Droit du travail : démissionner

What are the terms?

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to want to resign from your position. Labor law leaves a lot of room for this procedure. Lawrence explains how to terminate your employment contract!

Termination is a necessary step to formally end an employee’s obligations with his or her employer.

Permanent contract:

Resignation may be made orally or in writing as appropriate, unless the employment contract requires specific procedures.

However, we recommend that you do this in writing to ensure confirmation is received. In fact, from this moment, termination begins and deadlines begin to count.

Obviously, it’s best to have proof of receipt of your resignation letter!

As a courtesy, it’s best to announce it verbally to your employer before sending them a formal letter.

What’s the deadline?

The law applies specific termination periods, which depend on the employee’s length of service. These deadlines can be modified in the employment contract.

The following are the deadlines under labor law:

Activities of one year or less 🡪 1 month

Activities for 2 to 9 years old 🡪2 months

Active for more than 10 years🡪3 months

The termination period starts at the end of the month (unless the employment contract provides otherwise).

example:

You decided to resign on March 18, 2019, and your employer received your letter on March 22. You have worked for him for 5 years. From March 31, 2019, you will give 2 months notice (unless otherwise stated in the contract). Therefore, your last day of work will be May 31, 2019.

Fixed-term contract:

In principle, a fixed-term contract terminates only at the end of its defined period. Therefore, when you are on a fixed-term contract, it is not possible to quit your job…unless there is an agreement with your employer or otherwise stated in the contract! Conversation is your best ally.

You can end a fixed-term contract during the trial period. The seven-day delay is associated with this.

According to the Federal Court, resignation can also be justified, that is, if a serious incident has occurred and the relationship of trust between employee and employer has been broken (such as a harassment case)

Resignation without justifiable reasons will be deemed as giving up the job without justification. Your former employer may seek damages from you!

The last thing to consider when resigning is good relationships. Don’t forget to thank your clients, colleagues, and employers, and even organize a going-away party! After all, your paths may cross again in the future.

Don’t know how best to terminate your contract?

Lawrence answered all your questions and wrote your resignation letter!