Severance pay (French labor law)
As in German labor law , in French labor law a severance payment ( indemnité de licenciement ) is understood to be a one-time monetary payment by the employer to the employee, which is made on the occasion of the termination of the employment relationship.
Employment Law
General severance pay
Indemnité de licenciement (severance payment)
In principle, every employee with a normal employment relationship and an uninterrupted period of service of at least eight months, except in cases of extraordinary termination ( licenciement pour faute ), is entitled to a severance payment ( art. 1234-9, al. 1 C. trav. ).
The amount of the severance payment is based on the last gross wage that the employee received before the termination, art. 1234-9, al. 2 C. trav. For the first ten years of service, it is 1/4 of the last gross wage per year of service or 1/3 of the last gross wage per year of service from the 11th year of service, whereby the months of service are also taken into account. R. 1234-2 C. trav. For example, for an employee with a butto wage of € 1,500 per month and a period of service of 12 years and 9 months, it would have been calculated as follows: [(€ 1,500 x 1/4) x 10] + [(€ 1,500 x 1 / 3) x 2] + [(1,500 € x 1/3) x (9/12)] = 5,125 €.
If the employment relationship is temporarily suspended, this does not count as an interruption of seniority, art. 1234-11, al. 1 C. trav. However, insofar as the law, collective bargaining agreement , works agreement or employment contract link advantages to seniority, the periods of suspension are not included in seniority, art. 1234-11, al. 2 C. trav. To this end, art. L. 1226-7, al. 3 C. trav. however, the exception is in the case of suspension of the employment relationship after an industrial accident .
According to art. 1234-10 C. trav. the discontinuation of operations does not exempt the employer from paying the severance pay. Exceptions are in accordance with art. 1234-12 C. trav. only cases of force majeure ( force majeure ).
Indemnité de préavis (notice period compensation)
In the case of ordinary dismissals, the employer has the additional duty, depending on seniority, to continue to employ the employee for a certain period of time from the delivery of the letter of termination ( cf.art. 1234-3 C. trav. ) And to pay him the wages in the form of severance pay he would have received the usual continuation of the employment relationship during this period (so-called indemnité de préavis ), art. L. 1234-1 C. trav.
The obligation to continue employment is one month for employees with a seniority between six months and two years or two months for those with a seniority of more than two years, art. L. 1234-1, al. 3 et 4 (2 ° et 3 °) C. trav. For the calculation of seniority, art. L. 1234-8 C. trav. the relevant principles underlying the indemnité de licenciement (no interruption due to suspension, no inclusion of the suspension time). Collective bargaining agreement, works agreement, employment contract or company practice may within the scope of the art. L. 1234-1 C. trav. provide for a more favorable (longer) obligation to continue to work, cf. art. L. 1234-2 C. trav.
In return, however, the employee must continue to work during this period in order to be entitled to the indemnité de préavis , arg e contrario from art. L. 1234-5, al. 1 C. trav. As long as he is not at fault for not performing the work during this period, he is entitled to compensation ( indemnité compensatrice de préavis ). Examples of this are the employer's waiver (so-called dispense , art. L. 1234-5, al. 2 C. trav. ) Or an employee who has become unable to work due to an accident at work ( art. L. 1226-14, al. 1 C. trav. ).
Here, too, the cessation of business does not release the employer from the payment and execution of the notice period compensation, art. L. 1234-7 C. trav. Exceptions are in accordance with art. 1234-12 C. trav. only cases of force majeure ( force majeure ).
Special severance payments
In addition to the general severance payment, French labor law provides for other special severance payments. So for the sake of an accident at work gets incapacitated made redundant in principle, as far as a collective agreement or a works agreement not favorable provide a special indemnity ( indemnité spéciale de licenciement ), which is twice the general severance pay, art. L. 1226-14, al. 1 , L. 1234-9 C. trav.
Social security law
Comprehensive exemptions of the severance payment paid from the cash contributions can be found in art. L. 242-1 C. séc. soc. .
Tax law
According to art. 80 duodecies CGI , a large part of the severance payments is not considered taxable income.
See also
References and comments
- ↑ Direction de l'information légale et administrative (Premier ministre): Indemnité de licenciement. In: Service Public - Le site officiel de l'administration francaise. January 1, 2019, accessed January 28, 2019 .
