Under threat of dismissal, what to do?

In change negotiations, the employer must provide the initiative and the relevant information in good time to allow employees to prepare for the negotiations.

The law applies to companies with at least 20 employees working on a regular basis. Companies with fewer than 30 employees are not subject to all the provisions of the Act. Find out more about change negotiations!

The employer must initiate negotiations on the change if it plans to:

• close down, relocate, expand or reduce the size of the undertaking or any part of it, which may have an impact on the workforce
• purchase machinery and equipment with an impact on staff
• make changes in the production of services or the range of products which may affect the position of the person concerned
• make changes, such as business development solutions, which have an impact on staff
• reorganise work (tasks, content, organisation) which would have an impact on staff
• use external labour (agency or subcontracting) which would have an impact on the workforce.

When considering measures which may lead to the dismissal, lay-off or part-time employment of at least one worker, the employer must submit a written proposal for negotiations on the changes at least 5 days before the start of the negotiations. The negotiation proposal shall indicate

• the date and place of the start of the negotiations
• a detailed proposal on the main issues to be discussed during the negotiations
• the grounds for the measures envisaged
• an initial estimate of the number of redundancies
• an explanation of the principles on the basis of which those affected by the measures will be determined
• an estimate of the period during which the redundancies will be implemented

Find out more about when to hold negotiations!

If it concerns one employee, the negotiations are between the employee and their manager. If more than one employee is affected, the employees are represented by a representative of the staff group. If more than one staff group is concerned, the matter is discussed in a joint meeting between the employer’s representatives and the representatives of the staff groups concerned. The employer and the representatives of the categories of staff may also agree to set up an advisory board, which will agree on its composition, its term of office and the matters to be dealt with.

The notice of termination of employment, i.e. the notice of dismissal, must be delivered in person. If this is not possible, the notice can be given by letter or electronically. Such notice shall be deemed to have been received by the addressee no later than the seventh day after it was sent.

If the employee is on annual leave, notice of termination by letter or electronic means shall take effect at the earliest on the day following the end of the leave.

The employer shall, at the employee’s request and without delay, inform him in writing of the date of termination of the contract and of the reasons for termination or cancellation of the contract of employment of which he is aware. Read more about notice of termination!

The Employment Contracts Act allows the employer and the employee to agree on the notice periods. However, most collective agreements limit this freedom of agreement. In general, for example, there is no right to derogate from the notice periods in a collective agreement in a way that is unfavourable to the employee. The employer and the employee may also agree to terminate the employment relationship without notice, in which case the employment relationship ends at the end of the working day or shift during which the notice of termination was given. The period of notice may not exceed six months.

Where the employer and the employee have not agreed on a different period of notice or are not bound by a collective agreement, for example, to observe another type of notice period, the provisions of the Employment Contracts Act apply. Read more about notice periods!