What is a “rupture conventionnelle”?

• The employer and employee terminate the employment contract by mutual agreement;
• This termination option is only available to employees with permanent contracts.
• It is strictly regulated by law

The procedure is organized in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code:

The negotiation interview

• Organization of one or more meetings between the employee and the employer to negotiate the terms of termination.
• The employer must summon the employee to this interview by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by hand-delivery against receipt. This letter must include the conditions under which the interview is convened, and specify the conditions under which the employee may be assisted during the interview.

During this interview, the employee may be assisted by :

• By a company employee of his or her choice (employee representative);
• By an employee advisor chosen from a list drawn up by the administrative authority, in the absence of an employee representative within the company.

If the employee is assisted, he must inform his employer, who may also be assisted:

• By a company employee of his or her choice
• By a member of its employers’ union, or by another employer in the same industry, if the company employs fewer than 50 people.

Signing the contractual termination agreement :

• This agreement is signed following the interviews;
• It must specify the date of termination of the employment contract (which cannot be the date of signature) and the amount of compensation;
• It must be signed by both parties;
• One copy must be given to the employee;

Please note: once the “rupture conventionnelle” has been signed, each party has 15 calendar days in which to withdraw from the agreement.

This period begins the day after the agreement is signed.

Important: if the last day of the deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline is extended to the 1st working day.

Once this deadline has passed, the DDETSPP must approve the termination.

Approval of the contractual termination agreement

• The request must be made after expiry of the withdrawal period;
• The request must be sent to the DDETSPP
• Registration applications must be submitted online, via the TéléRC.travail.gouv.fr website;
• If the person making the request for homologation is not able to use the teleservice, the request can be made by submitting a form, by filling in the cerfa n°14598 form for requesting homologation of a contractual termination and sending it to the DDETSPP;
• In the absence of a response from the DDETSPP within 15 working days, the agreement is deemed approved.
• If approval is refused, reasons must be given for the decision.

Important: any appeal concerning the agreement, its homologation or the refusal to homologate must be submitted to the Conseil de prud’hommes within 12 months of the date of homologation of the agreement.

How is the severance pay calculated?

Under French law, the severance pay payable on termination of employment by agreement must not be less than the statutory severance pay or the severance pay payable under the collective bargaining agreement.

To calculate the severance pay, we need to take into account the employee’s length of service and reference salary, which corresponds either to the monthly average of the last 12 months prior to dismissal, or to the monthly average of the last three months prior to dismissal.

Please note: Collective bargaining agreements may provide for a more favorable severance payment for the employee, which should be taken into account.

For example, the Syntec collective bargaining agreement provides for a specific redundancy payment, and therefore a contractual termination payment, for engineers and managers with more than 2 years’ seniority.

For other employees, the indemnity provided for in the agreement is the same as the statutory indemnity.

Engineers and managers with more than two years’ seniority receive an indemnity equal to 1/3 of a month for each year of presence.

It is therefore advisable to take into account this particularity of the agreement when concluding a contractual termination with an engineer or manager with more than two years’ seniority in the company.

For other employees, the legal and conventional indemnities are similar.

Important: Since September 1, 2023, a contribution payable by employers has been levied on the portion of the severance pay that is exempt from social security contributions. The rate is set at 30%. This contribution will apply to all contractual termination agreements.

DESRUMAUX AVOCATS is at your disposal to support you at every stage of the contractual termination of employment with one of your employees.