European Union law precludes national legislation that allows an employer not to give reasons for terminating a fixed-term employment contract with notice while it is obliged to do so when terminating an employment contract of indefinite duration, ruled the European Court of Justice in a judgment handed down on Tuesday 20 February (case C-715/20).
In Poland, a worker on a fixed-term contract challenged the fact that his employer had terminated his contract with notice, but without stating the reasons for his decision. He claims that the principle of non-discrimination has been breached insofar as Polish law requires the employer to disclose the reasons for terminating a contract of indefinite duration.
In its judgment, the Court points out that the June 1999 framework agreement signed by the social partners at the time (ETUC, UNICE and CEEP) aimed to improve the quality of fixed-term work by ensuring compliance with the principle of non-discrimination.
According to the European Court of Justice, when fixed-term workers are not given information about the reasons for terminating their contract, they are deprived of information that is important for assessing whether their dismissal was unjustified. As a result, they do not have information available upstream that could be crucial in deciding whether or not to take legal action.
Thus, the Court held, Polish legislation establishes a difference in treatment to the detriment of fixed-term workers. However, it is for the national court to ascertain whether the fixed-term worker in the case in question is in a situation comparable to that of a worker employed for an indefinite period by the same employer.
The Court considers that, in the present case, the national court is not required to disapply the national provision merely because it is contrary to the framework agreement. As an annex to a directive, the agreement cannot be invoked in a dispute between individuals. However, the difference in treatment in question also infringes the right to an effective remedy guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Accordingly, the national court is obliged to disapply, to the extent necessary, the national legislation at issue in order to guarantee the full effect of the right to an effective remedy, the Court holds.
See the Court’s judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/axa (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)