Employment law
Fixed-term contracts: the employee's rights when it ends
A fixed-term contract can end in two ways: at the agreed term, or before it in the rare cases the law allows. The sums due are not the same, and this is the most frequent source of confusion.
To see clearly, three categories must be distinguished, each following its own logic: already acquired rights, the precarity payment, and any damages. The first are always due; the second depends on the contract category; the third sanctions an irregular termination.
1. How can a fixed-term contract end?
Normally at its term: the agreed date, or the occurrence of the event that closes it. Before that, Article L.25 permits termination only on three grounds:
- agreement of the parties, which must be recorded in writing;
- gross misconduct (faute lourde), whose characterisation may be challenged before a court;
- force majeure, which requires an event making continuation impossible.
A mere wish to end the working relationship is therefore not enough to justify unilateral early termination. Labour Code, Article L.25 (French).
2. What are the already acquired rights?
Whatever the cause of the ending, the employer must settle the sums the employee has already earned:
- salary for work performed up to the final day;
- bonuses and other acquired components of pay;
- compensation for accrued leave, where the statutory conditions are met.
One point to retain above all: gross misconduct does not cancel already acquired rights. It may deprive the employee of the precarity payment; it does not allow the employer to withhold salary already earned.
The employer must also issue a certificate of employment on final departure. It states the start date, the leaving date, the nature and dates of the successive positions held, and the occupational classification. It is exempt from all stamp and registration duties. Labour Code, Article L.61 (French).
3. The precarity payment
Where the employment relationship does not continue at the end of the fixed-term contract, the employee is entitled, as a supplement to salary, to a payment compensating the precariousness of their situation.
Failing a rate set by a collective agreement, the minimum amount is 2.5% of the total gross remuneration paid over the contract. It is added to the final month's salary.
Example: a qualifying employee received CFA 250,000 gross per month for six months, with no other pay components. Total gross remuneration is CFA 1,500,000, and the payment CFA 37,500.
The detail of the calculation, particularly where pay includes bonuses or the contract involved absences, is set out in 34. CDD: end-of-contract payments. Labour Code, Article L.24 (French); Decree No. 2022-0125/PT-RM, revised Article D.24-1 (French).
4. When is this payment not due?
The precarity payment is not automatic. Article L.24 excludes two sets of situations: certain contract categories, and certain acts of the employee.
| Ground for exclusion | Situation covered |
|---|---|
| Contract category | Hourly or daily engagement not exceeding one day |
| Contract category | Seasonal worker engaged for the length of a campaign |
| Contract category | Temporary replacement of an employee under legal suspension of contract |
| Contract category | Sectors where using an indefinite contract is not customary |
| Act of the employee | Refusal of an indefinite contract for the same or an equivalent job, at no lower pay |
| Act of the employee | Early termination at their initiative, or attributable to their misconduct |
Two useful observations. A contract concluded for a temporary increase in activity does not appear on this list: the payment is therefore due. And force majeure is not a ground for exclusion either, but it does not make the payment automatically due: it must first be checked that the contract does not fall within one of the excluded categories. Labour Code, Articles L.20 and L.24 (French).
5. What if the employer terminates irregularly?
Where the employer ends the contract before its term outside the three permitted grounds, the Code quantifies the sanction itself: the employee is entitled to damages equal to the remuneration they would have received until the end of the contract.
Example: a 12-month contract at CFA 250,000 gross, terminated without valid grounds after 4 months. Eight months remained, that is CFA 2,000,000 in damages, on top of the acquired rights.
These damages are not to be confused with the precarity payment: they sanction a wrongful termination, whereas the payment compensates the temporary nature of the job. Labour Code, Article L.25 (French).
6. Summary by scenario
| How the contract ended | Acquired rights | 2.5% payment | Damages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term reached, no continuation | Due | Due, unless excluded category | No |
| Written agreement of the parties | Due | To be assessed on the contract | No |
| Employee's gross misconduct | Due | Not due | No |
| Termination at the employee's initiative | Due | Not due | No |
| Force majeure | Due | Check the category | No |
| Irregular termination by the employer | Due | To be assessed | Remuneration until the term |
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| Three categories of sums, three logics | Acquired rights, precarity payment, damages |
| Acquired rights are always due | Even in cases of gross misconduct |
| The certificate of employment is mandatory | To be issued on final departure |
| The 2.5% payment depends on the contract category | Four categories are excluded |
| The employee's own conduct may remove it | Refusing an equivalent indefinite job, leaving, misconduct |
| Irregular termination has a price set by law | The salaries remaining due until the term |