Employment law
Resignation
Termination at the employee's initiative, but with its own rules: writing, notice by category, and a period that does not pause.
Resignation is the ending of the employment relationship at the employee's initiative. That is the definition, and it already contains the essentials: the employee decides, and the resulting obligations fall on them.
Two symmetrical errors occur in practice: believing an employee may leave overnight, and believing a prolonged absence amounts to resignation. Neither is correct.
1. Form
Resignation is formalised in writing and notified to the employer. Notice runs from the delivery of that notification, which requires a certain date: a letter delivered against a dated receipt, or a registered letter.
One point to retain: the employee may not leave immediately after notifying. The notification opens the notice period; it does not end the contract. Labour Code, Article L.41 (French).
2. Notice periods
Failing more favourable contractual provisions, minimum periods vary by occupational category:
| Category | Notice period |
|---|---|
| Staff paid by the day, the week or the fortnight | 8 days |
| Workers and employees paid monthly | 1 month |
| Supervisors, technicians and equivalent | 2 months |
| Managers and executive staff | 3 months |
These periods apply failing a collective agreement: that is therefore the first document to consult. And they run both ways: the same scale applies to dismissal.
3. Notice is a fixed period
This is the least known rule, and the one that generates most discussion: the notice period is not suspended by the employee's illness.
Notice is a fixed period, running independently of absences. An employee who falls ill during their notice does not extend it by the same amount: the contract ends on the date originally set.
The logic is understandable: notice is not a period of work to be performed, it is a period allowing each side to organise itself. It runs whether or not work is done.
4. Who is exempt from notice?
Three situations exempt the employee from working out their notice:
- a pregnant employee;
- an employee on maternity leave, and, more broadly, during the fifteen months following the delivery;
- an employee on probation, probation being terminable on either side without notice or compensation.
Outside these cases, the employer may always waive the employee's obligation to work out their notice. But note: a waiver granted by the employer does not release it from payment. Waived notice remains due.
5. What if notice is not observed?
Failing to observe notice constitutes an abrupt termination. The party responsible must pay compensation equal to the remuneration and benefits for the unexpired notice period.
Example: a technician on two months' notice leaves after two weeks. He remains liable for the equivalent of six weeks' pay. Labour Code, Article L.42 (French).
Separately, abusive resignation covers the case where the departure is motivated by an intention to harm the employer, for instance resigning immediately after long training funded by the company. It may give rise to compensation, and it explains the existence of retention clauses after training, whose duration is capped.
6. Abandonment of post
This is the most delicate situation, and the one where errors are costliest. Where an employee is absent without justification, the course to follow is:
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| 1. Formal notice | Send a registered letter requiring the employee to return to work or justify the absence |
| 2. Time to respond | Allow a period, three days is common practice |
| 3. If no response | Start the dismissal procedure, with summons, prior meeting and reasoned notification |
The critical point is this: an employee's silence does not amount to resignation. Treating a prolonged absence as a resignation risks reclassification as unfair dismissal. See Resignation is never presumed.
7. After departure
Two obligations remain on the employer, whatever the circumstances of the departure:
- draw up the final settlement: salary due, accrued bonuses, compensation for untaken leave, and where applicable the long-service payment due after ten years' continuous service;
- issue the certificate of employment, exempt from all stamp and registration duties.
Finally, a new employer who hires a worker having wrongfully ended their contract may be held jointly liable for the loss: see Wrongful poaching. Labour Code, Articles L.54, L.56 and L.61 (French).
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| Resignation is formalised in writing | With a certain date, from which notice runs |
| 8 days to 3 months by category | Failing a more favourable collective agreement |
| Notice is a fixed period | Illness neither suspends nor extends it |
| Pregnancy, maternity leave, probation | Three exemptions from notice |
| Unworked notice must be paid | Compensation equal to the remaining period's pay |
| Silence is not resignation | Abandonment of post is handled by formal notice, then dismissal |