Tag archives: Dismissal

Recent developments in French employment law regarding financial institutions: How the French Government wants to enhance Paris’ attractiveness as a global financial place

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
Apart from certain provisions which may be tailored to the relevant situations negotiated by companies or sectors of business through collective agreements (subject to compliance with a number of basic rules and principles), French employment law does not include any specificities in relation to certain sectors of business. In particular, financial institutions are subject to … Continue reading

La présomption d’innocence peut-elle s’opposer au licenciement d’un salarié fondé sur des faits visés par une procédure pénale ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
La Cour de cassation a été saisie d’un dossier concernant un salarié de la société Euro Disney, qui avait été licencié à la suite de la découverte, par son employeur, et dans le cadre d’une enquête pénale, du fait que celui-ci avait acheté à l’un de ses collègues des stupéfiants. En effet, au printemps 2012, … Continue reading

French employment code reform: Focus on economic dismissals

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of François GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron has signed five ordinances making important changes to several aspects of the French employment code. The ordinances, which were immediately published in the French Official Journal on September 23rd, 2017, are aimed in particular at providing employers more flexibility and predictability in labour-management relations. Several provisions of this ambitious reform (the … Continue reading

Where should an employment dispute be litigated when an employer’s business and an employee’s residence are located in different jurisdictions?

Photo of Joseph Palmieri (Toronto)By Joseph Palmieri (Toronto) on Posted in Canada, Contracts, North America
Where an employer hires an employee who resides in a different jurisdiction, the jurisdiction in which an employment dispute is litigated depends largely on where the employer carries on business. In Koutros v. Persico USA, 2017 ONSC 3001, the employer, Persico USA Inc. (“Persico”) terminated the employment of Savvas Koutros, who was a General Manager … Continue reading

French employment code reform: Focus on dismissal procedure and indemnity

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of François GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron has signed five ordinances making important changes to several aspects of the French employment code. The ordinances, which were published in the French Official Journal on September 23rd, 2017, are aimed in particular at providing employers more flexibility and predictability in managing labour relations. Several provisions of this ambitious reform (the … Continue reading

Significant changes to French employment code to enter into force no later than January 1st, 2018

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron has signed five ordinances making important changes to several aspects of the French employment code. The ordinances, which were immediately published in the French Official Journal on September 23rd, 2017, are aimed in particular at providing employers more flexibility and predictability in labour-management relations. Several provisions of this ambitious reform – … Continue reading

What is the latest on employees’ rights in the event of redundancy in Germany?

Photo of Stefanie RadinaBy Stefanie Radina on Posted in Europe, General, Germany
In business, the restructuring of a company (such as by the closure of an individual business unit or a necessary reduction in the number of staff) may result in an employee’s redundancy. However, dismissing an employee by reason of redundancy has strict prerequisites under German law. The main requirements which must be observed under German … Continue reading

The (latest) reform of the French employment code is ongoing

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of Camille ChabrolinBy Elodie Grangier and Camille Chabrolin on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
As part of candidate Emmanuel Macron’s program during the Presidential elections campaign, a substantial reform of the French employment Code was promised. After his election as President, French commentators anticipated new changes would be implemented quickly, given Emmanuel Macron’s indications that he wished to go ahead as soon as possible, without too much debate before … Continue reading

Toronto firefighters in hot water over vulgar tweets

Photo of John MastorasBy John Mastoras on Posted in Canada
Two Toronto firefighters found themselves fighting to get their jobs back after some vulgar tweets on their personal Twitter accounts landed them in hot water. The cases of Matt Bowman and Lawaun Edwards demonstrate the importance of ensuring employees understand the reach of their social media accounts. After a National Post article exposed both firefighters … Continue reading

Dismissal for racist slurs in the workplace

Photo of Verushka ReddyBy Verushka Reddy on Posted in South Africa
An employer who dismisses an employee for making derogatory comments in the workplace must prove both that the employee made the comments, and that the comments are objectively derogatory. In South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd v Heindrich Hansen and others (30 May 2017, CA06/2016) the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) dealt specifically with the use of … Continue reading

Do employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave enjoy any special protection in the event of redundancy in Germany?

Photo of Jannis BreitschwerdtBy Jannis Breitschwerdt on Posted in Europe, Germany
This post was also contributed by Tony Rau, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). German law provides for extensive protection of pregnant employees and employees on leave in connection with pregnancy. Regarding the latter, German law distinguishes between maternity leave (i.e. 6 weeks before until 8 weeks after childbirth – or 6 weeks before until … Continue reading

Do employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave enjoy any special protection in the event of redundancy in France?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
As is the case in many other countries (particularly countries in the European Union, which are covered by EU Directive 92/85/CEE dated 19 October 1992), France has implemented a full set of rules with the goal of protecting pregnant employees or employees on maternity leave against illegitimate termination of their employment contract. These protections also … Continue reading

Human resources managers can be indirectly liable for harassment

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Health and safety of employees is highly protected in France. Employers are  responsible for the prevention of any damage to their employees’ health and safety resulting from their work. Amongst other things, French law requires employers to ensure that their employees are protected from any harassment at work. But another provision of the French Employment … Continue reading

Signed on the Dotted Line in Time? The Court of Appeal addresses the timing of an employee’s execution of her employment contract.

Photo of Jennifer HodginsBy Jennifer Hodgins on Posted in Canada
Employers have long been advised to ensure that a new employee agrees to and executes his or her written employment contract before starting work. Otherwise, there is a risk that the employment contract will be held to be unenforceable on the basis that there was no “consideration” provided to the employee in exchange for entering … Continue reading

What is the latest on employees’ rights in the event of redundancy in France?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
Dismissing an employee due to economic difficulties is extremely delicate in France. A law dated 8th August 2016 has specified the definition of the economic grounds for dismissals, providing that economic difficulties are, in particular, characterized by a significant evolution of an indicator such as a significant drop of turnover, a significant drop in purchase … Continue reading

Ontario Human Rights Tribunal: Subjective belief can trump facts

Photo of Stéphane EricksonBy Stéphane Erickson on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
Chodha v. 1352866, 2016 HRTO 1241 demonstrates that human rights tribunals will consider an employer’s bona fide subjective belief in deciding whether the employer has provided a reasonable explanation for apparently discriminatory conduct. Indeed, the employer’s belief may take precedence over factual circumstances, as they did in this case. The case involved the termination of … Continue reading

When an employer hides another employer

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier and Pauline Disdier on Posted in Europe, France
Dual employment is a sensitive subject in French employment law as it enables employees to raise claims against a different employer from that with which the employment contract was signed. The matrix-type organisation of groups of companies, which has become the rule, can have adverse consequences if employees have the feeling that they are employed … Continue reading

Update regarding protection against religion-based discrimination in France

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
In France, the issue of religious behavior in the workplace is extremely sensitive. The principle under French employment law is that while public sector employers are required to enforce a policy of strict neutrality, in private sector companies, a balance must be maintained between the principle of secularism and the prohibition of discrimination based on … Continue reading

Key employment law developments expected in 2017

Photo of Jannis BreitschwerdtBy Jannis Breitschwerdt on Posted in Contracts, General, Germany
A significant amount of new employment legislation is expected or is already in place for 2017. Key changes will be in the hiring of temporary workers through an agency (referred to as “personnel leasing” in Germany), employee protection and equal treatment. Reform of laws regarding personnel leasing One of the main developments in 2017 will … Continue reading

Italy’s Supreme Court confirms that dismissals for redundancy to increase profits are legal

Photo of Attilio PavoneBy Attilio Pavone on Posted in Europe, Italy
In a decision dated December 7, 2016, Italy’s Supreme Court – the Corte di Cassazione – confirmed that the dismissal of an individual employee for redundancy can be legally grounded solely on business-related reasons, such as improving the company’s competitiveness, reducing costs, or increasing profits. The decision was based on the constitutional principle of “freedom … Continue reading

Recent changes to the law on the dismissal of severely disabled employees

Photo of Anja LingscheidBy Anja Lingscheid on Posted in Europe, Germany
In Germany, as of 1 January 2017, various amendments to the law on severely disabled persons came into force. Of particular importance is a new regulation relating to the dismissal of severely disabled employees. Until the recent changes came into force, before the dismissal of a severely disabled employee the representative body for severely disabled … Continue reading

Constitutional Court takes a vehement stance against racism in the workplace

Photo of Karen Ainslie (ZA)By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on Posted in South Africa
This article was written by Erwyn Durman, a Candidate Attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Employers now have the authority to sanction serious cases of racism with a dismissal. The Constitutional Court by overturning contrary judgments of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court: ruled categorically that a dismissal is an appropriate remedy for … Continue reading
LexBlog