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In the previous article on appealing against the termination of an employment contract, we discussed issues related to deadlines and the formal requirements for filing an appeal.

In this article, we will focus primarily on the substantive aspect of the appeal, namely the reason for termination of the employment contract.

REASON FOR TERMINATION

(information obligation)

1. Characteristics of the Justification for Termination of an Employment Contract

The obligation to justify the reason for termination of an employment contract applies exclusively to the employer.

An exception to this rule is termination of the employment contract by the employee where the reason is mobbing. In such a case, the employee should indicate this reason in the written notice of termination (Article 94³ § 5 of the Labour Code).

The reason for termination of an employment contract should be:

• true;
• lawful;
• precise / specific;

a) True – The reason may not be fictitious or apparent (i.e. “made up” for the purpose of getting rid of the employee). It must be grounded in reality, for example:

• the employer dismisses an employee from the position of “salesperson” and indicates “liquidation of the position” as the reason for termination;
• subsequently, the employer hires a new person and names the position “sales specialist”;
• does this situation involve a genuine reason for termination?
• It depends—the employer hired a new person for a position with a different title.
• However, if the scope of duties of the new employee is identical (the same or very similar) to those of the dismissed employee, then the reason for termination is merely apparent. Consequently, the termination of the employment contract is defective (unjustified). The dismissed employee may appeal against an unjustified termination of the employment contract before the labour court.

b) Lawful – Termination cannot be justified by a reason that is unlawful (most often this concerns violations of statutory employee rights).

For example: “the employee’s use of sick leave (L4)” (although there are exceptions to this rule relating to the possibility of terminating an employment contract without notice and without fault on the part of the employee).

c) Precise / Specific

• An employee may decide whether to challenge a termination based on an analysis of its justification.
• Since the reason stated in the termination notice determines the subject-matter scope of court proceedings, it cannot be changed after being disclosed in the notice.
• The reason must be understandable above all to the employee concerned, not necessarily to third parties.
• Merely indicating statutory terms does not meet this requirement.

For example: “the employee fails to comply with the principles of social coexistence,” or “the employee performs work carelessly and unreliably.” The general nature of such statements requires clarification—specifically, what conduct of the employee constitutes a breach of these principles.

d) Verifiable – The employee must have the opportunity to verify whether the reason indicated by the employer is true and what it actually consists of.

2. Multiple Reasons for Termination of an Employment Contract

It is permissible to indicate multiple reasons for termination in the notice, not all of which must necessarily be justified.

However, it should be borne in mind that case law is not uniform as to the effects of indicating multiple reasons, for example:

“Where more than one reason is indicated, not all of them must be proven for the termination of an employment contract to be deemed justified. However, the true reasons should remain in ‘significant proportion’ to the untrue ones. Otherwise, the termination may be challenged as unjustified (despite the finding that one or two of a larger number of reasons were justified).” (Judgment of the Supreme Court of 14 April 2015, II PK 140/14, Legalis No. 1337791)

3. Consequences of Breaching the Information Obligation

A breach of the information obligation (Article 30 § 4 of the Labour Code) occurs both when the employer provides no reason for termination and when the justification for termination fails to meet the statutory requirements described in this article (e.g. when the stated reason is imprecise and therefore impossible for the employee to verify).

Once a breach of the rules concerning the provision of a reason for termination has occurred, the employer cannot avoid the legal consequences of indicating an incorrect reason, as stating the reason constitutes a declaration of knowledge, not a declaration of intent.

However, in such a situation, the employer may withdraw the declaration of intent—i.e. the notice of termination of the employment contract—and then reissue the termination, this time indicating a lawful reason justifying termination of the contract.

A breach of the information obligation means that the termination occurred “in violation of the provisions on termination of employment contracts,” which constitutes grounds for finding the termination defective (Article 45 § 1 of the Labour Code).

As a result, the employee may seek a declaration of ineffectiveness of the termination, reinstatement to work, or compensation (discussed in more detail in the next article).

4. Amendments to the Regulations Concerning the Statement of Reasons for Dismissal

Under the previous legal framework, the obligation to justify termination of an employment contract applied exclusively to contracts concluded for an indefinite period.

On 26 April 2023, an amendment to the Labour Code entered into force, pursuant to which the employer is also required to justify the termination of a fixed-term employment contract.

An employee is not required to justify termination; however, they should remember that they are bound by the statutory notice periods (see the previous article on appeals against termination).

In the next article, issues related to claims that an employee may pursue in connection with a defective termination, as well as evidence (i.e. what may prove helpful in substantiating such claims), will be discussed.