Dismissal - what is it, when is it unfair and what can you do?❌

Dismissal is the termination of an individual employment agreement at the employer's initiative. It can be ordered for reasons related to the employee or for reasons not related to the employee.

Dismissal for reasons relating to the employee is ordered if the employee:

• commits serious or repeated misconduct;
• is in custody or under house arrest for more than 30 days;
• is medically unfit physically/psychically and is not able to perform his or her duties;
• not professionally suitable for the job.

In the case of dismissal for disciplinary offenses, the dismissal can only take place after the employer has completed the preliminary disciplinary investigation in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

In the case of dismissal for professional misconduct, the employer must carry out a prior assessment of the employee in accordance with an established procedure based on a set of objective criteria for evaluating the employee's work over a given period of time.

Dismissal for reasons outside the employee's personal circumstances is determined by objective reasons, such as economic or organizational problems, and may be individual or collective.

The employer will have to prove that the termination of employment was effective (i.e. the employer did not in fact seek to employ another employee in the same job) and had a real and serious cause (there are objective and justified reasons).

Also, in order for a dismissal to be lawful, the employer must comply with the provisions on giving notice when required by law, which must be at least 20 working days in the case of dismissal.

If the dismissal is a collective one (depending on the number of employees made unavailable over a given period of time), the employer must follow a different procedure expressly provided for by law in order for the dismissal to be lawful.

Abusive dismissal is a dismissal without good cause and without following the law and the procedure expressly provided for.

In this situation, employees may have recourse to a number of legal remedies to defend their rights, namely:

• Annulment of the dismissal decision - the court in whose district the plaintiff is domiciled, resides or has his domicile, place of residence or place of work or, where appropriate, the place of business;
• The reinstatement of the employee in the post held prior to dismissal;
• Provision of the salary rights the employee would have received if he had been employed - the court may order the employer to pay compensation equal to the indexed, increased and updated salaries and other rights the employee would have received;
• Compensation for material and non-material damages - if the employee can prove that he or she has suffered additional damage as a result of the unfair dismissal;
• Referral to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate to report possible irregularities and non-compliance with the legal procedure by the employer.

If you have been unfairly dismissed or if you are an employer who wants to make sure to comply with the legal provisions, please contact us. We provide you with the necessary legal support and help you access all available legal remedies.