decisions to dismiss? They perhaps should

Photo of Paul Griffin (UK)By Paul Griffin (UK) on Posted in General, UK, Whistleblowing
Directors and senior managers and their employers should consider the recent Court of Appeal decision in the Osipov whistleblowing case very carefully. Briefly, by way of scene-setting, Osipov had made a series of protected disclosures and he was ultimately dismissed as CEO of the employer company pursuant to a decision of two non-executive directors (NEDS) … Continue reading

Italian Constitutional Court partially repeals Jobs Act rules – What’s next?

Photo of Attilio PavoneBy Attilio Pavone on Posted in General
The Italian Constitutional Court (the “Court”) has partially repealed the “Jobs Act” reform of 2015 that introduced, among other things, a predictable calculation criteria for the monetary compensation to be paid in case of unlawful dismissal (2 months’ salary for each year of service, with a minimum threshold and a maximum cap). The full decision … Continue reading

Dismissal for misconduct cannot be based (solely) on anonymous reports

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France, Whistleblowing
Anonymous reports have been mistrusted for a number of years in France, for historical reasons. While anonymity enables individuals to raise their voice more openly, without being the targets of retaliation measures, it can also drift into slander. This explains a specificity of French law under which whistleblowers using ethicals lines are strongly encouraged to … Continue reading

Can a dismissal letter be signed by an individual belonging to a holding entity?

Photo of Marie-Thérèse EugénioBy Marie-Thérèse Eugénio on Posted in Europe, France
Dismissal procedures are highly regulated in France including with respect to the identity of the individual who is entitled to conduct the procedure and sign the dismissal letter; such person must -by definition- be the “employer” .  However, some flexibility has been introduced over the years by French case law, and a recent decision of … Continue reading

Employees’ freedom of speech on the Internet is not without boundaries

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
Books, hotels, restaurants, products: you can find reviews and rating websites for just about everything on the internet – even employers. However, employees posting internet reviews of their employer should be careful and measured in what they say, or risk being subjected to disciplinary measures  – or even dismissal – if they abuse their freedom … Continue reading

Lack of probity may provide grounds for dismissal for serious misconduct

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of François GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Europe, France
French employment courts generally subject alleged reasons for employee dismissal to close scrutiny, particularly where dismissals are based on a breach of the duty of loyalty or of probity. Such breaches only constitute valid grounds for dismissal if they are genuine and rely on objective facts and behaviour which are attributable to the employee concerned. … Continue reading

The fairness of a misconduct dismissal

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in UK
A recent case has considered whether a school was entitled to summarily dismiss a head teacher for her failure to disclose a personal relationship with a convicted sex offender. In the case of Reilly v Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Mrs Reilly was dismissed after she failed to disclose her friendship with a convicted sex offender, … Continue reading
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