An employer who retires cannot derogate from the obligations of the 1998 Directive on collective redundancies, ruled the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in a judgment published on Thursday 11 July (aff. C-196/23).
In particular, the directive provides for consultation between the employer and employees prior to dismissal. In March 2023, a Spanish court referred to the CJEU the case of an appeal by eight employees of a company concerning their collective redundancy (54 people made redundant) following the retirement of the business person.
At first instance, the Spanish court ruled that the dismissal complied with national law, which applies the same rule as for the death of the employer. On appeal, the court sought the opinion of the Court of Justice of the EU.
The CJEU ruled that retirement does not exempt the employer from carrying out consultations prior to dismissal, as provided for in the directive, and that Spanish legislation is therefore contrary to the European directive.
To see the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/d0h (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)