Grounds

Unilateral termination by the employer: dismissal based on objective grounds (ie, redundancy reasons); disciplinary dismissal with just cause (ie, based on serious breach of the employee's duties).

Termination without cause (with notice): only for employees hired under an employment contract of service commission regime (a particular type of contract for high-level employees which provides flexibility for termination but is not common).

Other termination causes: mutual agreement, termination by the employee (ie, termination with notice or constructive dismissal with just cause), expiration (ie, fixed-term and open-term contracts or retirement).

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Special protection against dismissal is granted to employees who perform, or have performed, duties as union representatives, either as leaders or delegates, or members of the employees’ representative body performing activities; women covered by the regime of maternity protection; war veterans as per the definition provided by the applicable law; employees under the legal age; employees with a reduced work capacity or with a disability degree equal or higher than 20 percent.

As a general rule, a copy of the notice served on the employee must be forwarded to General Labor Inspectorate.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Except in respect of protected employees, third-party approval is not required to terminate an employment.

Mass layoff rules

If economic, technological or structural circumstances occur, which may be clearly demonstrated and which involve an internal reorganization or conversion, or the reduction or the shutting down of activities, which makes it necessary to eliminate or significantly change job positions, the employer may terminate the employment contracts of the employees who perform such job positions.

Collective dismissal rules are triggered if the dismissal involves at least 6 employees.

Information to the General Labor Inspectorate is required. However, there is no need to obtain approval for termination.

The General Labor Inspectorate may undertake the diligence deemed necessary for clarification of the situation and, in case of a collective dismissal, during the period in which the evaluation of the General Labor Inspectorate occurs, the employer may promote a meeting with the representative body or with the committee appointed for the purpose of exchange of information and clarification and may forward the conclusions of the meetings to the General Labor Inspectorate.

Notice

For individual dismissals based on objective grounds (up to 5 employees): the employer must forward, at least 30 days in advance, prior notice of dismissal to the employee or employees who occupy the job positions to be extinguished or transformed.

For collective dismissal: the prior notice is 60 days.

Notice periods in case of a fixed-term contract where the termination occurs by expiration: 30 days.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice is permitted (and required if the notice period is not honored).

Garden leave is allowed during the notice period.

Severance

Fair dismissal based on objective grounds (redundancy/collective dismissal):

• 1 monthly base salary multiplied by the number of years of service up to 5 years, and .5 base salary multiplied by the number of years of seniority exceeding 5 years.
• Fair disciplinary dismissal: no severance.
• Higher severance payments may be agreed and are usual as a way to avoid litigation.   

Grounds

Cause is not required for termination of employment; however, it is required to avoid payment of statutory severance. There is no exhaustive and/or exemplary list of behaviors that constitute cause for dismissal; therefore, whether a dismissal is with or without cause will depend on judicial judgment on a case by case basis.

Who is subject to termination laws?

All employees.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Public employees and union delegates cannot be dismissed without cause and without complying with the statutory procedure for these terminations. All other employees may be dismissed with payment of statutory severance, which will differ based on the case (eg, maternity or illness).

Pregnant employees are protected from dismissal. If a pregnant employee is dismissed within the period of 7.5 months before or after the date of childbirth, the pregnancy will be considered the cause of the dismissal, entitling the employee compensation for the discrimination equivalent to their annual salary, in addition to the applicable severance payment.

Further, if the dismissal occurs 3 months before the marriage of an employee or 6 months after it, the dismissed employee will be entitled to special compensation.

In order to dismiss employees while they are on sick leave, employers must pay a special severance payment (ie, full severance payment applicable for dismissal without cause, plus the salary which would have been payable during the entire time the illness would be expected to last, according to medical opinion).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

N/A.

Mass layoff rules

Prior to a mass dismissal, an employer must provide notice to the respective trade union that regulates the employer's industry. Collective consultation may be required depending on employee headcount.

Prior to executing or communicating dismissals or suspensions due to force majeure, economic or technological causes that affects more than:

• 15% of the employees where total headcount is less than 400
• 10% of the employees where total headcount is between 400 and 1,000 and
• 5% of the employees where total headcount is greater than 1,000

Employers must comply with the Preventive Procedure of Companies Crisis (PPC) before the Ministry. During such procedure, the company engages in negotiation with the respective union acting on behalf of their affiliates. The aim of this procedure is to avoid business shutdowns or bankruptcy. After the company files the request before the Ministry, the claim is forwarded within 2 business days of the filing to the other party for its response. After a response is made, a settlement hearing is scheduled within the next 5 business days. If a settlement is not reached, the Ministry opens a “negotiating period” that must not extend beyond 10 business days. If the parties still do not reach to an agreement within that period, the PPC process will conclude.

Notwithstanding this, in practice, this procedure normally takes longer than the law sets out.

Notice

In order to proceed with termination, employers must give notice to employees before the dismissal. The term of this notice will depend on the seniority of employees:

• During their probationary period, notice must be given to employees 15 days before termination
• In order to dismiss employees who have completed their probationary period but who have less than 5 years of seniority, notice must be given 1 month prior to the dismissal and
• Employees with more than 5 years' seniority must receive 2 months' notice before their dismissal.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employers are permitted to pay in lieu of notice. Current legislation does not regulate or prohibit garden leave.

Severance

An employee who is dismissed without reasonable cause is entitled to statutory severance of 1 month's salary for each year of service, or period longer than 3 months. This amount is calculated using the employee's highest monthly, regular compensation received in the last 12 months of work. This baseline cannot be more than 3 times the "monthly payment," which is the average of all compensation set out in the applicable CBA at the time of the dismissal; this average is periodically published.

If the employee is not subject to a CBA (typically, senior employees), the limits applicable to the activity in which they perform duties still apply. In no case will the amount of the compensation payable be less than 1 month of salary.

Currently, in the Vizotti case, the Supreme Court of Justice has raised the basis for calculating compensation subject to a limit, establishing that it will be 67 percent of the employee's monthly and usual compensation, the amount to be multiplied by the employee’s years of service, based on constitutional reasons and in cases where the application of the legal limit imposes a reduction to the severance payment of more than 33 percent.

This severance payment may be reduced or increased in other types of termination (eg, force majeure and lack or reduction of work, death of the employee, employer bankruptcy, employee retirement, employee illness or employee pregnancy).

Further, on December 13, 2019, the administration enacted Decree No. 34/2019 to protect the employment market. Specifically, it implemented double compensation in the event of dismissal without cause, which is effective until June 2022. Recently, by means of Decree No. 886/2021, the national government increased severance based on the timing of the dismissal, as follows: (i) severance payment will be increased by 75 percent if the dismissal occurs between January 2022 and February 2022; (ii) will be increased by 50 percent if the dismissal occurs between March 2022 and April 2022, and (iii) by 25 percent if the dismissal occurs between May 2022 and June 2022.

This regime applied to those employees who were employed on or before December 13, 2019 and dismissed without cause between December 14, 2019 and June 30, 2022. However, this degree was not renewed. Accordingly, the law is not applicable to dismissals on or after July 1, 2022.

Grounds

Termination can be brought about by mutual agreement; upon expiry of a fixed-term contract; by the employer, with or without notice (subject to law); or upon termination (ie, resignation) by the employee.

Who is subject to termination laws

Employees who have completed 6 months of service with their employer (or 12 months in the case of a small business employer with fewer than 15 employees, taking into account any employees of associated entities including foreign entities) and earn less than the high income threshold (currently AUD158,500); or who are covered by a modern award or enterprise (collective) agreement, are generally eligible to make a claim for unfair  dismissal.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Employers are prohibited from taking "adverse action" – including termination – against an employee because the employee has or exercises a "workplace right” or engages in "industrial activity," or because of a protected attribute, such as race, sex, age or disability. Further protections include a prohibition on an employer dismissing an employee because the employee is temporarily absent from work due to illness or injury for fewer than 3 months in a 12-month period.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not applicable.

Mass layoff rules

Reporting requirements apply where a decision is made to make 15 or more employees’ positions redundant, including notifying the relevant government agency and relevant unions.

Notice

Between 1 week and 4 weeks depending on length of continuous employment, although an employment contract, enterprise agreement or applicable modern award may specify a longer notice period. Where an employee is over 45 years of age and has completed at least 2 years' continuous service, they will be entitled to an extra week's notice.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

An Employer can usually make a payment in lieu of notice (subject to any applicable enterprise agreement or modern award). No right to garden leave unless specified in the contract.

Severance

The entitlement to severance as a result of a termination by reason of redundancy is based on a sliding scale and calculated by reference to the length of the employee's period of continuous service on termination.

Note: The scale drops from 16 weeks to 12 weeks. This is a historical anomaly that persists and is usually justified by the employee's entitlement to long service leave after reaching 10 years' service.

A week's pay is generally calculated on the basis of the employee's base rate of pay.

Service prior to January 1, 2010 is only counted if the employee had an entitlement to redundancy pay under another instrument prior to that date.

There are some exceptions to this entitlement. An employment contract, enterprise agreement or modern award may also specify a greater entitlement.

Grounds

No grounds required. In special cases eg, if termination is exceptionally hard for the employee and therefore socially inadequate), the employee may claim unfair termination and reinstatement. Where the termination is deemed socially inadequate, the employer would need business reasons or reasons relating to the employee to justify the termination.

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees with fewer than 6 months' seniority have no unfair termination protection, based on the grounds of social inadequacy.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Certain employees (eg, pregnant employees, disabled employees and members of works councils) enjoy special protection, and their termination requires prior approval by the competent court or institution.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

With the exceptions outlined above, approval is generally not required to implement a termination. If a works council exists, the works council has a right of information and may give a statement. Special documents (eg, termination in writing) are generally not mandatory; collective bargaining agreements or special legal provisions (eg, with respect to trainees) may provide different regulations.

Mass layoff rules

It is mandatory to inform the competent Austrian authorities (Labor Market Service – “Arbeitsmarktservice”) of a mass layoff. That is, if the employer employs between 20 and 100 employees, termination of at least 5 employees; if the employer employs between 100 and 600 employees, termination of at least 5 percent of the employees; and, if the employer employs more than 600 employees, termination of at least 30 employees – triggers an obligation to inform authorities. Termination of at least 5 employees, each older than 50 years, triggers an obligation to inform the competent authorities regardless of the threshold outlined above. Furthermore, redundancy programs must be implemented together with the respective works council.

Notice

For the employer, minimum of 6 weeks' statutory notice to the end of every calendar quarter (possible agreement to 6 weeks to the last and/or 15th day of every month, which is common); additional notice due to seniority. Not required for terminations for cause.

For the employee, 1 month to the end of every month, if not agreed otherwise. Not required for terminations for cause.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is no statutory right to payment in lieu of notice unilaterally. However, it can be mutually agreed between employer and employee. In contrast, an employer may place an employee on garden leave unilaterally but has to pay any remuneration that the employee would have earned if they had continued to perform work.

Severance

Two systems of statutory severance pay exist in Austria. Generally speaking, one applies to employment contracts commenced before January 1, 2003 (old severance pay). The other system is applicable for employees with a starting date after January 1, 2003 (new severance pay). The difference between the 2 systems is that, within the old regime of statutory severance pay, the employee has a direct claim against the employer, unless an employee terminates the employment relationship or is dismissed for cause. Within the new severance pay, every month during employment, the employer is obliged to pay 1.53 percent of the gross salary to an external company pension fund (betriebliche Mitarbeitervorsorgekasse). The employee then has a severance right against that fund, but there is no additional severance payable by the employer.

Grounds

Termination is possible on the following grounds: during the probationary period, on the expiry of a fixed-term contract, dismissal with notice provided it is for a valid reason, failure to improve performance after reasonable opportunity (ie, 60 days), resignation, incapacity or death, redundancy, retirement (age 60) and summary dismissal by reason of any of the grounds listed in Article 107 of the Labor Law.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees are subject to the Labor Law, save for domestic servants and persons regarded as such, including agricultural workers, security house-guards, nannies, drivers and cooks.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Employees who have not exhausted their statutory sick leave entitlement are protected from dismissal on grounds of health, unless their full sick leave entitlement has been taken (ie, 55 days per year of service). The worker may accumulate the balance of sick leave on full or partial pay to which the worker is entitled for a period not exceeding 240 days. Female employees are protected from dismissal during maternity leave and by reason of their marriage.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Any office closures must be reported to the Ministry of Labor. Bahrain nationals are generally entitled to higher protection from dismissal in such circumstances and may accordingly be awarded higher compensation payments by the authorities.

Mass layoff rules

Governed under Article 110 and 111 of the Labor Law.

Notice

30 days' statutory notice.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Depends on the Labor Law and contract of employment.

Severance

Unless terminated under Article 107 of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to salary and benefits up to the termination date, notice (or payment in lieu), payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave, the cost of an airline ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country unless the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in Bahrain, an end-of-service gratuity payment (EOSG) and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses.

In case of employer termination, employees are eligible for payment of an EOSG which accrues at the rate of half a month's wage for each of the 1st 3 years of service and 1 month's wage for each of the following years of service. The calculation is pro-rated for any fractions of a year of service that have not been completed.

Grounds

In principle, no obligation to justify the dismissal, except in case of a dismissal for serious cause. However, in most circumstances, on the request of the employee, the employer must explain the dismissal on grounds which relate to the employee’s work ability, their behavior at work or the employer’s business necessities, or the employee may be entitled to a complementary indemnity.

A dismissal for serious cause must be implemented via a specific legal procedure and within specific legally defined timeframes.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Specific protection against dismissal applies in notably the following circumstances (without being exhaustive) : application for time credit leave; application for maternity or paternity leave, parental leave or adoption leave; formulation of observations in the register in the framework of the procedure for introducing or amending the work regulations; being a holder of or being a candidate for a political mandate; redundancy or threatened redundancy due to the introduction of new technologies; application for paid educational leave; application for leave in order to assist a person with palliative care, in order to assist a person who is suffering a serious disease or in order to take up the education of a child; a worker who lodged a complaint through a whistleblowing hotline, a request by a night worker to return to a daytime schedule; being a prevention advisor; lodging of a claim in relation to violence, harassment or sexual harassment or testifying in the framework of such a claim; lodging of a claim in relation to discrimination; appointment as union delegate; and being a candidate in the election process for the appointment of employee representatives within the works council or the committee for prevention and protection at work. Other protections against dismissal can exist on an industry level.

In case of a protection against dismissal, the employer either must prove that the grounds of dismissal are not related to the reason why the employee is protected (eg, in case of maternity leave) or must comply with a strict dismissal procedure before terminating the employment contract (eg, in case of the contemplated dismissal of a candidate or employee representative).

Third-party approval for termination

Required in the event of a dismissal of a candidate or employee representative in the works council or the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work:

• In case of a dismissal for economic or technical reasons, an approval by the competent joint committee or in absence of such approval, an approval by the president of the employment tribunal is required.
• In case of a dismissal for serious cause, an approval by the president of the employment tribunal is required.

A prevention advisor may only be dismissed in case of approval by the Committee for Prevention and Protection of Work, unless the employment contract is terminated for serious cause.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where 10 or more employees – depending on the total number of employees – are to be made redundant over 60 days or less and in case of a closure of an undertaking or a department thereof. Failure to comply is a criminal offense.

Specific “multiple dismissal” rules may apply at industry level.

Notice

The following notice periods apply in case of dismissal of an employee who entered into service after January 1, 2014:

Deviations exist within certain industry sectors (eg, construction sector), and specific rules apply to employees who commenced employment before January 1, 2014.

No notice period to be observed in case of a dismissal for serious cause.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

The employer may terminate the employment contract with immediate effect, by payment of an indemnity in lieu of notice equal to the remuneration (all benefits included) due for the notice period. Garden leave is only allowed with the employee's prior and explicit consent.

Severance

No general statutory severance, but clientele indemnity in case of the dismissal of a sales representative; closure indemnity, in case of the closure of an undertaking or a department of an undertaking; mobilization indemnity within the framework of a mass layoff (ie, collective dismissal); and protection indemnity, among others.

Grounds

As a rule, termination does not require a cause, but severance payments for terminations without cause are higher than those owed in cases of termination for cause. Certain circumstances protect employees against unmotivated dismissal. Termination by mutual agreement is allowed in certain circumstances when it is convenient for the company as well as for the employee.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees are subject to termination laws.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Certain circumstances prevent the termination of the employment relationship without cause or cause an increase in the severance payments, such as:

• Pregnancy
• Application by the employee for, or election of the employee to, a position at the Internal Commission for Accident Prevention (Comissão Interna de Prevenção de Acidentes or CIPA)
• Application by the employee or election of the employee for a management position at the employees' union
• Work accident (an employee who suffers a work-related accident cannot be dismissed until 1 year after the illness allowance has ceased) and
• Acceptance by the employee of a position in the conciliation commission in charge of settling labor disputes.

Other events provided under collective conventions or collective agreements may lead to temporary job tenure protection.

Third-party approval for termination

The union may be required to participate in the termination process of employees in circumstances preventing termination per collective bargaining rules.

Since November 13, 2017, the union – or the labor authority – is no longer required to ratify terminations of employees; however, collective bargaining agreements may provide that ratification is mandatory for certain sectors.

Mass layoff rules

Mass layoffs do not require prior negotiation with the union, however under Supreme Court case law, unions must be involved in the termination process. However, union authorization is not required in order to move forward with the terminations.

Notice

Termination without cause by employer's initiative: 30 days during the 1st year plus 3 days per additional year of service for the same company, limited to 90 days. Additional collective bargaining agreement provisions may apply.

Termination for cause: Not applicable, effective immediately.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

The company has the statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. Garden leave is not allowed.

Severance

In case of termination without cause, the employee is entitled to severance, amounting to the equivalent of 40 percent of the balance in the employee's Unemployment Guarantee Fund (Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço or FGTS), accrued during the employment relationship. Additional payments will be due, such as 1 month's salary if the termination takes place in the 30 days before the expected date of the collective bargaining agreement for the following period; payout of accrued vacation plus 1/3 vacation bonus; pro-rated 13 months' pay; and other payments required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement or contract.

In case of termination with cause, accrued unused vacation plus vacation bonus and other payments required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement or contract are still required, but there will be no FGTS payout or additional 1 month's salary.

In case of termination by mutual agreement, the company must pay half of the notice and 20 percent of the FGTS balance, as opposed to 40 percent when the termination is on the company's initiative. The employee will be allowed to withdraw 80 percent of the balance of the FGTS fund, as opposed to 100 percent when the termination is on the company's initiative, but they are not entitled to unemployment benefits in this type of termination.

Grounds

Termination for cause without notice or pay in lieu is permissible, but the standard is high, often requiring gross or willful misconduct, willful neglect of duty, fraud, serious breach of applicable policies or material or repeated insubordination. Termination without cause is permissible in most jurisdictions, provided that proper notice of termination or pay in lieu and any severance entitlements are provided. If an employer reprises against an employee for exercising a statutory right under employment standards, human rights or occupational health and safety legislation, no amount of notice will make the termination lawful.

In Quebec and Nova Scotia, additional protections exist for certain employees who have acquired tenure (ie, achieved a certain length of service), and in those circumstances, termination may not be possible except for bona fide reasons, such as position elimination or lack of work.

Federally regulated employers may not terminate a non-managerial employee with at least 1 year of service without sufficient reason – generally just cause or a discontinuance of the job function. Employers are federally regulated if they operate in industries that fall within the federal government's constitutional jurisdiction and concern matters of national interest, notably:

• Banking
• Telecommunication
• Air transport
• International and interprovincial rail and road transport Marine shipping, ferry and port services
• Radio and television Broadcasting Fisheries
• Interprovincial canals, pipelines, tunnels and bridges Grain, feed and seed mills
• Uranium mining and processing

The vast majority of employees in Canada – approximately 90 percent – are provincially regulated.

Employees entitled to termination protection

Generally, employees in Canada cannot be terminated without just cause or without proper notice or pay in lieu and severance pay, if applicable, under statute and at common/civil law. The right to reinstatement, however, is generally limited to unionized employees, employees terminated contrary to human rights legislation, employees terminated for exercising a statutory right with respect to working conditions or legislated employment standards (such as the right to a pregnancy leave) or for certain employees who both have the requisite length of service and are working in federally regulated industries or are employed in the provinces of Quebec or Nova Scotia.

Prohibited terminations

Employees may not be terminated based on a prohibited ground, for filing a harassment complaint or as an act of reprisal for asserting a statutory right with respect to working conditions or legislated employment standards.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Approval is not required. However, for group terminations, notice in a prescribed form must generally be provided to the applicable Ministry of Labour and may need to be posted in the workplace (in some cases, before the termination will be effective).

Mass layoff rules

There are rules to be followed in the event of a mass layoff. Most jurisdictions provide for increased statutory notice or pay in lieu and/or severance pay in the event of a group termination and may require the provision of notice to a government ministry. In most jurisdictions, the threshold is 50 or more employees within a specified period. However, in some cases, the threshold is much lower (eg, in Quebec, the threshold is more than 9 employees). There is generally not a consultation obligation; however, notice may need to be given to a governmental authority.

Notice

The statutorily required minimum length of notice of termination varies by jurisdiction and, for individual terminations, is based on an employee's length of service. For individual terminations, most jurisdictions limit notice of termination to 8 weeks. Significantly longer notice periods (up to 2 years or more in exceptional circumstances) may be awarded at common law unless there is a valid termination clause in an employment agreement which limits the common law entitlement. In Quebec, similar entitlements exist and generally cannot be limited by contract at the outset of the employment relationship.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Pay in lieu of notice is permitted. Garden leave is becoming more common and, with appropriate care and planning, an employer may often achieve this objective for a reasonable period.

Severance

Eligible employees in Ontario and the federal jurisdiction are eligible for severance pay. In Ontario, eligible employees (ie, those with 5 or more years of service who work for an employer that has a payroll in Ontario that exceeds 2.5 million per annum or are terminated as part of a group of 50 employees in a 6-month period as a result of a permanent discontinuance of all or part of the employer’s business at an establishment) receive 1 week for each year of service, with partial years prorated to a maximum of 26 weeks. In the federal jurisdiction, eligible employees receive the greater of 2 days' wages per year of service or 5 days' wages.

Grounds

There is a rigid and detailed statutory regime for termination in Chile regulating termination with or without cause, voluntary resignations and mutual agreements, among others.

Termination with no cause is subject to restrictions. Companies have full ability to terminate employments with no cause (ie, at will) only in the case of top managers and personnel in the sole trust of the company. For other employees, the company must show termination grounds (eg, economic needs). All employees who have been employed for at least 1 year are entitled to severance in the case of termination at will or on grounds of company needs. In the latter case, if the company is not in the position to demonstrate such economic needs, the termination will still be valid but, in case of lawsuits, a surcharge over the applicable severance payments may be imposed by the court in addition to the severance that must be paid as a result of the termination.

The law contains provisions on for-cause terminations due to, for example, lack of probity, serious breaches of an employee’s obligations under the employment agreement, non-attendance at work or aggression against the employer, and regulates voluntary resignation and termination by mutual agreement. These causes of termination do not entitle the employee to severance pay.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Among others, pregnant women; mothers for up to 1 year and 12 weeks after birth of a child; union leaders; and employees whose children, spouse or civil partners have died  cannot be terminated without prior court approval. Likewise, there may be restrictions applicable to terminating employees who are on sick leave.

Third-party approval for termination

No 3rd-party approval is required, except for the cases referred to above (see “Restricted or Prohibited Terminations”).

Mass layoff rules

There are no specific rules regarding mass layoffs.

Notice

30 days' notice for unilateral termination of managers and other specified employees (ie, termination with no cause – see “Grounds”). 30 days' notice for termination of any employee based on redundancy (ie, termination on grounds of company needs – see “Grounds”).

Notice is required for standard for-cause removal reasons. The notice must be handed over to the employee at the time of termination of the employment agreement or within the following 3 business days.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

The company has the statutory right to pay in lieu of notice.

There are no garden leave rules in Chile and, in principle, any anticipated contractual clause on that matter would be considered void.

Severance

If the employee has worked in a position uninterrupted for more than 1 year and is terminated with no cause (ie, at will) or on the grounds of company needs, severance pay is equal to 30 days' remuneration for every year worked and fraction of a year over 6 months spent in the service of the same employer, capped at 330 days and at a maximum monthly remuneration of UF90 (approximately USD3,380). Employment contracts may specify more generous severance terms.

Grounds

There is no at-will employment in China, and termination of employees must be for cause.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employees:

• Who are pregnant, on maternity leave or in the nursing period
• Who are suffering from work-related injuries or occupational diseases

• Who have been employed by the employer for more than 15 years and have less than 5 years from the statutory retirement age (60 for male employees, 55 for female employees holding office positions and 50 for female factory workers) or

• Who are on sick leave (for certain cumulative periods depending on the employee's seniority), may not be unilaterally terminated

May not be unilaterally terminated.

Third-party approval for termination

Trade unions should be notified of any unilateral termination.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where 20 individuals or equal to or more than 10 percent of the total number of employees are to be made redundant.

The employer must also notify the trade union and all employees of the redundancies and report to the local labor bureau.

Notice

30 days’ prior notice. Not required for misconduct cases or termination due to failure to meet the conditions of employment during the probation period.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is a statutory right to make a payment in lieu of notice. Garden leave with full pay is also permissible.

Severance

Severance pay is based on the number of years an employee has worked with the employer at the rate of 1 month's wage for each year worked, rounded up to the nearest 0.5 or 1 year. The wages used for calculation during service years after 2008 are subject to a statutory cap.

Grounds

An employer may terminate their employment relationship with an employee without incurring liability if any of the justified causes established by law exist, which are mostly based on misconduct or poor performance. A disciplinary process should be conducted before any termination with cause. Terminations without cause are also valid but will trigger severance obligations. In a dismissal not for cause, no notice is required, but the employee is entitled to compensation (ie, indemnification) for unilateral termination as set out below.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

There are special cases where it is not possible to terminate an employment agreement without the authorization of the Ministry of Labor or a Labor Judge, even with just cause:

• Maternity: Employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave cannot be dismissed without just cause and without previous authorization from the Ministry of Labor.
• Paternity: Employees whose partner is pregnant or on maternity leave cannot be dismissed without just cause and without previous authorization form the Ministry of Labor.
• Health conditions: Employees who are on sick leave or have restrictions that substantially limit their ability to complete their labor duties cannot be dismissed without just cause. No authorization is needed for termination with just cause.
• Pre-pensioner: Employees who are less than 3 years away from meeting the requirements to obtain a retirement pension cannot be dismissed without just cause. No authorization is needed for termination with just cause.
• Union protection (fuero sindical): For union leaders, a labor judge must authorize the termination, and only for just causes established in the Colombian Labor Code and the company´s policies and/or procedures.
• Temporary collective bargaining protection (fuero circunstancial): During collective bargaining, an employer may not terminate a unionized employee without cause. No authorization is needed for terminations with just cause.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

3rd-party approval is required for restricted or prohibited terminations.

No 3rd-party approval is required in other cases, but it is common to have employees sign a labor settlement in before the labor authorities (ie, the Ministry of Labor or Labor Judge).

Mass layoff rules

Depending on the number of employment agreements to be terminated, prior authorization from the Ministry of Labor may be required. This should take 2 months. However, the Ministry generally takes much longer.

If the requirement for a collective dismissal (ie, mass redundancy) is met (see threshold triggers below), the above authorization is mandatory. If the company does not have such authorization, the terminations shall be void by operation of law and the company will be obliged to re-engage the employees.

Simultaneously, the employer must notify its employees in writing regarding the authorization requested before the Ministry of Labor.

A collective dismissal occurs when it affects in a period of 6 months:

• In a company employing between 10 and 50 employees, 30 percent of employees
• In a company employing between 50 and 100 employees, 20 percent of employees
• In a company employing between 100 and 200 employees, 15 percent of employees
• In a company employing between 200 and 500 employees, 9 percent of employees
• In a company employing between 500 and 1,000 employees, 7 percent of employees, and
• In a company of more than 1,000 employees, 5 percent of employees.

Notice

At least 15 days' written notice is required in cases of poor performance. In cases of misconduct or termination without cause, no notice is required, and such terminations may be effective immediately.

For employees with a fixed-term agreement, written notice is required at least 30 days prior to the agreement’s expiration.

The law sets forth that employees who acquire a retirement pension by the Colombian Social Security System may be terminated with cause with a notice of at least 3 months. Nevertheless, judicial precedent has ruled that notice has been set in order to prevent any interruption between retirement and payment of the pension.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Not applicable under Colombian Law.

Severance

Unilateral termination without cause is lawful but will trigger severance obligations.

If the termination is unilateral and without cause, the employee is entitled to receive an indemnification in addition to the final wages. For employees with an indefinite-term agreement, such indemnification would be calculated as follows:

• For employees earning less than 10 minimum legal monthly wages (for the year 2024: COP13 million; approximately USD3,380), compensation is 30 days of salary for the first year of service and 20 days of salary for each additional year of service (proportional to the fraction of a year).

• For employees earning 10 minimum legal wages or more, compensation is 20 days of salary for the first year of service and 15 days of salary for each additional year of service (proportional to the fraction of a year).
• For employees with a fixed-term agreement, severance is equal to the salary owed to the employee until the term of the agreement expires.
• For employees who entered into agreements for the duration of a project, severance is the estimated salary owed to the employee until the project concludes. However, in no case may severance be less than 15 days of salary.

Grounds

Termination with notice permissible on the following grounds: organizational change (ie, dissolution, relocation or other redundancy), incapability (ie, ill health, failure to meet conditions or unsatisfactory performance), misconduct and breach of obligation to remain at home during sick leave.

Immediate dismissal permissible on the grounds of criminal conduct and gross misconduct.

Employees subject to termination laws

All, except employees working based on an agreement on work performance and an agreement on work activity who have a more flexible termination procedure.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Protection against termination for certain employees and in certain circumstances (eg, sick leave, military exercise, discharge of public office, pregnancy, maternity or parental leave). Certain statutory exceptions apply.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

If the employee is a trade union representative of a recognized union, the trade union's consent to the termination – on notice or immediate – is required.

Mass layoff rules

Mandatory consultation rules apply where the threshold number of employees will be made redundant over a 30-day period for organizational reasons. The thresholds are 10 employees if the employer has 20 to 100 employees; 10 percent of employees if the employer has 101 to 300 employees; and 30 employees if the employer has more than 300 employees. Obligatory notification must be given to the relevant labor authority and to the employee representative bodies.

Notice

Statutory minimum notice period of 2 months for both employee and employer. Notice period may be extended via agreement of the parties; this must be the same for employer and employee. No notice required in case of termination during probationary period and immediate dismissal.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No unilateral right to pay in lieu of notice, but payment in lieu of notice may be agreed to in a termination agreement. Garden leave is not expressly regulated but is increasingly common.

Severance

Payable to all employees depending on the length of employment (1 times average monthly earnings if employment lasted less than 1 year; 2 times average monthly earnings if employment lasted at least 1 year; 3 times average monthly earnings if employment exceeded 2 years), provided that termination occurred on organizational grounds. If termination occurs due to an accident at work or occupational disease of the employee, 12 times average monthly earnings is owed. More generous terms are possible.

Grounds

In general, terminations are permissible on fair grounds. No legislation regulates discipline procedures. In many cases, dismissal with or without notice will be deemed unfair if the dismissal is due to circumstances connected to the employee (eg, due to performance issues) and the employer has not presented the employee with a prior written warning.

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees not covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act (or covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act, but have been employed for less than 12 months) or not covered by a collective agreement have no legal protection against unfair dismissal. The majority of collective bargaining agreements include provisions protecting employees against unfair dismissal.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

The legal regime governing employment relationships in Denmark is generally more liberal and favorable towards the employer than in many other EU countries. However, certain employees, such as safety and employee representatives, shop stewards, pregnant employees or employees on maternity, paternity or parental leave, are subject to special protection in relation to termination of employment. An employer must comply with specific regulations which aim to protect such employees in the event that the employer intends to terminate the employment of such an employee.

In 2019, the EU passed the Whistleblower Protection Directive, which had a deadline of December 17, 2021 for Member States to incorporate into their national laws. The Directive provides for minimum standards that must be adopted, including protections for covered individuals who report a breach of EU law in any prescribed area. An individual who meets the conditions for protection under the Directive is safeguarded from any form of retaliation, as well as from threats of or attempt at retaliation (which is defined broadly). EU Member States are in various stages of implementation. See DLA Piper EU Whistleblower Directive: Implementation Tracker for more information.

Third-party approval for termination/terminationdocuments

Generally not required.

Mass layoff rules

Statutory rules apply to reductions in staff contemplated by employers employing more than 20 persons for reasons which are not related to the individual employees concerned and where the number of terminated employees within 30 days exceed the following limits:

• A minimum of 10 percent of the workforce in companies which normally employ 100 to 299 persons
• A minimum of 10 workers in companies which normally employ 21 to 99 persons and
• A minimum of 30 workers in companies which normally employ a minimum of 300 persons.

Notice

The length of the notice depends on an individual employment agreement or collective bargaining agreement.

However, salaried employees are entitled to receive 1 month's notice in the first 6 months of employment, and then between 3 and 6 months' notice, based on the length of service.

An employer may dismiss an employee without notice (ie, summary dismissal) where the employee is guilty of behavior which amounts to serious misconduct.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is no statutory right for an employer to pay in lieu of notice, but an employer has the right to put the employee on garden leave for the duration of the notice period.

If the employee is on garden leave, the employer may, with certain limitations, reduce the salary paid during the notice period if the employee finds new employment.

Severance

A salaried employee who has been continuously employed for 12 or 17 years is entitled to severance pay corresponding to 1 or 3 months' salary, respectively, in the event of the employer's termination of the employment.

Grounds

Employers are not allowed to terminate an indefinite employment contract without a proper and weighty reason as referred to in the Employment Contracts Act, such as serious breach or neglect of obligations or economic, production-related or reorganizational reasons.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees under the Employment Contracts Act are protected.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

The employment of a shop steward, an elected representative or an industrial safety delegate may be terminated due to redundancy only if the work of the representative in question ceases completely and the employer is unable either to arrange work that corresponds to the person’s professional skill or is otherwise suitable, or is unable to train the person for other work.

The employer can terminate the employment contract of an employee on maternity, special maternity, paternity, parental or child care leave due to redundancy only if its operations cease completely.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval required. However, if a shop steward’s, elected representative’s or health and safety representative’s employment is terminated on personal grounds, the majority of employees who are eligible to vote for the person must approve the termination.

Mass layoff rules

A formal and heavily sanctioned consultation process must be followed in case of mass redundancies as set out in the Co-operation Act , if the employer regularly employs at least 20 employees. Furthermore, the Employment Contracts Act imposes some obligations to the employer (eg, obligations to offer work, training and rehire) regardless of the number of employees.

Notice

In general, the length of the notice period depends on the length of the employment. Unless otherwise agreed in the applicable CBA or employment contract, notice periods according to the Employment Contracts Act are as follows:

• 14 days if the employment has continued for up to 1 year
• 1 month if the employment has continued for more than 1 year but no more than 4 years
• 2 months if the employment relationship has continued for more than 4 years but no more than 8 years
• 4 months if the employment relationship has continued for more than 8 years but no more than 12 years
• 6 months if the employment relationship has continued for more than 12 years

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. Payment in lieu of notice requires an agreement with the employee. However, employees may be unilaterally placed on garden leave.

Severance

No statutory right to severance payment, although severance may be agreed upon in the employment contract. Termination agreements are also allowed.

Grounds

Termination of an indefinite-term employment contract is permissible on personal grounds (eg, misconduct or poor performance) and economic grounds (eg, economic difficulties, technological changes, activity closure or reorganization to safeguard competitiveness). Economic grounds are assessed at the group level in France in the relevant business sector. French Labor Code provides for a specific definition of "economic difficulties."

Early termination of a fixed-term employment contract is permissible only in limited circumstances as stated by the French Labor Code.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Restrictions on terminations and specific procedures required for termination of protected employees:

• Termination of workers' representatives (workers' delegates, members of the works council or the CSE, union delegates and union section representatives)
• Termination while the employment contract is suspended as a result of an occupational disease or accident, save on the grounds of serious misconduct or the inability to maintain the contract for a reason unrelated to the occupational disease or accident
• Termination during pregnancy, maternity/adoption leave and for 10 weeks following maternity leave, save on the grounds of serious misconduct or the inability to maintain the contract for a reason unrelated to the pregnancy, childbirth or adoption.
• Employees holding a specific mandate in towns are protected.

Termination on discriminatory or illicit grounds is prohibited. 

Third-party approval for termination

The Labor Inspector's authorization is needed in case of termination of a protected employee.

Mass layoff rules

Applicable rules differ depending on the number of employees made redundant over 30 days and the number of employees within the company.

If fewer than 10 employees are made redundant over 30 days in a company with at least 50 employees, informing or consulting the CSE is required.

If at least 10 employees are made redundant over 30 days in a company with at least 50 employees, the employer must implement an employment safeguard plan (PSE), inform/consult with the CSE and follow the procedure under the control of the Labor Administration.

In companies with fewer than 50 employees, informing or consulting with the CSE, when in place, is required.

Notice

Under 6 months' seniority: as determined by law, the CBA or geographical and professional common practice.

Between 6 months' and 2 years' seniority: 1 month.

At least 2 years' seniority: 2 months.

Subject to differentiating provisions in the CBA, employment contract or common practice, whichever is more agreeable to the employee.

No notice period in case of dismissal for gross or willful misconduct.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employees may be paid in lieu of notice. Alternatively, an employee can be paid their usual salary for the duration of the notice period even if not performed.

Severance

An employee with at least 8 months of seniority is entitled to a severance of 1/4 of their average monthly salary per year of seniority for the first 10 years and 1/3 of their average monthly salary per year of seniority for each following year, subject to more agreeable provisions in the applicable CBA, which are frequent.

Grounds

In a business with up to 10 employees, there is no dismissal protection, and termination can generally occur for any reason. For businesses with more than 10 employees, dismissal protection exists unless dismissal is justified by compelling operational reasons, conduct-related reasons for particular types of misconduct or personal reasons (eg, the inability to work due to health or new job requirements).

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees with less than 6 months' seniority do not have general dismissal. This does not apply to special dismissal protection in connection with parental leave, maternity leave, works council membership or discrimination. 

Restricted or prohibited terminations

These include pregnant employees, mothers during maternity leave, employees on parental leave, works council members, candidates during elections, data protection officers and severely disabled employees.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

The works council, if established, must be consulted regarding each termination. Dismissal of disabled employees, pregnant employees or employees on maternity or parental leave may be permitted by specific authorities. The approval of the authorities must be obtained prior to the termination, otherwise the termination is invalid.

Collective redundancies require consultation with the works council about a restructuring agreement and a social plan, whereby consent is only mandatory for the social plan; in case of a tie, the employer's decision on the restructuring plan prevails.

Mass layoff rules

Yes, strict information and consultation rules apply where 6 or more employees in a business between 20 and 59 employees are to be made redundant within 30 days; in larger businesses, the threshold is 10 percent or more than 25 individuals; in businesses with 500 or more employees, the threshold is at least 30 employees. The employer must file an application with the Federal Employment Agency; failure to comply will render all notices and agreed terminations invalid (however, it is most likely that this will no longer apply in the foreseeable future).

Notice

4 weeks' statutory notice effective to the 15th or the end of a calendar month; after 2 years of employment, 1 month effective to the end of a calendar month; with a sliding scale of up to 7 months' notice after 20 years of service. Not required for terminations for very serious misconduct (extraordinary termination).

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. The right to garden leave depends on contract terms and merits of the case, applying a weighting of interests between both parties.

Severance

No statutory severance. A valid dismissal will end the employment without compensation, unless it is part of a collective restructuring covered by a social plan agreed with the works council. Invalid dismissal will lead to enforced reinstatement by the labor courts, unless the parties settle the dispute. Settlements are standard; the general formula is between 1/2 and 1.5 times an employee’s monthly salary per year of service. There is no maximum threshold on settlements.

Grounds

Termination with notice or payment in lieu of notice is permissible.

Termination without notice or payment in lieu of notice is permissible if an employee, in relation to their employment:

• Willfully disobeys a lawful and reasonable order
• Engages in misconduct, such conduct being inconsistent with the due and faithful discharge of their duties
• Is guilty of fraud or dishonesty 

• Is habitually neglectful of their duties, or

  If it is based on any grounds permitted at common law.

Employees with continuous employment of 2 years or more are also protected against "unreasonable dismissal" (ie, there must be a valid reason for termination and, in this regard, any of the following may constitute a valid reason: the conduct of the employee; the capability or qualifications of the employee for performing work of a kind which they were employed to do; redundancy; illegality; or another substantial reason). Unreasonable dismissal is not a criminal offense, but employees are entitled to certain statutory remedies. Presumption of unreasonable dismissal may be rebutted by demonstrating that there is a valid reason for termination. There is then no requirement to show that the termination was "reasonable" or "fair" in these circumstances.

Employers should also ensure they comply with the contractual terms and other implied terms that relate to the reason for, and manner of, dismissal.

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees with continuous employment of 2 years or more are protected against unreasonable dismissal (see above). There are prohibited or restricted terminations for all employees (see below).

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Female employees who are pregnant or on statutory maternity leave, subject to certain exceptions; any employee who is absent from work on sick leave and is in receipt of statutory sickness allowance; any employee who has suffered a work-related injury entitling them to compensation under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance; by reason of an employee's trade union membership and activities; by reason of an employee giving evidence or information in any proceedings or inquiry in connection with the enforcement of the EO, work accidents or breach of work-safety legislation; any employee who has given evidence under the Factories and Industrial Undertaking Ordinance (breach of any of the above may constitute "unlawful dismissal"); any employee who is undertaking jury service; any employee who is taking statutory vacation; and by reason of an employee's spent conviction.

Unlawful dismissal is an offense with a fine up to HKD100,000 upon conviction.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not applicable for this jurisdiction.

Mass layoff rules

Not applicable for this jurisdiction.

Notice

Minimum 7 days' notice after the 1st month of the probationary period and during subsequent employment. If the notice is specified in the employment agreement, the notice will be the agreed period. If no notice period is specified, it is presumed to be 1 month. Notice is not required for termination for serious misconduct (ie, gross misconduct or cause), but it requires a high threshold.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is a statutory right to make a payment in lieu of notice. Right to place on garden leave depends on the terms of the contract.

Severance

Statutory severance payment is payable to redundant employees with continuous service for 2 years or more, which is calculated using a base amount per year of service or 2/3 of the employee's last full month's wages (being the monthly average of the wages earned by the employee during the previous 12 months – or a shorter period where the employee has been employed for less than 12 months – or 2/3 of HKD22,500, whichever is less). Total statutory severance payment is capped at HKD390,000. Employers are entitled to offset from liability to pay a statutory severance payment, any gratuity or retirement scheme payment that has been made to the employee in respect to any years of service for which the statutory severance payment is payable. However, abolition of the MPF offsetting arrangement will take effect on May 1, 2025, whereby employers will no longer be allowed to use the accrued benefits derived from employers’ mandatory contributions to offset employees’ statutory severance or long service payment. Under the new arrangement, accrued benefits derived from employers’ voluntary contributions and gratuities based on length of service will generally still be able to be used to offset statutory severance or long service payment. For the purposes of statutory severance payment, there is a statutory presumption that the termination arose by reason of redundancy. This presumption may only be rebutted by an employer who proves that the employment was terminated for reasons wholly unrelated to redundancy.

Grounds

Termination by notice is possible in cases of indefinite-term employment. In case of fixed-term employment, termination by notice is less common.

For indefinite-term employment, dismissal is only permitted for reasons connected to:

• The employee's performance
• The employee's behavior relating to the employment or
• The operations of the employer.

For fixed-term employment, the employer may only terminate the employment by notice:

• During a liquidation or bankruptcy procedure
• For reasons relating to an employee's performance or
• If maintaining the employment is no longer possible due to an unavoidable external reason.

In the event of a dispute, the employer is obliged to prove that the reason for dismissal is fair, true and reasonable.

Who is subject to termination laws?

All employees are protected against unfair and unlawful termination of employment.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

For some special groups of employees, further termination restrictions apply; thus, the employer may not terminate employment by notice during pregnancy, maternity leave, a leave of absence taken without pay to care for a child, during military service and while participating in human fertilization procedures. Termination of employment by mutual agreement is permitted during these periods.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

The dismissal of a certain large number of employees due to a change in the employer's operation constitutes a mass layoff and is subject to special information and consultation rules.

In case of dismissal with notice, the employment relationship is terminated at the end of a notice period, which is a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 6 months depending on length of service or in line with the parties' agreement.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Not applicable.

Severance

Employees are entitled to a severance payment if their employment is terminated on notice by the employer for operational reasons. The amount of severance pay is a minimum of 1 month's pay and a maximum of 6 months' absence fee, depending on length of service. The employment contract may stipulate a higher amount of severance.

Grounds

Dismissals should be for ''reasonable cause'' – for example, redundancy, poor performance or continued ill health – especially in certain states, where the local S&E Act stipulates such a requirement. Otherwise, employees may be dismissed for misconduct (or ''for cause''). For workmen, the ID Act defines ''retrenchment'' as the termination by the employer of the service of a workman for any reason whatsoever, other than as a punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action. However, "retrenchment" does not include voluntary retirement, reaching the stipulated superannuation age, non-renewal of a contract on expiry of its term, termination arising under such fixed-term contracts or termination of service on the grounds of an employee's continued ill health. The IR Code also specifies that termination of service of a worker as a result of completion of their fixed-term employment is not considered retrenchment.

An employer may for economic reasons reduce the number of its workmen, provided the process as stipulated in the ID Act is followed. The process to be followed will depend on whether the workmen to be retrenched have at least 1 year's (ie, 240 days) continuous employment and are:

• Employed in:
  • Factories/mines/plantations with less than 100 employees or
  • Other establishments
• Employed in factories, mines or plantations where the number of workmen employed in the last year is 100 or more – the ID Act has been amended in certain states to increase this threshold to 300 employees or more. The IR Code has increased this threshold to 300 employees across all states. Additionally, the IR Code also seeks to introduce a “worker re-skilling fund.” The IR Code provides that an employer shall be required to contribute an amount equal to 15 days’ wages or such amount as may be notified by the government for every retrenched worker. This amount will then be credited to the account of the retrenched worker in such manner as may be prescribed by the government.

For the ''non-workmen'' category of employees, their services may be terminated in the manner provided in their employment contracts and subject to complying with the provisions of the relevant S&E Act of the state.

Employees subject to termination laws

Where an employer plans to retrench a workman who has been in continuous service for at least 1 year (ie, 240 days) and who is employed in:

• Factories, mines or plantations with less than 100 employees or
• Other establishments, prescribed steps must be taken:
  • Where the workman belongs to a particular category of workmen, in the absence of any agreement otherwise, the employer shall ordinarily retrench the workman who was the last person to be employed in that category. If the employer retrenches any other workman, it must record the reason for doing so (Last In First Out Rule).
  • The workman must be given the requisite period of notice or payment in lieu of notice.
  • Retrenchment compensation must be paid to the workman.
  • Notice in the prescribed manner must be served upon the appropriate government authority.

Where an employer plans to retrench a workman who has been in continuous service for at least 1 year (ie, 240 days) in factories, mines or plantations where the number of workmen employed in the last year is 100 or more (300 in some states), the following steps should be taken:

• The Last In First Out Rule must be followed before retrenching the service of a workman
• The workman must be given the requisite period of notice or payment in lieu of notice
• Prior permission of the appropriate government authority must be obtained (see below) and
• Retrenchment compensation must be paid to the workman.

For "non-workmen," the steps the employer must take will be as stated in the employment contract and the provisions of the relevant S&E Act of the state.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

The level of protection granted to workmen in relation to the termination of their employment is higher where they are employed in factories, mines or plantations where the number of workmen employed in the last year is 100 or more (300 in some states). The ID Act prohibits termination of certain categories of workmen while a dispute is pending between them and their employer except with the approval of a designated authority. Under MBA, it is unlawful for an employer to discharge or dismiss a female employee while they are on statutory maternity leave. Similar protection is provided under ESI Act to employees who earn a monthly salary not exceeding INR 21,000 and who may be in receipt of certain statutory medical benefits provided under ESI Act.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Where an employer plans to retrench a workman who has been in continuous service where the number of workmen employed in the last year is 100 or more (300 or more in some states), prior permission of the appropriate government authority must be obtained by the employer. The appropriate government authority, after making inquiries with the parties and considering the genuineness and adequacy of the relevant factors, will make an order either granting or refusing to grant permission. The order of the appropriate government authority is final and binding on all parties and remains in force for 1 year.

Mass layoff rules

The retrenchment procedure described above will equally apply to mass terminations.

Notice

Notice is required to be given prior to termination. The notice period may vary from state to state, but it is normally 1 month for ordinary dismissal, unless the employment contract provides for a longer notice period.

Where:

• An employer plans to retrench a workman who is employed in factories, mines or plantations with less than 100 employees or
• At other establishments, the employee is entitled to receive 1 month's notice or payment in lieu of such notice period.

Where an employer plans to retrench a workman who is employed in factories, mines or plantations where the number of workmen employed in the last year is 100 or more (300 in some states), the employee is entitled to receive 3 months' notice or payment in lieu of such notice period. In both cases, the notice of termination must be in writing and must indicate the reason for retrenchment.

Notification and permission from the appropriate government authority must also be obtained by the employer. See above.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employers may make a payment in lieu of notice. The right of workmen to receive retrenchment compensation is based on their length of service as of their last working day, irrespective of whether the termination is with immediate effect or after the employee has been asked to serve the notice period.

Garden leave is possible, though there is little case law to suggest how it will be enforced by the courts. It is preferable to include a specific garden leave in the contract of employment and company policy.

Severance

In case of a termination due to redundancy, employers are required to pay retrenchment compensation. Severance or retrenchment compensation equal to 15 days' average pay for every completed year of continuous service or part thereof in excess of 6 months must be paid to a workman on termination of employment. The provisions of the IR Code, pertaining to retrenchment are aligned with the provisions under the ID Act. However, for the purposes of retrenchment compensation, the same will be calculated at the rate of 15 days’ average pay or average pay of such number of days as may be notified by the appropriate government, for every completed year of continuous service or any part thereof in excess of 6 months. Additionally, as mentioned above, the IR Code also requires employer to contribute an amount equal to 15 days’ wages or such amount as may be notified by the government for every retrenched worker to a “worker re-skilling fund.”

In addition, the employer must pay certain termination benefits to employees who are dismissed, including leave encashment, gratuity payment (for employees, whether workmen or not, with 5 years or more of continuous service), payment in lieu of notice (if no notice is given), statutory bonus payment and any other amounts due under the employment contract. Employees who are being terminated on account of misconduct are not entitled to notice pay or retrenchment compensation.

Grounds

A termination must be mutually agreed by the employer and employee, and upon the grounds outlined below, as well as following the industrial relations dispute settlement procedure. The procedure starts from serving a mandatory termination notice within 14 business days prior to the termination (7 business days if the employee is still in probationary period). The termination notice is not required if the termination is due to an urgent reason.

If the employee does not agree with the termination, he/she should convey his/her written objection to the employer no later than 7 business days upon receipt of the notice.

If the termination dispute arises, the subsequent settlement procedure will be: bipartite, if no settlement is reached, the dispute goes to tripartite negotiations (the most common method is mediation conducted in the local manpower office) and, if no mutual agreement is reached, a lawsuit can be filed to the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) and the court proceedings should be attended until a court ruling is handed down. An appeal to the Supreme Court is possibly submitted. Unless a termination is mutually agreed, a final and binding court ruling should be obtained for a valid termination.

• Termination without cause (ie, where dismissal cannot be avoided, such as in the case of a merger, an acquisition, a reorganization of the company, the employer taking efficiency measures with or without closing down the company (ie due to losses it has suffered or to prevent losses), force majeure, the employer being under a delay of payment process or bankruptcy of the employer; note that the employer still must show grounds for termination).
• Termination with cause (eg, where the employee breaches the employment contract, company regulations or collective labor agreement and commits gross misconduct (termination due to urgent reasons), or other reasons for the termination of the employment relationship that may be stated in the employment agreement, company regulations or collective labor agreement).

• Where the employee has been unable to work for over 6 months due to legal proceedings brought against them, either for a crime that causes the company to suffer a loss or otherwise; however, if the court finds the employee not at fault, the employer must re-employ the employee.

• Where the employee has been absent from work for 5 or more consecutive working days without providing reasons or evidence, and 2 written notices have been given.

• Where the employee has a prolonged sickness for 12 consecutive months.

• The employee has submitted an application to terminate the employment relationship due to the faults of the employer.
• Retirement.
• The employee passes away.
• Voluntarily resignation.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees are subject to termination provisions under the Manpower Law.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination cannot be on the basis of the following circumstances: a worker being absent due to illness according to a physician's statement for a period of not more than 12 months; a worker having a permanent disability or being ill due to a work accident or due to the employment relationship where, according to a physician’s statement, the recovery period cannot be determined; a worker being unable to carry out work due to the fulfillment of state duties; a worker performing their religious rituals; a worker getting married; a female worker being pregnant, in delivery, experiencing a miscarriage or breastfeeding her baby; a worker having a blood relationship and/or a marital relationship with another worker within a single company; a worker having reported the employer to the authorities alleging criminal activity by the employer; or a worker forming, becoming a member and/or the manager of a union, or carrying out activities of the union outside working hours, or during working hours with consent from the employer or based on the provisions of an employment agreement, company regulations or a collective agreement.

If the employer purports to terminate an employee's employment under any of the circumstances above, such termination is void by law, and the employer must continue to employ such employee.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

In addition to serving a notice to the employee and if the employee rejects the termination in writing, employers generally must first undergo the industrial relationship termination procedure which starts from having  bipartite meeting(s) with the employees, followed with tripartite negotiations (which can be through mediation, conciliation, or arbitration procedures, but mediation is commonly opted by the disputing parties) if bipartite meetings fail to arrive at an agreement. If mutual agreement is not reached in tripartite negotiations, a lawsuit should be filed to the IRC. Employers should obtain a favorable decision on the termination of employment from the IRC or the Supreme Court if the IRC ruling is appealed to the Supreme Court (depending on the type of dispute which can be appealed).

Exceptions to the above apply if a FTC expires, the termination of employment occurs during the probation period of the worker (save for the mandatory termination notice, and as long as the probation period is specifically provided in writing and the termination procedure is expressly agreed in employment agreement, company regulations or collective labor agreement – although it is now subject to uncertainty due to Job Creation Law), due to the worker's voluntary resignation without pressure or intimidation from the employer, due to a mutually agreed termination or due to the worker reaching retirement age.

There is no applicable pension age for private sector employers. Currently, 58 years is the minimum age to obtain pension security from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. However, a company may set a different retirement age to apply within the company under the employment agreement, company regulations or collective labor agreement (eg, 55 years).

Mass layoff rules

No specific definition of redundancy or layoff. Employers seeking to make employees redundant should ensure that they provide valid evidence as grounds for the redundancy. Employers must attempt to negotiate a proposed termination with an employee or relevant labor union, as all dismissals on redundancy grounds must follow industrial relations dispute settlement procedures if not mutually agreed. A consultation process must be completed before notice of termination is given to employees. Where a redundancy occurs, the employer must pay the employee severance pay, service pay (if applicable) and compensation pay.

Notice

Although employment cannot be terminated unilaterally through notice, the Indonesian manpower laws and regulations recognizes the concept of a notice period for termination  particularly for permanent employees. A notice of termination  must be drawn up in writing specifying the grounds for termination and compensation payable (eg severance package) to the terminated employee. It must be delivered officially and properly by employer to the employee no later than 14 business days prior to the termination.

If the termination is conducted in the probationary period 7 business days’ notice prior to the termination is required. No compensation is payable to a terminated employee during the probationary period.

A termination notice is not required if the termination is due to an urgent reason.

Written notice does not negate the legal requirement to perform the termination procedures as explained under "Third-party approval for termination/termination documents" if the termination is not mutually agreed.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice is not a recognized concept under the Manpower Law but if agreed by the employee and employer, it may be given in addition to the statutory termination package.

Employers may require employees to serve a period of garden leave in a form of suspension pending the outcome of industrial relations dispute settlement proceedings. During such period, employees are still entitled to their salary and usual entitlements.

Severance

The Manpower Law provides a single severance package formula which applies to most  grounds for termination of permanent employees. The Manpower Law provides the following single severance package formula that applies to every lawful termination of employment:

• Standard severance pay: 1 month's salary for every year of service, up to 9 months' salary.
• Service appreciation pay: 2 months' salary for the first 3 years of service, followed by an additional month's salary for every 3 years of service thereafter, up to a maximum of 10 months' salary for 24 years of service.
• Compensation: to cover annual leave that has not expired or been taken, relocation expenses (to return the employee and their family to the place from which they were recruited, if applicable).
• Other benefits under the employment agreement, company regulations or collective labor agreement, if applicable.

If the termination is without cause or there is termination on retirement, the employee is entitled to the severance pay amount plus the standard service appreciation pay (if applicable) and compensation. If contested, a termination without cause may result in reinstatement.

Grounds

Termination permissible, if a fair process has been followed, on the following grounds: misconduct, capability (including performance and ill health), redundancy, illegality and "some other substantial ground of a kind to justify dismissal."

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees with less than 1 years' service have limited protection against unfair dismissal.  Employee protections exist for dismissals which do not have a minimum length of service requirement, including:  dismissals for whistleblowing, dismissals based on discriminatory grounds or trade union membership and activities.

Dismissals for misconduct, including in the 1st year, must follow a proper process. The contract of employment should be reviewed prior to any termination.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Transfer-related dismissals are void unless justified on economic, technical or organizational grounds.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

• 0 to 13 weeks: none

• 13 weeks to 2 years: 1 week
• 2 years to 5 years: 2 weeks
• 5 years to 10 years: 4 weeks
• 10 years to 15 years: 6 weeks
• 15 years or more: 8 weeks

Notice is not required for terminations for gross (ie, extremely serious) misconduct. Longer notice may be agreed and set out in the contract of employment.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply in certain collective redundancy situations. The employer must also notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Notice

Statutory minimum notice requirements:

• Pp to 13 weeks: none
• 13 weeks to 2 years: 1 week
• 2 years to 5 years: 2 weeks
• 5 years to 10 years: 4 weeks
• 10 years to 15 years: 6 weeks
• 15 years or more: 8 weeks

Notice is not required for terminations for gross (ie, extremely serious) misconduct. Longer notice may be agreed and set out in the contract of employment.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is no statutory right and entitlement to either pay in lieu or garden leave; depends on contract terms.

Severance

Severance is payable only to redundant employees with 2 years' service at the rate of 2 weeks' pay per year of service plus an additional week's pay. "Pay" is capped at EUR600 per week. More generous terms are possible and quite common.

Grounds

Any reasonable reason provided that a fair process has been followed in accordance with the procedural requirements for termination. Employees may claim unlawful dismissal on the grounds of discrimination, breach of the employers' good faith obligation and/or failure to comply with the procedural requirements for termination.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Pregnant women (after 6 months of employment), women on maternity leave or others on protected parental leave and during the first 60 days following their return to work, and employees undergoing fertility treatments may not be dismissed without the prior approval of the Minister of Economy. Employees may not be dismissed during their military reserve duty or for 30 days following their return to work.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required, apart from the notification below in case of a mass dismissal.

Mass layoff rules

No special rules apply, however, if all employees without exception are dismissed, the prior hearing process for termination can be skipped. In the event of dismissal of more than 10 employees, the employer is required to notify the local Employment Services Bureau of the dismissal.

Notice

Absent a contractual arrangement setting a longer notice period than the minimum requirements, the notice period for full-time employees is as follows:

• During the 1st year of employment, 1 day for each month during the first 6 months of employment and an additional 2.5 days for every additional month thereafter

• Following completion of at least 1 entire year of employment on a full-time basis, 30 days

The length of the notice period will be less for employees paid on an hourly basis. Most employment agreements include a 30 day contractual notice period.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Yes. Payment in lieu of notice in an amount equal to the employee's salary is permissible. The employer/employee relationship is terminated immediately, and benefits need no longer be paid, unless a contractual provision or binding practice requires otherwise.

Garden leave is permissible on full salary and benefits.

Severance

Payable to dismissed employees with at least 1 year seniority. Usually, this is the last monthly salary multiplied by the number of years the employee worked. Generally, a substantive portion of the severance pay entitlement will have been accrued as part of the employees' managers' insurance and/or pension fund. If the parties provided so in the employment agreement or as a result of a collective bargaining agreement applicable to the employee, the employee will not be entitled to severance pay other than the amount accumulated in the employee's pension fund.

Grounds

Termination permissible on these grounds:

• Just cause (ie, an irremediable and serious breach of trust – or serious violation of contractual duties – between the parties of the employment relationship. In this case, the contract terminates immediately without notice.
• Justified reason, which may be subjective (eg, breach of employee's contractual obligation is less serious than just cause) or objective (eg, redundancy). In this case, the contract terminates with notice.

Dismissals must be notified in writing. Reasons for dismissal must be detailed. If the dismissal is due to just cause or subjective reasons, a special disciplinary procedure must be complied with.

Resignation and mutual consent terminations

Under Jobs Act reforms, which are effective as of March 12, 2016, resignations and mutual consent terminations can only be implemented in electronic form; such forms are provided by the Labor Ministry. Within 7 days of the submission of the form, employees have the right to revoke their resignation or mutual termination, provided they do so via electronic means. The Ministerial Decree of December 15, 2015 details the procedure for communicating resignation and mutual consent terminations.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees except for those under probationary period.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Discrimination, retaliation, pregnant women, mothers until the child is 1 year old, women within 12 months of marriage and employees with disabilities, under certain conditions.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Dismissal based on objective and economic reasons for employees hired before March 7, 2015 must be preceded by a mandatory administrative conciliation procedure when more than 15 employees are employed in the office where dismissal takes place, or more than 60 in the national territory. Employees hired from March 7, 2015 are not subject to this procedure and may be dismissed without prior involvement of the labor office. Notice to labor authorities must be given within 5 days of the termination of employment.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where 5 or more employees are to be made redundant over 120 days or less an enhanced consultation procedure (lasting up to 180 days and involving several public authorities) is provided for employers engaging more than 250 employees who intend to close a plant, office or autonomous department making redundant at least 50 employees.

Notice

Notice is set out in the collective bargaining agreements and varies depending on enrollment level, category and tenure.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

The employer or employee may pay an indemnity in lieu of working the notice period. Garden leave is not possible under Italian law.

Severance

In all cases of termination, including for just cause, the employer must pay a severance pay known as TFR, which is equal to the sum of each annual salary divided by 13.5, accrued for any single year. TFR is usually set aside on the books of the company. Employees are also entitled to receive the indemnity in lieu of any holidays or permits accrued and not used, as well as the pro-rata portion of the supplementary salary installments.

Grounds

Employees in Japan enjoy substantial security when it comes to their employment. Termination of employees generally must be for cause. While employers do have the right to dismiss employees, a dismissal will be regarded as an "abuse of rights" under Japanese law and therefore invalid if a court determines that the dismissal lacks "reasonable" grounds and is not "socially acceptable" – a very high standard to meet. The following grounds may possibly be considered reasonable and socially acceptable:

• Very serious misconduct (eg, theft or violence in the workplace).

• Serious insubordination and failure to correct the action after clear warnings are given.

• Serious and ongoing poor performance after formal warnings have been given, significant training has been provided through performance improvement plans, and other positions have been explored, and it is determined that the training is ineffectual and no other suitable positions exist

• provision of material false information about one's background that impacts performance and
• a loss of or significant and continuous lack in ability to perform work duties.

See below under "Mass Layoff Rules" regarding economic dismissals.

Employees subject to termination laws

Generally, all employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Under the Labor Union Act, disadvantageous treatment, including dismissal, based on the fact that an employee is or intends to be a member of a labor union, intends to organize a labor union or engages in a proper act of a labor union is prohibited as an unfair labor practice.

Terminating an employee while they are on a leave of absence for work-related injury or illness or maternity leave is generally not permissible.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

There are no redundancy statutes in Japan. An employer may justify terminations based on the economic conditions of the company, but must meet 4 conditions in order to justify such a termination: there must be a very strong economic necessity to reduce the workplace, the employer must have taken all reasonable steps to avoid terminations, the employees to be dismissed should be selected using a reasonable and fair standard, and termination procedures must be reasonable and proper.

An employer must notify the Public Employment Security Office in advance if:

• 30 or more employees will leave during a 1-month period
• 5 or more employees who are between the ages of 45 and 65 and reach the retirement age set by the employer are dismissed or otherwise leave due to the employer's actions within a 1-month period
• An employee who is a foreign national leaves
• An employee with a disability is dismissed (under certain conditions) or
• The employer withdraws a job offer or defers the commencement date for new graduates or cancels or downsizes the size of hiring plans of new graduates.

There are some exceptions to these notification requirements.

There may be additional notification requirements set out in any collective bargaining agreement. In any event, if the employee is represented by a union, the employer is expected to consult with the union to fulfill the good-faith consultation requirement.

Notice

Employers must give at least 30 days' notice of dismissal. Employers may make payment in lieu of notice and dismiss an employee with immediate effect.

It is customary for the work rules to specify that an employee must give 30 days' notice of resignation. However, under the Japanese Civil Code, employees may terminate an employment agreement with 2 weeks' notice. The Civil Code will prevail over any longer requirement. Therefore, if an employee insists on 2 weeks' notice, such notice will be valid.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice is only required when dismissing employees with immediate effect or a notice period shorter than 30 days. It is not common for an employee to be placed on garden leave unilaterally. However, it is possible to provide garden leave when an employee leaves the company with mutual agreement.

Severance

There are no statutory requirements for severance payments in Japan. Given the severe limitations on the employer's right to terminate an employee, most employees are offered a severance payment in exchange for a waiver and voluntary resignation.

Grounds

Termination is permissible, if the statutory procedure has been followed on the following grounds: misconduct, capability (including performance and sickness), redundancy and any other substantial reason that may justify dismissal. The Employment and Labor Relations Court hastaken the view that the employer must also accord the employee an opportunity to be heard by a disciplinary panel in all cases of termination. The procedure contemplates an oral hearing.

Courts have also recently held that a disciplinary process is  mandatory for dismissals during a probationary period.

There is a specific process for redundancy dismissals (see “Mass layoff rules”).

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

No statutory prohibitions. However, due process must be followed in terminating the contract.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval is required.

Mass layoff rules

The Employment Act, 2007 sets out the requirements and procedure for effecting a lawful redundancy:

• Where the employee is a member of a trade union, the employer notifies the union of which the employee is a member and the labor officer in charge of the area where the employee is employed of the reasons for, and the extent of, the intended redundancy, not less than 1 month prior to the date of the intended date of termination on account of redundancy.
• Where an employee is not a member of a trade union, the employer notifies the employee personally in writing, and then notifies the labor officer.
• The employer has, in the selection of employees to be declared redundant, due regard to seniority in time and to the skill, ability and reliability of each employee of the particular class of employees affected by the redundancy. The last-in-first-out (LIFO) principle is preferred, but it is not the only available one.
• Where there exists a collective agreement between an employer and a trade union setting out termination benefits payable on redundancy, the employer must not place the employee at a disadvantage for being or not being a member of the trade union.
• Where leave is due to an employee who is declared redundant, the employer pays off the leave in cash.
• The employer pays an employee declared redundant not less than 1 month's notice or 1 month's wages in lieu of notice. Where an employment contract provides for a longer termination notice period, such period applies.
• The employer pays to an employee declared redundant severance pay at the rate of not less than 15 days' pay for each completed year of service.
• The employee is issued with a Certificate of Service at the end of the redundancy process.

This procedure is mandatory and must be followed; otherwise, the termination will be deemed unfair.

Notice

Notice is not required where wages are paid daily. Where the wages are paid periodically, notice is given in writing at a period equivalent to that at which the next payment would be due. Where wages are paid monthly, a month's written notice is required. The notice period may also be agreed upon contractually, but if none is provided for, notice must be at least 1 month.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Either party is required to give the requisite contractual notice or pay in lieu. In some cases, the employer may decide to allow the employee to be on garden leave instead of working during the notice period on such terms as may be mutually agreed.

Severance

Severance pay is payable at the rate of 15 days for every year worked and is only payable in cases where termination is on account of redundancy. In cases of termination for other reasons other than redundancy, service pay is payable at a rate equal to that of severance pay.

Grounds

Termination is possible on the following grounds: by agreement, on the expiry of a fixed-term contract, resignation, incapacity or death and dismissal with notice provided it is for a valid reason or summary dismissal, by reason of any of the grounds listed at Article 41A of the Labor Law.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employees on any type of leave cannot be terminated while on leave (eg, employees on maternity leave or who are delayed in returning to work due to sickness resulting from pregnancy or labor cannot be terminated).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Special consideration should be given in the case of Kuwaiti nationals.

Mass layoff rules

None.

Notice

3 months' notice for monthly paid employees; 1 month's notice for all other employees.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

None. Entitlement depends on contract terms.

Severance

Unless terminated under Article 41A of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to salary and benefits to the termination date, notice (or payment in lieu), payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave, the cost of an airline ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country (unless (i) dismissal is attributable to the employee and the employee has the funds to pay their own costs; or (ii) the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in Kuwait), an end-of-service gratuity payment and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses. In case of employer termination, the end-of-service gratuity for monthly paid employees is calculated at 15 days' pay per year for each of the first 5 years of service, and 1 month's pay for each additional year of service thereafter. Where the employment is terminated by the employee, the employee is entitled to the following:

• After 3 and up to 5 years' continuous service, 50 percent of the severance pay as calculated
• After 5 years' continuous service, 2/3 of the severance pay as calculated above and
• After 10 years' continuous service, the full entitlement to severance pay as calculated above.

The Labor Law only sets out the employee's entitlement to an end-of-service gratuity in the case of a resignation in respect of indefinite contracts; however, we have been advised by PAM that the same entitlements will apply to employees who resign from limited-term contracts.

The total end-of-service gratuity entitlement an employee may receive is capped at 1.5 years' salary.

Grounds

Termination permissible with immediate effect for gross misconduct or with notice for real and serious cause connected with the employees' attitude, aptitude or for operating needs of the business (ie, economic ground).

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employee representatives, employees who have duly notified their incapacity to work, pregnant women and employees during parental leave, among others.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval is required for termination.

Mass layoff rules

• Any employer contemplating dismissing at least 7 employees within a period of 30 days, or 15 employees within a period of 90 days, for 1 or more reasons not related to the employees is required to follow the procedure applicable to mass layoffs.
• The employer must enter into prior negotiations with the employee representatives in order to come to an agreement in respect of the establishment of a social plan. Before negotiations start, the employer must inform the employee representatives in writing of the proposed collective dismissal and provide them with information thereon. Any dismissal notified before a social plan is signed is deemed null and void.

Notice

The notice period, which is not applicable in case of terminations due to gross misconduct, depends on the length of service:

• Less than 5 years: 2 months
• Between 5 and 10 years: 4 months
• More than 10 years: 6 months

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. The employee may be released from the obligation to work during the notice period. During the release, the employee is entitled to the same remuneration and benefits as if they were working.

Severance

The amount of the severance depends on the length of service and varies from 1 to 12 months. Not applicable for terminations for gross misconduct.

Grounds

Termination must be with just cause. Termination by the employer is usually on the grounds of misconduct, poor performance, redundancy, or closure of business.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees (including probationers) are protected from unfair dismissal or unfair termination of employment.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

There are specific prohibitions restricting termination of an employee by reason of his joining a trade union, or a female employee while she is on maternity leave.

Third-party approval for termination/termination

No approval required, unless provided for in a collective agreement.

Mass layoff rules

When implementing a retrenchment exercise, employers are encouraged (but not required) to abide by the guidelines in the Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony ("Code"). Note that there is no headcount threshold and these guidelines apply even if the retrenchment exercise involves only one employee. The employer must also inform the nearest Department of Labor at least 1 month before the retrenchment takes place. Employers must apply fair and objective selection criteria, and are generally required to abide by the "Last In, First Out" (LIFO) principle (departure from LIFO is acceptable, provided the employer can show that an alternative, fair and objective selection criteria was used instead) and any objective selection criteria set out in any collective agreement.

Notice

In the absence of contractual termination notice provisions, the EA provides that employees are entitled to the following minimum notice periods:

• 4 weeks' notice if the employee has been so employed for less than 2 years on the date on which the notice is given
• 6 weeks' notice if the employee has been so employed for 2 years or more, but less than 5 years on such date
• 8 weeks' notice if the employee has been so employed for 5 years or more on such date

In very limited circumstances, an employer may be entitled to summarily dismiss an employee, where it can be shown that the employee is guilty of a serious misconduct which is so serious that it renders the continuation of the employment relationship impossible. The burden of proving that the misconduct was serious enough to warrant summary dismissal lies with the employer.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

The EA provides for termination without notice with the making of a payment in lieu of notice. There is no statutory provision for garden leave.

Severance

An employee earning up to RM4,000/month who has been employed for 12 months or more is entitled to the following minimum severance payments pursuant to the Employment (Termination and Lay-Off Benefits) Regulations 1980:

• 10 days' wages for every year of employment under a continuous contract of service with the employer if he has been employed by that employer for a period of less than 2 years
• 15 days' wages for every year of employment under a continuous contract of service with the employer if he has been employed by that employer for 2 years or more but less than 5 years
• 20 days' wages for every year of employment under a continuous contract of service with the employer if he has been employed by that employer for 5 years or more, and pro-rata in respect of an incomplete year, calculated to the nearest month

For employees earning more than RM4,000/month, the entitlement to severance payments depends on the employment contract.

Grounds

An employer may rescind an employment relationship without incurring any liability if any of the justified causes established by law are given, which are mostly based on misconduct. Technically, the employer cannot terminate employment without cause, except in specific cases established in the labor law. In practice, however, exposure in an unlawful termination lawsuit is mostly limited to statutory termination payments, so most terminations may be implemented either through employee resignations (with all statutory payouts, including severance), or through a mutual termination agreement (also with all statutory payouts, including severance).

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

If the employment relationship is suspended (eg, when an employee is on maternity leave).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval is required, but it is common for employees to sign a resignation letter or a waiver and release letter in front of the labor authorities.

Mass layoff rules

No mass layoff rules.

Notice

No notice period.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Not applicable under Mexican law.

Severance

Integrated salary of 90 days (ie, the last annual average of the employee's income), plus 20 days' integrated salary for each year of services rendered, a seniority premium equal to 12 days' wages for each year of services rendered (subject to a limitation up to twice the minimum wage) and accrued benefits.

Grounds

Termination is permitted for serious misconduct, 4 non-serious misconducts in a single year or economic reasons. Termination due to poor performance is rare in Morocco and is subject to the following strict conditions:

• Performance objectives must be agreed upon between the employer and the employee in writing
• Objectives must not be excessive and
• The employer must prove that the employee was given all the means to achieve the objectives.

Employers must summon employees for a preliminary hearing before terminating the employee for the purpose of allowing the employees to defend themselves.

Economic termination involves a different, long and cumbersome process.

At least 1 month before starting an economic dismissal process, the employer must inform the employees' representatives, or the work council, and the union's representatives, if any. The employer must also conduct discussions and negotiations with them in order to minimize the impacts of the contemplated dismissals. Meeting minutes must be drafted and signed by the employer and the employees participating in the negotiations, and a copy of these minutes must be sent to the labor inspector.

A request for authorization must be sent by the employer to the governor. The governor must inform the company of their decision to grant or not grant the authorization no later than 2 months after the receipt of the request.

The request for authorization must explain the financial difficulties faced by the employer or the technological or structural reasons and be documented by evidence of said difficulties or technological or structural reasons.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees are protected against unfair dismissal except during the probation period.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination of employment is prohibited during maternity leave.

Termination for discriminatory reasons is forbidden.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

Consultation with employees’ representatives is required in a mass layoff if such representatives exist in the company. The law is not specific about what constitutes a mass layoff; in theory, a mass layoff consists of more than 1 employee, but in practice, more than 10.

Subject to an authorization from the governor of the region, which is rarely granted in practice.

Notice

Varies between 8 days and 3 months, depending on the seniority and the position of the employee; notice is not required in cases of serious misconduct.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. It is permissible to put employees on garden leave during the notice period if their salary is paid.

Severance

In case of termination of a fixed-term employment agreement without misconduct of the employee, the severance pay equals the wages the employees would have received if the employee had stayed in the company until the end of the employment contract.

In case of termination of an indefinite-term employment agreement without serious misconduct of the employee, the severance pay depends on the seniority of the employee; the amount may vary between 2 and 36 months of salary. In some case, the severance pay may be even higher.

Grounds

The formalities for termination of an employment contract are provided by the Labor Law and are mandatory. There is no summary dismissal without notice. Employment contracts may terminate by expiry, agreement, denunciation (ie, cancellation) by either party or rescission by either of the contracting parties based on just cause (eg, retrenchment or disciplinary process). Cancellation of the contract may be based on just cause or for convenience. This type of termination may take the form of resignation provided that the employee meets the notice requirements as applicable.

Performance issues, depending on the particular situation, may be dealt with as misconduct (ie, lack of compliance with work instructions) or as manifest ineptitude discovered after the probationary period – a of unilateral termination of the contract by the employer with just cause.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

There are no statutory prohibitions.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No, apart from the consultation or notification below in case of a mass dismissal.

Mass layoff rules

In respect of collective dismissal (ie, more than 10 employees) there is a consultation process with the trade union where the union may be required to be involved in the termination process. This process shall not last longer than 30 days. Notification to the Ministry of Labor is additionally required. The employer shall inform the trade union, the affected employees and Ministry of Labor of the collective dismissal before the negotiation process begins – no specific period is indicated in the law. The negotiation process shall not take longer than 30 days. In practice, the 30-day period begins when employees and other relevant stakeholders in the process are notified of the collective dismissal and negotiation process, and the collective dismissal occurs before or upon the end of this period.

Notice

In the event of termination during the probationary period, a minimum of 7 days' advance notice, in writing, is required. In the event of termination with just cause after the probationary period, the employer must give 30 days' prior notice. In case of termination by the employee, the employee is required to give prior notice of 15 days where the period of work is more than 6 months but does not exceed 3 years, and 30 days' prior notice where the period of work is more than 3 years. Employees with fixed-term employment contracts must give prior notice of 30 days.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employees are entitled to receive salary during the notice period. Garden leave is common as notice cannot be paid in lieu.

Severance

In respect of termination of the contract on the initiative of the employer with just cause and with prior notice, the employee is entitled to receive severance. In respect of termination by agreement, compensation is normally agreed between the parties. In respect of termination by dismissal due to a disciplinary process, expiry or during the probationary period, the employee is not entitled to severance.

In the event of contracts for indefinite duration (ie, permanent contracts), the employee is entitled to severance which will be calculated according to the salary received by the employee, as per the following table:

On the date of termination of an employment contract which is a fixed-term contract, the employer shall pay the affected employee severance equivalent to the wages that the employee would have earned between the date of termination and the contractual expiry date. Where more favorable severance criteria have been agreed upon between employer and employee, such favorable criteria shall apply as it benefits the employee. The requirements of the Labor Law in this case are regarded as minimum severance requirements.

Employees hired while the former labor law was in force (ie, before November 1, 2007) and whose basic salary, including the length of service bonus, corresponds to an amount between 1 and 7 minimum national wages may also be entitled for a severance of 90 days for each 2 years of service, or a fraction thereof.

If the termination of the employment contract on the initiative of the employer is deemed to be unlawful by a Labor Court, the employee is entitled to be re-instated and receive an amount equal to the remuneration payable between the date of termination and the date of effective re-instatement, up to a maximum of 6 months.

If re-instatement is not possible, the employer is liable for severance of 45 days per year of service minus any severance already paid, if any. The period between the unlawful termination and the verdict of the Labor Court shall count as length of service of up to 6 months for severance calculation purposes.

Grounds

Based on the standard employment contract (see above under Employment Contract and Policies), termination is possible in the following circumstances:

• Liquidation of the factory/company
• Winding up the employer's business due to force majeure or
• Death of employee

All employers must ensure their employment contract/an annex to it provides a list of misconduct offences. Although not an exclusive list, typical grounds for termination for cause are listed in the "work rules" annex to the standard issue government employment contract. These are:

• Stealing, accepting stolen goods, misusing, or helping to misuse, work-related property
• Intentionally destroying, or helping to destroy, the property of the factory/company
• Quarrelling among employees, injuring another employee or causing conflicts
• Committing morality-related crimes in the workplace
• Corruption
• Bringing alcohol to, or selling or drinking alcohol at, the workplace
• Gambling at the workplace
• Keeping, distributing, selling or using narcotic drugs
• Smoking or using fire at the work place
• Bringing prohibited materials or explosives
• Entering restricted areas of the factory/company
• Breaking secrets, revealing confidential information, formulae, statistics or technologies of the company to others, or taking photos thereof
• Being arrested and sentenced in criminal cases
• Failing to come to work for 3 days continuously or for 5 days during a month without permission from the employer or manager

If an employee is not in compliance with work obligations, then the employee must have received 3 written prior warnings, with an undertaking given by the employee on the third warning, of poor performance and have been provided with the opportunity to rectify his or her conduct prior to termination of employment. 

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

An employer is not permitted to terminate an employee who did not breach the existing laws, rules or the employment contract.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

None.

Mass layoff rules

An employer may terminate the employment of an employee as a result of closure, or a necessary change or restructuring of the business. In any cases of making changes to employment conditions such as changes of employer or changes of work place or changes of work nature, the employer must report these to the TLO within 10 days with the prescribed Form. Workforce reductions or termination of employment, must be effected in coordination with a workplace union and the WCC, if no union exists in the workplace, coordination should be directly with the WCC.

Notice

Either party may terminate the relationship by giving 1 months' notice, but the employer must have a basis for termination.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Myanmar laws do not provide payment in lieu of notice or garden leave, but it is often written into employment contracts or internal policies, or agreed upon at the time of termination.

Severance

The employer shall, in respect of the termination of an employment contract of an employee having worked continuously, make severance payments on the basis of his/her last salary (without over‐time premium) as follows:

Grounds

Termination is permissible on misconduct, performance, redundancy or other substantial grounds. Dismissal is only possible on the basis of one of the reasons specified in the Dutch Civil Code.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Members of a European Works Council, employees on their first 2 years of sick leave, pregnant employees and employees on military service.

These prohibitions on termination do not apply in the event that:

• An employee consents to the termination in writing
• The termination takes place during the probationary period
• The termination is, by operation of law, due to the expiry of a fixed-term contract
• The termination is a dismissal with immediate effect
• There is a company closure (though the termination of employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave in that event still prohibited/restricted) or
• The termination takes place because the pensionable age has been reached.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Employers do not need any third-party approval for:

• Immediate termination due to an urgent reason
• Termination during a probationary period
• Termination by operation of law due to expiry of a fixed-term contract or
• Mutual consent termination.

In all other situations, employers must either seek approval of the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) or request a court to dissolve the employment agreement. Mutual consent terminations are common.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply in situations where 20 or more employees in a certain area are to be made redundant within a period of 3 months or less.

Notice

The notice period that must be given by the employee is 1 month. For the employer, notice requirements depend on the duration of the employment:

• Less than 5 years requires 1 months' notice
• Between 5 and 10 years requires 2 months' notice
• Between 10 and 15 years requires 3 months' notice and
• 15 years or more requires 4 months' notice.

Parties can agree on a longer notice period than 1 month for the employee, provided that the notice period for the employer is at least twice as long as the notice period for the employee (ie, 2 months for the employee and 4 months for the employer). The maximum notice period that can be agreed  for an employee is 6 months. With the consent of the employee, employers can make a payment in lieu of notice.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employers do not have a statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. However, if the employer (validly) terminates the employment agreement without observing a notice period, damages in the amount of a payment in lieu of notice are due (such payment has to compensate for all remuneration elements the employee would be entitled to during the notice period). Employers have no statutory right to impose garden leave on an employee. Garden leave needs to be agreed in writing in order to be valid.

Severance

• 1/3 of 1 month's salary (including holiday allowance and, if any, fixed end-of-year bonus and/or average bonus of the last 3 years and/or commission of the last 12 months) for each calendar year that the employment agreement has lasted, and a pro rata amount for a period where the employment agreement has lasted less or longer than a calendar year.

The maximum transition payment for 2024 amounts to EUR94,000 gross or, where an employee earns over EUR94,000 per annum, a maximum of 1 year's salary.

The statutory transition payment is not due if (i) the employee has engaged in seriously culpable behavior; (ii) the employee terminates the employment agreement, provided that the termination is not a result of seriously culpable behavior by the employer and (iii) in case of a termination due to the employee reaching the statutory retirement age (AOW-leeftijd).

Waivers

Enforceable, but employees must be given time to consider and to seek legal help.

Grounds

Termination may be brought about by mutual agreement, expiry of a fixed-term contract, termination by the employer for cause (with or without notice) or termination (ie, resignation) by the employee.

Who is subject to termination laws?

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employers are prohibited from making "unjustified" dismissals and from taking adverse action against an employee for union membership or because of a protected characteristic under the Human Rights Act 1993.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not applicable for this jurisdiction.

Mass layoff rules

Employers must use a fair and reasonable process when implementing a redundancy, regardless of how many roles are impacted. An employer must show that there is a genuine commercial reason for any redundancy decision and offer to redeploy employees if possible.

Notice

The notice period will be set out in the employment agreement. This is often 1 month.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employers may pay in lieu of notice if stipulated in the employment agreement or agreed to by the employee. No right to impose garden leave unless specified in the employment agreement.

Severance

No right to severance payments unless specified in the employment agreement.

Grounds

Usually, the employment contract provides for termination of employment, and, where the contract of employment makes explicit provision for termination, said termination of the employment must be done in accordance with the prescribed procedure. The statutory obligation which applies only to manual and clerical workers is that required notice is given for termination of employment. Some decisions of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) state that employers are required to state valid reasons for the termination in the notice of termination. Failure to do so may amount to wrongful termination and give rise to a cause of action for breach of contract. These decisions  must be affirmed by the Supreme Court – the highest court – to be widely judicially recognized.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination of employment is prohibited during maternity leave. In addition, employees in the oil and gas industry (particularly persons employed by the holder of an oil prospecting license, oil mining lease, or any other license or a permit issued under the Petroleum Act) cannot be terminated without the consent of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), now the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval for termination or termination documents, except in the oil and gas industry, where the consent of the NUPRC is required.

Mass layoff rules

An employer may terminate an employment on the basis of a mass layoff/redundancy. However, there are prescribed rules that must be complied with. The redundancy must be within the meaning of the Labour Act, which defines redundancy as an involuntary and permanent loss of employment caused by an excess of manpower.

In the event of redundancy, the employer is required to inform the trade union, if any, of the reason and the extent of the anticipated redundancy. The principle of "last in, first out" shall be adopted in the discharge of the particular category of workers affected, subject to factors such as skill, ability and reliability. Employers are also expected to use their best efforts to negotiate redundancy payments.

Where the employee falls within the scope of the Labour Act, the following steps must be taken in a redundancy:

1. The principle of "last in, first out" must be adopted in the termination of employees by redundancy, subject to all factors of relative merit, including skill, ability and reliability
2. The employer is required to negotiate redundancy payment with the affected workers and
3. Where the employee is a member of a trade union, the employer must notify the applicable trade union of the reasons for the redundancy.

Please note that this process applies to only manual and clerical workers. For other categories of employees, the steps outlined above are used as a guide but are not mandatory.

For other categories of employees not covered under the Labour Act, the terms of the individual employment contracts and policies of the employer will determine the applicable procedure and payment on redundancy.

With regard to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, the guidelines for release of staff which was issued by the Director of the Department of Petroleum under the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) (Amendment) Regulations, 1988 provide that the holder of an oil mining lease, license or permit issued under the Petroleum Act 1969 or regulations made thereunder or any person registered to provide any services in relation thereto shall not remove any worker from their employment except in accordance with guidelines that may be specified from time to time by the Minister. Furthermore, the prior consent of the NUPRC. is required for the release of any worker employed by the holder of an oil mining lease, license or permit under the Petroleum Act.

In the oil and gas sector, an employer is also required to obtain the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, through the NUPRC, prior to declaring any employee redundant.

Failure to inform & consult

The courts have held that failure to notify the trade union does not invalidate the redundancy. The right conferred on trade unions is merely a right to be informed, and no sanction is provided for failure by employers to do so.

Notice

The Labour Act provides for termination with notice or payment in lieu of notice. In practice, the notice period is typically 30 days’ reciprocal notice for non- senior employees, and at least 30 days’ reciprocal notice for senior employees, as set forth in the employee’s employment agreement. Where allegations of misconduct giving rise to immediate dismissal have been made against an employee, the employer is not required to give notice. However, the employer must provide an avenue for the employee to be heard, usually through a disciplinary hearing, and afforded opportunities for representation prior to any decision being made on the dismissal.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Where the employment contract provides for pay in lieu of notice, either party terminating the contract may decide to pay in lieu of notice. Garden leave is not provided for under the Nigerian Law and is not a common practice in Nigeria, but some employment contracts provide for the same.

Severance

For manual and clerical workers (who are covered by the Labour Act), redundancy pay is mandatory. The law does not stipulate the amount to be paid as redundancy pay; the law only provides that the employer should use its best endeavors to negotiate redundancy payments. For employees not covered by the Labour Act, severance pay is usually subject to the provisions of the employment contract, policies of the employer or collective agreement.

Grounds

Mutual agreement, expiry of a fixed-term contract, dismissal by the employer with notice, dismissal by the employer without notice and notice given by the employee.

Termination by dismissal with notice is permissible if dismissal is objectively justified on the basis of circumstances relating to the undertaking, the employer or the employee. Termination by dismissal without notice is permissible if the employee is guilty of a gross breach of duty or other serious breach of the contract of employment.

Employees subject to termination laws

All. The chief executive may relinquish the right to employment protection in exchange for severance pay by prior agreement.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Termination for the following reasons is prohibited or restricted:

• Supporting or not supporting statutory union recognition and de-recognition
• Trade union membership or activities or non-membership of a trade union
• Pregnancy or any reason connected with maternity
• Taking, or seeking to take, parental leave
• Sex or race
• Ethnicity, politics or religion Sexual orientation
• Age or disability
• Sickness, during the first 12 months after being unable to work

Third-party approval for termination

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply when notice of dismissal is given to 10 employees or more within a period of 30 days, for business reasons (as opposed to reasons relating to the employees).

Notification to the Labor and Welfare Service is required.

Notice

During the probationary period, 14 days' notice is required. After the probationary period, the minimum statutory notice period for terminating an employment contract is 1 month. The notice period will be increased by 1 month for each 5 years of service, up to 10 years of service. If an employee is dismissed after at least 10 years of employment, the period of notice must be at least 4 months when given after the employee is 50 years of age, at least 5 months after the age of 55, and at least 6 months after the age of 60.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No. All employees are entitled to work and receive full payment during the notice period. The right to notice may be waived at the time of the termination.

Severance

No statutory right to severance pay. However, employees often offer severance pay so the employee accepts notice.

Grounds

Termination possible on the following grounds: by agreement, on the expiry of a fixed-term contract or completion of the specific project, resignation, incapacity or death, dismissal with notice provided it is for a valid reason or summary dismissal by reason of any of the grounds listed at Article 40 & 43 of the Labor Law.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Employees who have not exhausted statutory sick leave or who are on public holiday. In such instances, any notice of termination will not be effective until the leave of absence has ended.

It is also not permissible to dismiss a female employee by reason of illness which is proven by a medical certificate to have resulted from pregnancy or delivery (and where she cannot resume work because of such illness), provided that the total period of absence is not more than 6 months.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

None required.

Mass layoff rules

None.

Notice

30 days' statutory notice.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No. Depends on contract terms.

Severance

Unless terminated under Article 40 of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to salary and benefits to the termination date; notice (or payment in lieu); payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave; the cost of an airline ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country (unless the dismissal is attributable to the employee and the employee has the funds to pay their own costs or the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in Oman); an end-of-service gratuity payment; and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses.

In case of termination by the employer, the end-of-service gratuity is calculated based on the employee's final salary. An employee is entitled to 15 days' pay for the first 3 years of service and 1 month's pay for each subsequent year.

Grounds

After the probationary period, employees are protected against arbitrary dismissal (ie, dismissal without legal cause or procedure), which means that companies may terminate the employee only with justified cause, after providing prior written notice pursuant to law.

Both employee misconduct – including serious misconduct – and the incapacity of the employee may be considered as a ground for termination. However, in practice, some causes of dismissal (eg, poor performance) are difficult to apply.

The following are considered acts of serious misconduct:

• Non-compliance with working obligations

• Use or delivery to 3rd parties of confidential information belonging to the employer

• Unfair competition
• Repeated attendance at work under the influence of alcohol, drugs or narcotics
• Violence, serious lack of discipline, perjury or verbal or written statements made to the detriment of the employer
• Intentional damage to the facility, work, equipment and other property belonging to or in the possession of the employer
• Unjustified absence from work for more than 3 consecutive days, 5 days within a period of 30 days, or 15 days during a period of 180 calendar days, and
• Sexual harassment.

The following causes are related to an employee’s incapacity:

• Decrease in performance either based on the capability of the employee or based on an average of their previous performance in similar conditions and
• Unjustified refusal to undergo a medical examination – mandatory or agreed – which is necessary for work, or to comply with medical treatment.

Who is subject to termination laws?

Full-time employees. Part-time employees do not have protection against unfair dismissal. However, employers must still comply with the general requirements to terminate part-time employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Unfair dismissal is forbidden by law.

A dismissal will be null and the employee will be entitled to claim re-instatement if the dismissal is based on any of the following causes: pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, making a complaint against the employer, racial origin, sex, religion, political opinion or trade union membership.

Special protection against dismissal which was in place for pregnant employees and women who are breastfeeding (until 1 year after the birth of a child) has been extended to employees who are in their probationary period as well as part-time employees.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No requirements.

Mass layoff rules

When a layoff is based on economic, operational or structural reasons, an employer must dismiss a minimum of 10 percent of its employees. In these cases, the employer must hold a period of consultation and negotiation with the union or in the absence of a union, with the affected employees. A mass layoff must also be approved by the Labor Administrative Authority.

Where closing operations in Peru, an employer must provide prior written notice by letter communicating the termination of employment to its employees and then to the Labor Administrative Authority.

Notice

The company must provide prior written notice by letter communicating its intention to terminate the employee and in which the employer must describe the facts and any applicable misconduct that justifies the dismissal. Such notice must indicate the ground for the dismissal and provide the employee with at least 6 calendar days to reply, or 30 days if the cause is related to incapacity. After that notice period, whether or not the employee responds, the company may issue a termination letter.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Pay in lieu of notice is not permitted. Garden leave is permitted.

Severance

There is no statutory severance entitlement, but an indemnity is payable in the event of an unfair dismissal (ie, where the company does not have a prescribed legal ground to dismiss employees). In the event of unfair dismissal, employees are entitled to receive a legal indemnity in the amount of:

• 1.5 times their monthly remuneration for each year of service, if the employee is on an indefinite employment contract. Periods of time less than 1 year must be paid proportionally.
• 1.5 times their monthly remuneration for each month remaining until the end of the fixed-term contract, if applicable.

Such indemnity may not exceed, in both cases, 12 monthly salaries.

Grounds

Employees may only be terminated either for just or authorized causes as enumerated in the Labor Code. The burden of proof is with the employer or the employer will be liable for re-instatement with back pay.

The following are the just causes for the termination of employment by the employer:

• Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by an employee of the lawful order of their employer or representative in connection with their work
• Gross and habitual neglect of duties by an employee
• Fraud or willful breach by an employee of trust reposed in them by the employer or its duly authorized representative
• Commission of a crime or offense by an employee against the person of their employer or any immediate member of their family or their duly authorized representative
• Other causes analogous to the foregoing

The following are the authorized causes of termination:

• Installation of a labor-saving device or automation
• Redundancy
• Retrenchment (ie, downsizing)
• Closure or cessation of operation of the establishment or undertaking

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees, with no distinction as to rank or status.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Substantive due process mandates that an employee can only be dismissed based on just or authorized causes. On the other hand, procedural due process requires further that the employee can only be dismissed after the employee has been given an opportunity to be heard.

Further, pregnancy or number of children shall not be a ground for termination from employment. (Republic Act No.10354)

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

There are no specific mass layoff rules. Layoff, used interchangeably with retrenchment, is a valid ground for termination if the following are present:

• Retrenchment is reasonably necessary and likely to prevent business losses
• Losses, if already incurred, are not merely de minimis, but substantial, serious, actual and real, or if only expected, are reasonably imminent
• Expected or actual losses is proven by sufficient and convincing evidence
• Retrenchment is in good faith for the advancement of its interest and not to defeat or circumvent employees' right to security of tenure
• For redundancy, business must show that employees are in excess given current business situation of a company
• For both redundancy and retrenchment, there must be fair and reasonable criteria in ascertaining who would be dismissed and who would be retained among the employees, such as status, efficiency, seniority, physical fitness, age and financial hardship for certain workers

Notice

For termination based on just cause, there is no statutory advance notice period; for termination based on authorized causes, there is a statutory notice period to both the employee and the Department of Labor and Employment of at least 30 days prior to termination.

In addition, for termination of employment based on just cause, the procedure to be followed is as follows:

• A first written notice must be served on an employee specifying the ground for termination, a detailed narration of facts and circumstances that will serve as basis for the charge against the employee, and a directive that the employee is given opportunity to submit a written explanation within a reasonable period
• A hearing or conference during which an employee is given ample opportunity to be heard and to defend themselves with the assistance of the employee's representative if desired
• A 2nd written notice served to the employee indicating that
  • All circumstances involving the charge against an employee have been considered and
  • The grounds have been established to justify the severance of their employment
• For termination of employment based on authorized causes, requirements of due process are deemed complied with upon the service of a written notice to the employee and the appropriate Regional Office of the Department of Labor and Employment at least 30 days before the effective date of the termination, specifying the ground or grounds for termination

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Not provided for under Philippines law.

Severance

Severance pay or separation pay is the employer's statutory obligation in cases of legal termination due to authorized causes under Articles 297 or 298 of the Labor Code of the Philippines. Separation pay is equivalent to at least 1 month's pay or at least 1 month's pay for every year of service, whichever is higher – a fraction of 6 months considered 1 year. However, if the ground for termination is retrenchment to prevent serious losses, closure of business or disease, the separation pay shall be equivalent to at least 1 month's pay or 1/2 month's pay for every year of service, whichever is higher – a fraction of 6 months considered 1 year.

Financial assistance is an act of social justice in lieu of re-instatement in illegal dismissal cases where the employee is ordered to be re-instated but re-instatement is not feasible or as an employment benefit granted in a collective bargaining agreement or company policy.

An employment contract may be terminated by mutual agreement of the parties, with notice, with immediate effect (for cause or without any employee's fault) or at the end of the period it has been concluded for (ie, fixed-term employment contracts and probationary period employment contracts).

Polish law sets forth detailed rules regarding the unilateral termination (with notice and with immediate effect) served by both an employer and an employee. These rules vary depending on the type of employment contract.

Grounds

An employer that terminates the open-ended employment contract or fixed-term employment contract or terminates the employment with immediate effect must specify the reasons for termination, which must be concrete, justified and real. A termination letter must include all the reasons for termination as it is not possible to raise further grounds before the court. In case of termination with immediate effect, Polish law enumerates the reasons for termination (eg, the gross breach of basic employee obligations).

Employees subject to termination laws

Polish law provides for general protection against dismissal, granted to all employees engaged under open-ended contracts and fixed-term contracts, and special protection against termination due to the employee's life situation or role they hold.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

Statutory limitations of an employer's right to unilaterally terminate the employment relationship with some groups of employees due to their age (ie, employees who will reach retirement age in not more than 4 years), life situation (eg, pregnancy; when on maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, childcare leave, sick leave or holiday leave) or function they hold (eg, trade union leaders or works council members).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

In case of protected employees, restriction on termination may require the employer to seek consent of certain bodies for the termination of employment (eg, trade union's consent for summary dismissal of a pregnant employee or terminating the employment relationship with a member of the trade union's board, or consent of the works council for the termination of employment of its member).

In case of termination of an open-ended employment contract with notice or fixed-term employment contract or termination with immediate effect with an employee represented by the trade union, as its member or upon their request, it is necessary to notify the trade union in writing on the intended termination and its grounds. The trade union's opinion is not binding for the employer.

Mass layoff rules

Special procedure of termination in case of collective redundancies, applicable to employers engaging at least 20 employees terminating employment on grounds not related to individual employees. Collective redundancies cover the dismissal of at least:

• 10 employees in entities normally employing less than 100 employees
• 10 percent of the employees in entities normally employing at least 100, but fewer than 300 employees and
• 30 employees in entities normally employing at least 300 employees.

Notice

The length of the notice period depends on the type of employment contract. In the case of an employment contract for a probationary period, it may be 3 days, 1 week or 2 weeks, depending on the length of the probationary period.

The length of notice period applicable to open-ended and fixed-term employment contracts is between 2 weeks and 3 months, depending on the length of service with a given employer.

Parties may agree on a notice period longer than the statutory one. No notice period must be observed by termination by mutual agreement or termination with immediate effect.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Pay in lieu of notice is inadmissible. Only if the termination of an open-ended or fixed-term employment contract is due to employer's bankruptcy or liquidation or other reasons not related to the employee, the 3 months' notice may be shortened up to 1 month, and the employee is entitled to compensation equal to salary for the outstanding notice period.

Garden leave is permissible for the period of notice, provided that an employee retains the right to their standard remuneration and benefits.

Severance

In general, an employee is not entitled to severance pay unless the parties agree otherwise. Only in case of the collective redundancies or an individual termination of employment made exclusively due to reasons not related to the employee (only by employers engaging at least 20 employees), an affected employee is entitled to severance pay which is fixed on the basis of the period of employment by the employer. The amount of the statutory severance pay is equal to the employee's 1 to 3-months' salary and cannot exceed 15 times the minimum wage.

Grounds

Termination unilaterally by the employer: dismissal based on objective grounds (redundancy reasons); disciplinary dismissal with just cause (based on serious breach of the employee's duties); dismissal due to unsuitability for the job.

Termination without cause (with notice): only for employees hired under an employment contract of the service commission regime, a particular type of contract for high-level employees which provides flexibility for termination. It is not common.

Other termination causes: mutual agreement, termination by the employee (ie, termination with notice or constructive dismissal with just cause), expiration (eg, fixed-term and open-term contracts or retirement).

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Restrictions on terminations and specific procedures required for termination of protected employees:

• Pregnant women and women who have recently given birth (for 120 days after birth) or are breastfeeding, as well as parents who are taking parental leave, are protected against dismissal.
• Unilateral dismissal of protected employees will be allowed if the employer submits an application to the Commission for Equality in Labor and Employment (CITE), and CITE does not oppose to the dismissal; otherwise, the employer must file a lawsuit to obtain a court decision confirming the existence of grounds for dismissal. CITE may decide not to oppose the dismissal if, for example, there are obvious grounds for termination. If CITE opposes, then the employers may prefer to negotiate more generous severance rather than waiting for a court decision.

Termination on discriminatory grounds is prohibited.

Where a victim of harassment is dismissed within 1 year after the complaint, there is a rebuttable presumption that the dismissal is abusive.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Except in respect of protected employees, third-party approval is not required to terminate an employment contract.

Mass layoff rules

Redundancy dismissal is allowed for 1 or more of the following reasons:

• A definitive closure of the organization
• Closure of 1 or more departments of the organization or
• Personnel reduction based on structural, technological or market reasons.

Collective dismissal rules are triggered if the dismissal involves at least 2 employees (in a company with up to 49 employees) or 5 employees (in a company with 50 or more employees) within a 3-month period.

Information and consultation with the employees' representatives and with the ministry of employment representative (DGERT) is required. However, there is no need to obtain approval for termination.

If the collective dismissal rules are not triggered, the dismissal procedure due to extinction of the job is applicable. Previous consultation with the employees' representatives and with the employee is required.

Notice

For redundancy dismissal and dismissal due to unsuitability for the job, the following notice is required:

• 15 days if the employee's seniority is less than 1 year
• 30 days if the employee's seniority is at least 1 year but less than 5 years
• 60 days if the employee's seniority is at least 5 years but less than 10 years
• 75 days if the employee's seniority is 10 years or longer

Termination by the employee: notice of 30 or 60 days is required, depending on whether the employment contract was in force for up to 2 years, or for a longer period. In case of term contracts: notice of 30 or 15 days is required, depending on whether the duration of the contract is of at least 6 months or otherwise.

Notice periods in case of term contracts:

• Non-renewal of fixed-term contracts: 15 days for the employer and 8 days for the employee.
• Open-term contracts – for example, a contract to cover absence (employer): 7, 30 or 60 days, where the employment contract was in force for up to 6 months, between 6 months and 2 years or more than 2 years, respectively.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

If the notice period is not honored, payment in lieu of notice is required.

Garden leave is allowed during the notice period.

Severance

Fair dismissal based on objective grounds (ie, redundancy) or dismissal due to unsuitability for the job: 14 days' salary per year of service, up to 12 months' base salary.

For employees hired before May  1, 2023, the calculation of the legal severance follows specific and transitory rules.

Fair disciplinary dismissal: no severance.

Higher severance payments may be agreed and are usual as a way to avoid litigation.

Grounds

Termination possible on these grounds: during the probationary period (provided the employee is proved to be incapable of carrying out the work), on the expiry of a fixed term contract, resignation, upon the mutual consent of the employer and employee, incapacity or death, dismissal with notice and summary dismissal (by reason of any of the grounds listed in Article 61 of the Labor Law). Article 61 of the Labor Law sets out a limited list of circumstances (including when the employee attends work under the influence of alcohol, or is absent from work for period of 7 consecutive or 15 non-consecutive days) where an employee's employment agreement may be terminated without notice while forfeiting the employee's right to an EOSG. There is no general misconduct category.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employees who have not exhausted the statutory sick leave entitlement are protected from dismissal on grounds of health, unless the full sick leave entitlement has been taken (ie, 12 weeks per year of service). Women employees are protected from dismissal during maternity leave. A female employee may not be dismissed on grounds of her marriage.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No.

Mass layoff rules

Without prejudice to the termination notice periods, employers seeking to terminate employment agreements for reasons not provided for in the employment contract (eg, due to economic reasons),  must give notice to the Ministry of Labor at least 15 days prior to the termination date together with a statement of the reasons for termination, the number and categories of employees who will be affected, and the period during which the layoffs will take effect.

Notice

A minimum of 1 month's written notice where the employee has 2 years of service increasing to a minimum of 2 months' written notice where the employee has more than 2 years' service.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is a statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. Garden leave is not expressly and specifically dealt with in the Labor Law. As such, the employer and employee may contractually agree to provisions relating to garden leave.

Severance

Unless terminated under Article 61 of the Labor Law, employees are entitled to salary and benefits up to the termination date, notice (or payment in lieu), payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave, the cost of a flight/air ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country or any other place agreed to by the employer and employee (unless the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in Qatar), an EOSG and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses.

In case of employer termination, employees are eligible for an EOSG where they have more than 1 year of continuous service. EOSG accrues at the rate of 3 weeks' final basic salary for each year of completed service unless the parties agree on a greater amount. The calculation is prorated for any fractions of a year service that have not been completed. A different EOSG regime may apply for employees employed prior to 2004.

Grounds

Termination implemented by the employer is permissible:

• On the following grounds only:
  • For reasons not related to the individual employee (ie, redundancy)
  • For reasons related to the individual employee, namely:
    • Poor performance
    • Serious or repeated misconduct (ie, disciplinary)
    • Medical unfitness
    • Arrest of the employee for a period exceeding 30 days
• Subject to strictly complying with the procedure provided by law

A simplified form of termination is also possible at the initiative of either party, during or at the end of the probationary period, exclusively on the basis of a written notice, with no notice period nor termination grounds being required to be included therein.

Employees subject to termination laws

Termination rules equally apply to all employees with no seniority threshold required by law.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

A dismissal may never be implemented on discriminatory grounds or for exercising the right to strike or trade union rights.

A dismissal may not be implemented, for example, during temporary work incapacity (ie, medical leave), during pregnancy (provided that the employer acknowledged the pregnancy before issuing the dismissal decision), during maternity leave or child-raising leave or during vacation or annual leave or during paternal leave, carers’ leave or special absence from work.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

There are no third-party approvals expressly required by law; however, there is a requirement to involve certain labor authorities during a mass layoff process or, in specific cases, during a poor-performance or medical unfitness dismissal, including an obligation to provide them with relevant termination-related documents.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where, over a 30-calendar-day period, a certain number of employees are to be made redundant. The thresholds depend on the employer's total headcount and previous terminations. For example, the rules apply where at least 10 employees are to be dismissed if the company employs between 21 and 99 employees. The employer must also notify the territorial labor inspectorate and the workforce occupancy agency at set times during the redundancy process.

Notice

The minimum notice period provided by the law in case of dismissal is 20 working days. Longer notice periods may be agreed upon and set out in the individual employment agreement. By law, notice is not required for disciplinary terminations, nor in case of termination due to the employee being under arrest for a period exceeding 30 days.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No express regulation under Romanian employment law. However, the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice has ruled that payment in lieu of notice is not permitted as it essentially breaches an employee's fundamental legal right to receive notice.

Severance

There is no minimum level of severance payment expressly provided by the law. However, in practice, employers may decide to make a severance payment.

Grounds

The Labor Code sets out specific circumstances for which an employer may terminate the employment of an employee, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The employee's repeated failure to perform their employment duties without a justifiable reason (if the employee was lawfully disciplined during the preceding 12 months)
• Dismissal due to redundancy
• Gross misconduct (eg, the employee's unjustified absence from the workplace for more than 4 consecutive hours during 1 working day).

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Certain categories of employees stipulated by the Labor Code enjoy additional protection. These include, among others, minors, employees on sick or holiday leave, pregnant employees, employees with children and trade union members.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Local trade union, if any, for dismissals involving trade union members and in some other cases as defined by the legislation.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and notification rules apply when 50 or more employees are to be made redundant within 30 calendar days, 200 or more employees within 60 calendar days, or 500 or more employees within 90 calendar days. The rules also apply in case of the dismissal of employees amounting to 1 percent of the total number of employees in connection with the liquidation of the organization or a staff reduction within 30 calendar days in areas with fewer than 5,000 employees in total. This rule may differ depending on the region and industry and  the provisions of collective industrial agreements.

The employer must also notify the Russian Employment Service of the redundancies.

Notice

The mandatory notice could vary depending on the grounds for termination (eg, 2 months' notice for redundancy). No notice is required for dismissals due to gross misconduct, as defined by law.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No, except for a redundancy notice subject to the consent of the employee.

Severance

Payments to redundant employees of at least 1 month's average earnings (Average Pay). Additionally, an employee is also entitled to 1 more payment of Average Pay if they remain unemployed within 2 months after the termination date. They are also eligible for 1 additional payment of Average Pay if they are not employed within 3 months from the termination date, provided that they registered with the Russian Employment Service within 2 weeks of the termination date. If the employee becomes employed during the 2nd or 3rd months following the dismissal, the severance pay for such month is paid on a pro-rata basis.

At the employer's discretion, severance in the amount of 3 times the Average Pay may also be paid as a lump sum.

A payment in the amount of at least 3 times the Average Pay in the event of the removal and dismissal of the general director.

Grounds

If a fair process has been followed, termination is permissible on the grounds stated in the Labor Law – for example, misconduct, force majeure, constructive dismissal, winding up the business or parts of the entity’s activities, retirement and certain other substantial reasons, as well as the written consent of both parties.

Any termination that occurs outside of what is permissible by law and/or without following a fair process (ie, termination for redundancy without proper economic reasons) is considered unjustified termination, and the employer shall be required to compensate the employee accordingly.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination may not be based on an employee's illness if the employee has not exhausted their sickness days, nor can the employee be provided with a termination notice during the statutory sick leave.

Further, no termination notice may be served upon an employee where the employee is on mutually agreed upon leave, compassionate leave or maternity leave, among others (ie, statutory/contractual leaves).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

According to the Labor Law, the concept of redundancy is recognized provided that business is either closing down entirely or is terminating a particular activity. Prior to this, Saudi law was silent on the issue. There are still risks, however, that termination may be deemed to be for an invalid reason in certain circumstances.

Collective redundancy of Saudi national employees is generally prohibited under the Saudi Labor Law in circumstances other than the permanent closure of the business or the declaration of bankruptcy. In all other cases, where a company has 50 or more employees, it must notify the pertinent labor office no later than 60 days before proceeding with the termination and provide a full list of the jobs being removed and all nationalities of those involved.

Notice

If the contract is for an indefinite term, either party may terminate it for a valid reason, to be specified in a written notice to be served to the other party at least 60 days prior to the termination date, if the employee is paid monthly, and not less than 30 days for others.

For fixed-term contracts, the employment terminates once the fixed term has expired. Both parties may agree on any notice period under a fixed-term contract, provided it is reasonable and not less than 30 days.

If termination is sought for an indefinite-term contract, but it did not follow the proper procedural and substantive guidelines and a specific amount of damages has not been agreed upon in the employment contract, then the party who has suffered an unjustified termination is entitled to compensation equal to 15 days of employee wages per year of service.

If termination is sought prior to the expiry of a fixed-term contract for an invalid reason and the parties did not agree on the compensation amount in the employment contract, compensation equals all wages for the duration of the remaining period of the contract. The last wage received by the employee shall serve as the basis for estimating the compensation.

In the cases of both indefinite and fixed-term contracts, the compensation amount shall not be less than 2 months' wages.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice and garden leave are both permissible.

Severance

EOSG is not payable before the end of the employment relationship. If the employer ends the employment, the benefit is calculated by adding ½ month's wage for each of the first 5 years and 1 month's wage for each of the subsequent years. For fractions of a year, the employee is entitled to proportionate EOSG. EOSG is calculated on the basis of the employee's last salary.

If the employee resigns, they are entitled to 1/3 of the award after service of not less than 2 consecutive years and not more than 5 years; to 2/3 if their service is in excess of 5 successive years, but less than 10 years; and to the full award if their service amounts to 10 or more years.

If an employee is called to military service or cannot work because of force majeure, they are entitled to EOSG. Female employees are entitled to EOSG if they resign within 6 months of marriage or within 3 months of childbirth.

Grounds

There is no legal requirement to state the reason for termination, so long as termination is effected in accordance with the express termination provisions of the employment contract. However, if an EA Employee is dismissed without “just cause or excuse,” they may lodge a wrongful dismissal claim with the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), and thereafter with the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) if it cannot be successfully resolved at TADM. EA Employees in a managerial or executive position who have been dismissed with notice (or payment in lieu) must also have worked for their employer for at least 6 months in order to be eligible to bring a claim. The Tripartite Guidelines on Wrongful Dismissal provide examples of dismissals that will be considered to be wrongful, including discrimination, depriving an employee of benefits or entitlements they would otherwise have earned, punishing an employee for exercising their employment rights and providing a false reason for termination, among others.

In addition, an employer has a right to summarily dismiss an employee in exceptional circumstances, including misconduct, provided the employer has first conducted a "due inquiry". It is prudent to set out in the employment contract the circumstances and grounds on which the employee may be summarily dismissed. Suspension is also only possible  for EA Employees for the purposes of a due inquiry for a maximum period of 1 week, unless otherwise agreed by the Commissioner, and provided the employee is given at least half pay with the unpaid half being restored if the due inquiry does not find any misconduct on the employee’s part.

Employees subject to termination laws

The EA is the main piece of legislation governing termination of employment of EA Employees. For those employees not covered by the EA (which is rare), termination is governed by the employment contract between the employer and the employee.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

There are restrictions against terminating the employment of female employees on maternity leave, and employees who attain the minimum retirement age but remain eligible for re-employment under the conditions stated in the RRA or on the grounds purely of old age. There is also legislation governing the termination of employees in respect of their trade union activities under the IRA, employees in respect of their national service duties under the Enlistment Act 1970 and employees in respect of health and safety reporting or investigations under the Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

None required.

Mass layoff rules

There are no laws prohibiting mass layoffs, but these are subject to any restrictions under the individual contracts of employment and collective agreements, if any. The Tripartite Advisory on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment (Advisory) issued by the MOM provides guidance on redundancy situations and, while not legally binding, is commonly followed by employers. In October 2020, the Advisory was updated to encourage employers who are contemplating retrenchments to first take a long-term view of their manpower needs and the need to maintain a “strong Singaporean core.” Following this, retrenchments should generally not result in a reduced proportion of local employees.

Any redundancy exercise should be implemented in consultation with a trade union (if the company is unionized, including if a union has been statutorily recognized).

When undertaking a redundancy exercise, employers who employ at least 10 employees must make mandatory notifications in the prescribed form to the MOM. While there is no legal definition of redundancy in Singapore, in this context, retrenchments are taken to mean dismissal on grounds of redundancy or by reason of any reorganization of the employer's profession, business, trade or work. This requirement to make mandatory notification applies to permanent employees, as well as contract workers with full contract terms of at least 6 months. The MOM must also be notified if employers implement cost-saving measures that affect employees’ salaries.

Employers are obliged to provide information to the Commissioner of Labor in relation to the retrenchment of an employee, if so requested. There will be penalties for non-compliance.

Notice

Employment contracts typically specify a required notice period for termination. For an EA Employee, the length of such notice must be the same for both employer and employee and is determined by the notice provision specified in the terms of the employment contract. In the absence of a specified term, where the employee is an EA Employee, the required notice of termination is dependent upon the employee's length of employment (from 1 day for those employed for less than 26 weeks to 4 weeks for those employed for 5 years or more). A non-EA Employee is not subject to the statutory minimum notice period, and instead is entitled to reasonable notice (usually not less than the statutory minimum notice period) if their employment contract does not set out an express notice period.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Even if not made express in the employment contract, it is possible for either the employer or the employee to make a payment in lieu of notice for EA Employees — a sum equal to the amount of salary which would have been earned by the employee during the required period of notice. For non-EA Employees, the employer or the non-EA Employee may only terminate the employment contracts by paying salary in lieu of notice if there is an express contractual right to do so, or unless there is mutual consent between the parties.

Employees serving their notice period before termination may be placed on garden leave if expressly set out in their employment contract and, if not, only if they provide their express consent. During this time, they should continue to be treated as an employee and receive their full contractual benefits up to their last day with the employer.

Severance

Unless the employment terms expressly provide that severance, retrenchment or redundancy benefits are payable, there is no obligation on the part of the employer to pay non-Part IV EA Employees such benefits, and any retrenchment benefits are to be agreed between the employer and the employee. This is a matter of contract, company policy, subsequent negotiations and financial position, or what has been agreed collectively. When dealing  with unionized employees, employers are obliged to negotiate in good faith with the union and may not have absolute discretion to determine the terms of the retrenchment benefits.

Part IV EA Employees are, however, entitled to request for retrenchment benefits if they have worked for their employer for at least 2 years. The amount is subject to agreement between the employer and the Part IV EA Employee where there are no applicable contract, policy or other employment terms.

Pursuant to the Advisory, the MOM strongly encourages payment of retrenchment benefits to employees with at least 2 years’ service ranging from 2 weeks’ to 1 month’s salary per year of service depending on the financial position of the employer and taking into account industry norm. Employers who conduct retrenchment irresponsibly, such as an employer who is in a sound financial position but chooses not to provide any retrenchment benefit, may be denied future government support or have their work pass privileges suspended.

Employees who are eligible for re-employment under the RRA may also have a right to receive an employment assistance payment of 3.5 months’ salary at the gross rate of pay (subject to a minimum of SGD6,250 and a maximum of SGD14,750, which decreases progressively as the employee approaches the maximum re-employment age).

Grounds

Grounds for termination of employment by the employer are strictly determined by the Slovak Labor Code. In other cases, it is possible to terminate the employment only on the basis of a mutual termination agreement.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

An employer cannot give termination notice to an employee during a protected period – that is, when:

• An employee has been recognized as incapable of work due to illness or injury

• An employee has been summoned to carry out an extraordinary duty during a crisis situation

• An employee is released to undergo voluntary military training

• An employee is pregnant, or on maternity, paternity or parental leave

• An employee who is a single (or lone) parent has been taking care of a child below 3 years of age

• An employee has been released to pursue public office or

• An employee carrying out night work has been medically certified as incapable of night work.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Termination of employment with notice or with immediate effect by the employer must be pre-negotiated with the employee representatives (if any), otherwise it is invalid. In case of termination of a member of the employer's employee representative body, the prior consent of the employee representatives is required.

An employer may provide a termination notice to a disabled employee only with the prior consent of the competent Office of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, otherwise the termination notice is invalid. Such consent is not required if notice is given to an employee who has reached the determined age for eligibility to old-age pension, or the employer is being wound-up or relocated, or there are reasons based on which the employer could terminate the employment with immediate effect or due to a less serious breach of work discipline.

Mass layoff rules

Information and consultation rules apply where at least 10 employees in a business with at least 20 up to 100 employees are to be terminated within 30 days. In businesses with 100 to 300 employees, the threshold is 10 percent of the number of the employees and, in a business with more than 300 employees, at least 30 employees.

The employer must negotiate the mass layoff with the employee representatives, inform the Office of Labor, Social Affairs and Family and provide a list of the employees to be terminated. After negotiation, the employer must deliver written information about the negotiation outcome to both the Office of Labor, Social Affairs and Family and the employee representatives.

Termination Notice

An employer may give termination notice to an employee only due to reasons explicitly stipulated by the Slovak Labor Code. The reasons for termination include, for example, winding up or relocation of the employer, redundancy of the employee, lack of medical fitness, failure to satisfy the requirements of the agreed work and dissatisfactory performance of work tasks.

The length of the notice period depends on the length of the employment and the termination reason and varies between 1 and 3 months.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave.

Severance

An employee whose employment is terminated by the employer by means of termination notice, for organizational reasons (eg, redundancy, winding-up) or due to the employee´s health is entitled to severance pay amounting to 4 times their average monthly earnings, depending on the length of their employment.

Where the employment is terminated by mutual termination agreement for the same reasons as above, the employee is entitled to severance pay amounting to 1 to 5 times their average monthly earnings, depending on the length of their employment.

If an employee is terminated by termination notice or by mutual termination agreement due to a workplace injury, occupational disease or the threat of such disease, or if the maximum permissible exposure (eg, to hazardous substances) in the workplace has been reached, they are entitled to severance pay in the amount of at least 10 times their average monthly earnings.

Grounds

There is no employment-at-will. Termination is permissible but must be both substantively and procedurally fair. Dismissal is only justifiable by reason of misconduct, incapacity (ie, ill-health or performance) or operational requirements. Termination by effluxion of time (ie, fixed term or retirement age) is not considered dismissal; hence there is no requirement for a fair reason or fair process in such circumstances.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees, regardless of their income or length of service, are protected from unfair dismissal.

Prohibited or restricted terminations

There are increased penalties for automatically unfair dismissals. Automatically unfair dismissals include for instance dismissals due to employee participation in lawful strike action, dismissals due to an employee's pregnancy or a reason related to pregnancy, dismissal on account of having made a protected disclosure, dismissal related to a transfer and dismissal for any unfairly discriminatory reason.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No approval is required from any labor authority unless this is a condition imposed by the competition law authorities arising from an intermediate or large merger.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply to all retrenchments (ie, operational requirement dismissals or retrenchments). Additional requirements apply to large-scale retrenchments which are governed by section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, 1995. This applies where the employer employs more than 50 employees and contemplates the retrenchment of a prescribed threshold number of employees compared with the total number of employees in the workforce, taken together with the number of employees retrenched during the past 12 months.

No notice to government officials required, but the involvement of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration is required in the case of mass retrenchments.

Notice

Except for the limited instances justifying summary dismissal, minimum BCEA notice periods of between 1 week and 4 weeks apply, unless contracts of employment provide for longer notice, or a collective agreement provides a shorter period. Notice to be given in writing. Notice cannot be given while the employee is on any type of leave.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employer may freely elect to pay remuneration in lieu of notice, irrespective of who gives notice. The decision to waive the obligation to work during a notice period rests with the employer, but the employee must agree to a waiver of the obligation to pay remuneration. The employee cannot be compelled to take accrued leave during the notice period. Garden leave is not regulated by statute.

Severance

Only payable in the event of operational requirement dismissals. Minimum of 1 week's remuneration per completed year of service, subject to additional payments agreed upon in the consultation period. Severance is one of the mandatory topics of consultation.

Grounds

The LSA provides that an employer may only terminate for "just cause," though "just cause" is not defined. The courts have generally held that "just cause" only exists in limited circumstances, including:

• Fault attributable to the employee making continued employment untenable – for example, where the employee is guilty of sufficiently grave misconduct, making it impossible to continue the relationship; continuous and persistent unsatisfactory performance; criminal or deliberate tortious acts against the employer; serious criminal acts not in the line of duty; improper relationships with other employees; or material misrepresentation in the hiring process
• Urgent business necessity to try and save a failing business from imminent bankruptcy

While it is not mandatory to have a Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC), procedures for disciplinary action are required to be included in the rules of employment, and such procedures may vary according to the needs of the workplace.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees are covered if their employer employs 5 or more employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employees on sick leave due to a job-related illness or injury (and for 30 days after their return), employees on maternity leave (and for 30 days after their return) and employees on childcare leave.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

None required.

Mass layoff rules

Lawful, provided an employer can show there is an "urgent business necessity," that the employer has made best efforts to avoid the termination and that an objective selection process is conducted.

A duty to report dismissals may be triggered depending on the number of employees routinely hired:

• Where 99 or less employees are routinely hired, 10 or more dismissals trigger a duty to report.
• Where 100 to 999 employees are routinely hired, dismissal of 10 percent of the workforce trigger a duty to report.
• Where 1000 or more employees are routinely hired, 100 or more dismissals trigger a duty to report.

Notice

If an employee is dismissed, the LSA requires that the company provide the employee at least 30 days' prior notice or at least 30 days' ordinary wages in lieu of notice. The company may be exempted from this requirement if either:

• The employee has been continuously employed for less than 3 months
• It can establish that it is impossible to maintain its business due to a natural disaster or other unavoidable reason or
• The employee intentionally causes substantial problems for the company or intentionally damages company property.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

A statutory right to at least 30 days' payment in lieu of notice. Garden leave is possible if provided for in the contract of employment or under company policy.

Severance

Employers must adopt a retirement benefit system. The default is the statutory severance pay system, whereby, upon termination of employment for any reason (including employee resignation), where the employee has been employed for at least 1 year, the employee is entitled to severance pay of 30 days' "average wages" (ie, all wages generally including any bonus paid within the previous 3 months) for each year of continuous service.

Grounds

Decided unilaterally by the employer: redundancy of the job position based on economic, organizational, productivity or technological reasons, on individual or on a collective basis; or disciplinary dismissal, including based on performance.

Other termination grounds: employee resignation; constructive dismissal; mutual agreement; grounds legally agreed upon in the contract; expiration of a fixed-term contract; employee's retirement; force majeure; death or permanent disability.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Some employees are protected against unfair dismissal (eg, pregnant employees, employees enjoying reduced working time to take care of a child, employee representatives or employees who have filed a claim against the company may also receive protection based on retaliation grounds). Protected employees may be terminated, but only for fair cause, or they will be entitled to re-instatement and back wages.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Third-party approval is not required for terminations. Termination documents in accordance with employment legislation are required.

Mass layoff rules

Collective dismissal rules are triggered in the event that the number of affected employees exceeds the legal thresholds (eg, 10 terminations in a 90-day period in companies with fewer than 100 employees).

Strict information and consultation rules apply, which require involving both the employees' representatives and the labor authority. However, there is no need to obtain approval for termination.

Terminations may be challenged by the employees, the employees’ legal representatives and, in exceptional cases, by the administration.

From July 1, 2023, companies will have to give 6 months' notice to the administration before closing a workplace which involves the dismissal of 50 or more employees.

Notice

15 days' notice in case of redundancy of common employees, unless otherwise agreed in the applicable CBA. Senior managers are entitled to a minimum 3 months' notice.

Not required in case of disciplinary dismissal.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

If the 15 days' notice is not honored, payment in lieu of notice is required.

Garden leave is not expressly regulated, although employers sometimes use garden leave, which may result in certain issues given the employee's right to work.

Severance

Fair individual redundancy: 20 days of salary pay per year of service, up to 12 months. For collective layoffs, this is usually increased through collective consultations.

Fair disciplinary dismissal: no severance.

Grounds

The EPA requires that the employer has "just cause" in order to terminate an employment. The EPA distinguishes between termination due to personal reasons (eg, poor performance, misconduct or disloyalty) or economic reasons (eg, restructuring, reorganization or closing down of business). Redundancy is generally deemed to constitute just cause for termination under the EPA – the employer must, however, follow the substantive and the  formal rules laid down by the EPA. Conversely, termination due to personal reasons is deemed a last resort by the courts, and the burden of proof that the misconduct amounts to just cause is on the employer. An employee that has grossly neglected their obligations towards the employer may be summarily dismissed (also known as termination without notice).

Employees subject to termination laws

The Employment protection rules in the EPA apply regardless of the employment period and form of employment, and to all employees, with only a few minor exceptions (eg, employees in managerial or similar positions in respect of salary, position and job assignment; members of an employer's family; employees engaged in the employer's household; and employees assigned public temporary work).

Restricted or prohibited terminations

If employment is terminated due to redundancy, the notice period for an employee on full parental leave does not commence until the employee returns to work, or the date the employee would have returned to work. If an employee is given notice of termination during the employee's vacation, the notice of termination shall be deemed effective no earlier than the day after the vacation ends.

Moreover, termination of employment may not be in violation of applicable anti-discrimination laws (eg, the Discrimination Act and the Parental Leave Act). Employees who also are trade union representatives (fackliga förtroendeman) may be protected under the Trade Union Representative in the Workplace Act (lag om facklig förtroendemans ställning på arbetsplatsen).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

If 5 or more employees may be affected by a potential redundancy, the employer is obligated to notify the Swedish Public Employment Service in writing. The notification is subject to confidentiality/professional secrecy and shall be submitted at least 2 months prior to the 1st notice period expiring (provided that not more than 25 employees are affected). If 26 or more employees are at risk, the notice period is 4 months, and if more than 100 employees are at risk, the notice period is 6 months. Additionally, standard redundancy rules under the EPA must be adhered to.

Notice

The minimum statutory period of notice for termination for the employer is 1 month, and the period of notice increases by 1 month for every 2 years of service, up to a maximum of 6 months when the employee has a length of service of 10 years or more. However, it is permissible to have longer notice periods, and this is common both in individual employment contracts and in collective bargaining agreements. A CEO should, according to Swedish case law, be provided a notice period of at least 6 months, including any severance pay (please see further below), upon terminating the employment.

The EPA includes extensive formal and substantive rules to observe in relation to termination. An employer who intends to terminate an employee's employment for personal reasons shall notify the employee and their trade union at least 2 weeks in advance prior to handing over the termination notice. Thereafter, the employee and their trade union have a right to request consultations. The termination cannot be effected until the consultations are concluded. In case of termination without notice (ie, summary dismissal), the notification shall be given at the latest 1 week before the termination becomes effective.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Employees have a duty to work during the notice period. Payment in lieu of notice is not customary, is tax disadvantageous for the employee and is subject to the employee's consent. Garden leave is subject to an employee’s consent.

Severance

Severance pay is not mandatory in a case of termination of employment by the employer. However, at least in mid-size to large companies, it is not uncommon to include a severance payment on top of the notice period for a managing director (typically not covered by employment protection) in the employment agreement. For the managing director, notice and severance pay combined normally corresponds to 6 to 12 months' fixed compensation. Additionally, in a specific termination situation, it is common for the employer to pay a severance payment in addition to notice in a settlement agreement, especially if it is unclear whether just cause for termination exists or if there are other issues (eg, non-compliance with the last-in-first-out rule, or LIFO).

Grounds

Termination of indefinite-duration contracts is possible for any reason, except for "abusive reasons." Certain reasons cannot serve as a fair basis for a termination (eg, individual characteristics, complaints made by the employee regarding their working conditions or their agreement not being respected, trade-union membership), and a fair process must be followed in any case.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination is restricted/prohibited when an employee is unfit for work (eg, due to an accident or sickness) for limited periods increasing with seniority (30 to 180 days), is pregnant or in military service, or within the 16 weeks following giving birth. These main examples are non-exhaustive.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No requirement for 3rd-party approval. No particular termination document is generally required. If contractually agreed, the termination must be given in writing.

Mass layoff rules

Information and consultation rules apply when at least 10 employees are to be made redundant within 30 days, depending on various thresholds. The employer must also notify the Cantonal Labor Authority of the result of the consultation.

Depending on the canton, specific rules may also apply when at least 6 employees are dismissed within the same calendar month.

In bigger companies (ie, 250 employees and more), the employer must hold negotiations with the aim of preparing a social plan if it intends to make at least 30 employees redundant within 30 days (redundancies over a longer period of time that are based on the same operational decision are counted together). In other cases, a social plan is not mandatory unless a collective bargaining agreement provides for it.

Notice

Unless otherwise stated in the contract: 7 calendar days within the probation period; 1 month's notice to the end of a month during the 1st year of service, then 2 months' notice to the end of a month from the second to ninth years of service, and 3 months' notice to the end of a month thereafter.

The contract can provide for different notice periods, but no less than 1 month's notice after the probation period.

No notice required for terminations for very serious misconduct (such terminations, in principle, must be notified within 2 to 3 days after the breach is discovered).

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No.

Severance

Due only to employees of at least 50 years of age and 20 years or more of service, provided there is a shortfall in pension benefits. Due to this last condition, this statutory entitlement almost never applies. The severance amount would be between 2 to 8 months' pay.

Written agreements and collective bargaining agreements may adopt specific provisions.

Written agreements and collective labor agreements may adopt specific provisions.

Grounds

Termination without notice or severance is allowed in cases where an employee is involved in acts of violence, serious contract or rule breaches, equipment abuse, misrepresentation of qualifications, unjustified absence from work for 3 days or a jail sentence that cannot be commuted to a fine.

Termination is allowed in other cases, but advance notice and severance are required. Employers may terminate the employment of employees for redundancy only where:

• The employer is ceasing business or the ownership of the employer is being transferred The employer suffers a loss or is curtailing business operations
• The operations of the employer are suspended for more than 1 month due to force majeure (ie, when performance of contractual obligations is prevented by an event or circumstance outside the parties' control) or
• The business nature of the employer has been altered, a reduction in the number of employees is necessary and there are no other suitable job openings for the redundant employees.

Employees may also be terminated on performance grounds where the employee is proven to be incapable of carrying out the work assigned to them.

Employees subject to termination laws

Most employees (95.3 percent), including foreigners, are covered under the LSA.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

No prohibitions, although termination is not allowed if there are available job openings for redundant employees.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required, absent a mass layoff.

Mass layoff rules

The Mass Layoff Protection Act (MLPA) applies depending on the number of employees and time frame. Where the MLPA applies, 60 days' advance notice and public announcements must be given to:

• The labor union of which the affected employees are members, if applicable
• The employees' representatives at the Labor-Management Conference and
• The employees affected by the redundancies.

Further, the employer must notify the local labor authorities of the redundancy plans. Within 10 days of the date of notification of the redundancy plans, the employer and the affected employees must engage in discussion to reach an agreement regarding the mass redundancies.

Notice

The Labor Standards Act requires 10 days' notice after 3 months to 1 year of employment, 20 days for 1 to 3 years' employment and 30 days for 3 years or more. If an employment contract specifies a longer period of notice than required by statute, it will be held against the employer but not against the employee. Notice is not required in cases of very serious misconduct.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Both are permitted. Garden leave is not specifically provided for under the labor laws, but it is not prohibited.

Severance

Generally, severance is 50 percent of average monthly pay per year of service, up to a maximum of 6 months' pay. For foreigners and local employees still under the LSA pension system, severance is 1 month's average pay for each year of service.

Grounds

Whether an employer has reasonable grounds for termination is determined on a case-by-case basis. The following are grounds for termination of employment with cause under the LPA (i.e., where the employer is not obliged to give advance notice or pay severance pay):

• Dishonesty or intentionally committing a criminal offense against the employer
• Willfully causing damage to the employer
• Being guilty of recklessness which causes serious damage to the employer
• Violating work rules or regulations or disobeying a fair and lawful order of the employer and in relation to which the employer has already given a written warning, except in serious cases where the employer does not need to give a warning. A written warning shall be effective for not more than 1 year from the date the employee committed an offense
• Abandoning duties without justifiable grounds for 3 consecutive working days regardless of whether or not there is a holiday in between and
• Being sentenced to imprisonment by a final court judgement, but, where the offense committed is due to recklessness or is a misdemeanor, the employer must have suffered damage as a result.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees hired under a hire of services.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

An employer cannot dismiss, reduce the wages of, punish and/or withhold the performance of duty of any employee who is a member of the Employees' Committee unless permission to do so has been given to the employer by the Labor Court. Further, an employer is not allowed to terminate or take any action which may result in an employee being unable to continue work due to the fact that such employee is a member of labor union.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

No 3rd-party approval is required except for the termination of an employee who is a member of the employees' committee, in which case approval from the Labor Court is required. 

Mass layoff rules

Only apply in the case of termination of employment due to the introduction or replacement of machinery or application of technology. There is no numerical threshold to be reached before the rules apply.

Notice

For an employee who is party to an open-ended contract, either the employer or the employee may serve to the other notice of termination on or before any salary payment date to take effect on the following salary payment date. However, it is not necessary to provide notice more than 3 months in advance.

An employer may terminate the contract of an employee immediately by making full payment of wages otherwise due for the notice period. Such wages must be paid to an employee on the date of dismissal.

Advance notice is not required if an employer terminates the employment with cause attributable to the employee as provided in the LPA.

For an employee employed under a definite-period contract, an employer does not need to provide prior notice in order to terminate such employment at the agreed time. However, if the employment is renewed or extended regularly, this may be deemed to be an open-ended contract and notice of termination will be required. Employees under a definite-period contract are also entitled to severance pay if their work does not fall within the exemptions given under the LPA.

Where a retirement age is not specified or the specified retirement age exceeds 60 years old, an employee who reaches 60 years of age may declare their intention to retire to an employer. Such intention becomes effective after 30 days from the date of the declaration. The retirement is deemed a termination of the employment, requiring the employer to pay severance pay to the retired employee, subject to years of services.

In the case of termination of the employee's employment by the employer as a result of re-organization, improvement of the production process, distribution or service due to the introduction or replacement of machinery or application of technology which results in reduction of the number of employees, the employer must give 60 days' notice of termination to the employee. A failure to give such notice will result in payment of special severance equal to the last 60 days' wages in addition to the severance pay for employment termination.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Only the employer has the right to make a payment in lieu of notice.

There is no concept of garden leave under Thai law. Employer and employees may agree on terms of a garden leave on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, such agreement must not take advantage of an employee. Otherwise, it shall be enforceable to the extent as it is fair and reasonable by the order of the Thai court.

Severance

LPA provides that an employer who terminates the employment of an employee without any cause attributable to the terminated employee as specified in the LPA is obliged to pay a severance payment to the employee at the rate prescribed by the LPA together with other due payments (e.g., payment in lieu of advance notice and other accrued obligations, such as payment for unused annual leave or overtime payment).

An employee employed under a definite-period contract or a project contract whose employment is terminated according to such specified period is not entitled to any severance payment, provided that:

• Such employment is either a specific project which is not in the normal business or trade of the employer and has a definite start and end date, for work which is occasional with a definite ending or completion or for work which is seasonal
• The work is completed within a period not exceeding 2 years and
• The employer enters a written contract with the employee at the beginning of the employment.

Rates of severance payment are as follows:

Special severance pay

If an employer terminates an employee due to the introduction or replacement of machinery or application of technology, and such employee has been working for 6 consecutive years or more, the employer shall pay additional special severance pay, in addition to the severance pay above, of not less than the last 15 days' wage rate per year of employment capped at an amount equal to the last 360 days' wage rate. For any period of less than a 1 year, if the fraction of employment period is more than 180 days, it will be rounded up to 1 full year of employment.

Grounds

Employers cannot terminate the employment of an employee in the absence of serious fault on the part of the employee and an employer intending to dismiss a worker must indicate the cause of the dismissal in a letter addressed to the employee. Dismissing without a real and serious cause justifying it or without respect for legal, regulatory or convention procedures is considered abusive termination of employment.

The contract can also be terminated by mutual consent of the parties, or for economic reasons or by resignation of the employee.

Employees subject to termination laws

Any employee with a labor contract is subject to termination laws.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Dismissal without the existence of a real and serious cause justifying it or without compliance with legal, regulatory, or conventional procedures is considered abusive (e.g., dismissals without serious cause of employee representatives, employees who are incapacitated, pregnant women or employees on parental leave).

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Cases in which a third party must be consulted in relation to the termination of employment are when an employer seeks to terminate a member of the Consultative Commission or a unionized employee, or make an economic dismissal. The Consultative Commission is the staff representative body, made up equally of representatives of management and elected workers. An employer who intends to dismiss a union member or a personnel representative must apply for the opinion of the labor inspectorate. An employer who intends to make a dismissal for economic reasons must obtain the approval of the competent authority (see also “Mass Layoff Rules”).

For an indefinite term contract, the employer must provide written notification of termination.

Mass layoff rules

An employer intending to lay off an employee for economic or technical reasons as part of a mass layoff is required to notify the Labor Inspectorate of the reasons, and justifications, for the layoff. The Labor Inspectorate must then investigate and submit a dossier within 15 days to the Regional Commission of Control of Layoffs or to the Central Commission of Control of Layoffs, both of which contain representatives from the employer’s union and the employee’s union and are presided over by an official from the Labor Inspectorate. The Commission must then give its opinion within 15 days and can reject the employer’s plan or propose alternative courses of action such as employee retraining.

Notice

For indefinite/fixed term contracts, employees are entitled to a notice period. Its duration depends on what is provided by the relevant CBA. Each sector is subject to its relevant CBA and, in the absence of a specific agreement, the framework CBA applies.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

An employer who does not wish to observe the period of notice may pay the employee compensation for non-compliance with the period of notice.. Garden leave as a concept does not exist in Tunisia. However, there is a provision in Tunisian labor law under which laid off employees do not have to work for the last half month of their employment so that they have time to search for a job.

Severance

After the expiration of the trial period, severance is due to all employees if they were terminated without serious fault. The severance payment is calculated according to what is provided in the relevant CBA.

Grounds

Requirements for termination of an employment contract vary depending on whether such contract is for an indefinite or definite term.

Employment contracts for a definite period terminate automatically with the expiration of the period or with a just cause stipulated under the Labor Law or based on mutual consent. Employers may terminate an indefinite employment contract for valid or just cause or based on mutual consent.

Terminations based on just cause

Under the Labor Law, just causes that may lead to immediate termination (ie, without the employer giving notice as prescribed by the Labor Law) are classified under 4 categories:

• Long-term absence due to health reasons
• Immoral, malicious and dishonorable employee conduct
• Force majeure
• Absence due to detention or arrest

When an employment contract is terminated with just cause, the benefits and rights of the employee arising from the employment contract (eg, an amount equivalent to the accrued but unused annual paid leave days and any payment arising from workplace practice) as well as the employee’s statutory entitlements under Labor Law are payable. No notice is due, but severance may need to be paid unless the employment was terminated on the grounds of immoral, dishonorable or malicious conduct or similar behavior.

Terminations based on valid cause

Under the Labor Law, if an employee who has an indefinite-term employment contract is employed in a company with 30 or more employees and has a minimum seniority of 6 months, the job security provisions of the Labor Law apply, and therefore the termination must be based on a valid cause.

A termination based on valid cause triggers notice and severance payments. Such valid cause could relate to efficiency or behavior of an employee or requirements of the enterprise, workplace or work.

For companies with fewer than 30 employees, the valid cause requirement does not kick in, and employment may be terminated for any reason, but notice and severance pay are still required.

Termination based on mutual consent

Whether the employment contract has a definite duration or not, it may be terminated with the mutual consent of the parties by executing a settlement agreement.

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees in companies with fewer than 30 employees and/or employees who have less than 6 months' employment in a company are not entitled to job security. The employer's representatives who act on behalf of the employer and participate in the management of the work, workplace and business and their deputies are also not entitled to job security.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

The employment contract cannot be terminated for the following reasons: participation in union activities; filing of a complaint against the employer involving alleged violations of laws and contracts; race, color, sex, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy confinement, religion, political opinion and similar reasons; absence from work during maternity leave when female employees must not engage in work; or temporary absence from work during the waiting period due to illness or accident foreseen in the relevant article of the Labor Law.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

Collective redundancy occurs when, in establishments employing between 20 and 100 employees, a minimum of 10 employees are dismissed on the same date or in a 1-month period; in establishments employing between 101 and 300 employees, a minimum of 10 percent of employees are dismissed on the same date or in a 1-month period; and, in establishments employing 301 and more employees, a minimum of 30 employees are dismissed on the same date or in a 1-month period due to economical, technological, structural or similar reasons in business, work and the workplace with written notice at least 30 days prior to the union’s workplace representative, relevant regional directorate and Turkish Employment Agency.

Notice

Less than 6 months of employment: 2 weeks; 6 months to 1.5 years of employment: 4 weeks; 1.5 years to 3 years of employment: 6 weeks; more than 3 years of employment: 8 weeks. These periods are the minimum periods and may be increased by the mutual agreement of the parties. However, such change must be applicable for both parties and should be reasonable.

No need to comply with the notice in case of termination based on just cause determined under the Labor Law.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice is permissible. A company is entitled to pay wages corresponding to the term of notice (ie, notice pay).

There is no set garden leave concept under Turkish law. However, it may be agreed upon in the employment contract.

Severance

An employee is only entitled to severance if they have completed 1 year of service for the employer.

Severance payments must be paid if the employer terminates the employment contract with notice based on an objective, valid cause relating to the efficiency or behavior of an employee, or business requirements (ie, redundancy). In principle, an employee is entitled to severance payment upon termination of employment without notice based on a just cause specified under the Labor Law, unless the termination is based on immoral, dishonorable or malicious conduct or similar behavior. An employee is also not entitled to a severance payment upon voluntary resignation except for cases where the employee resigns due to retirement, marriage (only for female employees) or military service. If the employment contract is terminated by the employee on just cause, they are entitled to severance payment.

For each complete year of work – and pro rata for any incomplete year – the employee must be paid an amount equal to their monthly salary. The Labor Law provides an upper limit for severance pay. Regardless of the amount of an employee's last month's salary, the upper limit of severance pay for each year of work is capped at TRY35,058.58 for the 1st half of 2024 – the amount is indexed twice a year. Accordingly, even if the employee's salary for their last month is higher than the mandatory upper limit, the employer is only required to pay the severance pay to be calculated as per the upper limit.

Grounds

Dismissal and termination are distinguishable under the Employment Act. Termination is permissible for justifiable reasons other than misconduct or poor performance, such as reaching the retirement age, expiry of contract, death, medical incapacity or redundancy.

Dismissal is permissible for verifiable acts of misconduct or poor performance. A fair process must be followed. Fair process includes substantive and procedural fairness. In other words, the employer must have reasons for dismissal, and due process must be followed before the dismissal is effective.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees, except that employees on probation have no unfair dismissal protection.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Termination may be limited or prohibited in certain circumstances. The following do not constitute fair reasons for dismissal:

1. A female employee’s pregnancy or any reason connected with her pregnancy
2. The fact than an employee took, or proposed to take, leave to which they were entitled under the law or a contract
3. An employee’s membership or proposed membership of a labor union
4. Participation or proposed participation in the activities of a labor union outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours
5. An employee’s seeking of office as, or acting or having acted in the capacity of, an officer of a labor union or a workers’ representative
6. An employee’s refusal or proposed refusal to join or withdraw from a labor union
7. An employee’s race, color, sex, religion, political opinion or affiliation, national extraction, nationality, social origin, marital status, HIV status or disability
8. An employee’s initiation or proposed initiation of a complaint or other legal proceedings against their employer, except where the conduct is, in the opinion of the labor officer, wholly irresponsible and without foundation and
9. An employee’s temporary absence from work for any period up to 3 months on reliable grounds, including illness or injury.   

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where 10 or more employees are to be made redundant over 90 days or less. The employer must also notify the Commissioner for Labor of such redundancies; failure to do so is a criminal offense. The Industrial Court has extended these requirements to instances where even 1 employee is being made redundant.

Notice

14 days' notice for employees on probation. No less than 2 weeks where the employee has been employed for over 6 months but less than a year. 1 month where employee has been employed for more than 1 year but less than 5 years, 2 months where employee has been employed for more than 5 years but less than 10 years and 3 months where employee has been employed for over 10 years. Not required for summary dismissals for gross (ie, extremely serious) misconduct. Longer notice may be agreed and set out in the contract of employment.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice. Garden leave depends on contract terms.

Severance

Payable in the following circumstances to employees who have completed 6 months continuous service:

• Service: unfair dismissal from employment
• Death in service other than from the employee's own serious and willful misconduct
• Employee's termination of contract on account of physical incapacity not occasioned by their own serious and willful misconduct
• Termination by reason of death or insolvency of the employer
• Termination by a labor officer following the inability or refusal of the employer to pay wages or
• Wages or such other circumstances as the Minister may, by regulations, provide.

The rate of severance pay is negotiable. Where no prior negotiations have been made, the courts have set severance pay at 1 month's salary for every year worked.

Grounds

The following are the main grounds for termination under Ukrainian legislation:

• Termination by the employee with 2 weeks' prior notice (this notice period may be waived in certain cases)

• Termination by the employer's initiative based on grounds directly defined by law (eg, redundancy, non-compliance of the employee with the positions due to lack of qualification or issues with health or systematic violation of employment obligations)

• Termination on the basis of the agreement of the parties

• Expiration of the term as per the employment agreement

• Based on the grounds defined under the simplified regime of regulation of employment relations.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

The following categories of employees, among others, may not be dismissed except in the case of the company's liquidation:

• Pregnant women, women with children under 3 years old (or under 6 years old if the child requires home healthcare), single mothers of children with disabilities or a child under 14 years old

• Fathers bringing up a child with a disability or a child under 14 years old without a mother (including in case of long-term stay of a mother in a medical facility); this also applies to adoptive parents and foster parents

• Employees called for regular military service; mobilized employees; employees serving with the military based on contract, including those who concluded the contract with Territorial Defence Forces within the “special period;” and employees placed in medical institutions after being injured during military service or who were captured or are declared missing, among others

Special dismissal procedures are applicable to employees under 18 years old and members of a trade union’s bodies.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

As a general rule, employers must seek the applicable trade union's consent when terminating the employment of trade union members in the following cases:

• Changes in production and labor organization, including reorganization, bankruptcy or re-profiling of an employer, reduction of number of employees or positions (the consent is not required in case of liquidation);
• Revealed inconsistency of an employee with the occupied position as a result of insufficient qualification or health conditions which prevent work from continuing;
• Systematic failure to fulfil by an employee without good reasons obligations imposed on him/her under an employment agreement or internal regulations, if disciplinary actions have been previously applied thereto;
• Absence from work (including absence from work for over 3 hours during the working day) without good reasons;
• Absence from work within more than 4 continuous months as the result of sick leave, except for the leave for pregnancy and birth, unless a longer period of retention of a position is established by law for particular illnesses;
• Appearance at work intoxicated with alcohol, narcotics or other toxic substances;
• Guilty actions of an employee directly servicing monetary, commodity or cultural valuables, if these actions give reasons to lose trust thereto by an employer;
• Commitment of an immoral offense by an employee performing educational functions that is incompatible with the continuation of this work.

During martial law, the trade union’s consent is not required, except for cases of dismissal of employees elected to trade union bodies.

Besides, changes to the terms of the employment agreement, remuneration, and disciplinary action against employees who are members of elected trade union bodies are allowed only with the prior consent of the elected trade union body of which they are members.

In case of liquidation, reorganization or partial termination of production which leads to the redundancy, the employer shall notify the trade unions (if any) in advance.

Mass layoff rules

Mass layoff is defined as the termination of:

• 10 or more employees by an employer with 20 to 100 employees

• 10 percent or more of employees by an employer with 101 to 300 employees

• 30 or more employees by an employer with 301 to 1,000 employees

• 3 percent or more of employees by an employer with 1,001 or more employees.

The employer must notify the local office of the State Employment Center regarding the mass layoff at least 2 months prior to the layoffs.

Notice

The period of mandatory notice to the employee varies and depends on the grounds for termination (eg, 2-month notice for redundancy, no notice period for termination based on the mutual consent of the parties and 2-week notice for termination if initiated by the employee).

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No. Ukrainian law does not recognize garden leave or payment in lieu of notice.

Severance

The amount of severance payment depends on the ground of termination and varies from 1 up to 6 average monthly salaries. Namely, the employee is entitled to severance payment in the amount:

• Not less than 1 average monthly salary in cases of changes in production and labor organization, including liquidation, reorganization, bankruptcy or re-profiling of an employer, reduction of number of employees or positions, refusal of the employee to continue their employment under changed work conditions, revealed inconsistency of the employee with the occupied position as a result of insufficient qualification or health conditions which prevent work from continuing or re-instatement of the employee who held the position earlier, the impossibility of providing the employee with the work specified in the employment agreement due to the destruction (absence) of production, organizational and technical conditions, means of production or property of the employer as a result of hostilities.

• In the amount of 2 minimum salaries in case of call-up or enlistment for military service, or assignment to alternative (non-military) service (except for the cases when the employee keeps their job and position according to the law).

• Not less than 3 average monthly salaries if the employment terminates due to employer's violation of labor legislation, collective bargaining agreement or employment agreement, mobbing (ie, harassment) of an employee or failure to take measures to stop it.

• Not less than 6 average monthly salaries if the employee is terminated due to termination of their authority as the company's officer (eg, CEO)

The applicable collective agreement or employment contracts may establish higher amounts of severance payments.

There are no special rules that regulate the severance payment in case of mass layoffs, and, under the general requirement, 1 month's average salary must be paid as severance.

Grounds

Termination is possible on these grounds: by agreement, on the expiry of a fixed-term contract, through resignation, through incapacity or death, through dismissal with notice provided it is for a legitimate reason or through summary dismissal by reason of any of the grounds listed at Article 44 of the Labor Law.

In the DIFC, termination for cause by either party (without notice, in the case of dismissal of the employee) is lawful in circumstances where the conduct of one party warrants termination where a reasonable employer or employee would have terminated the employment.

In the ADGM, termination for cause (summary dismissal) by the employer is lawful in circumstances where a reasonable employer would consider immediate termination to be warranted due to the employee's conduct. The employee may terminate for cause (without notice or end of service gratuity) if the employer commits a crime which has a material and detrimental impact on the employee, commits a repudiatory breach of a provision of the employment contract, or materially contravenes the ADGM Employment Regulations in a way that has a material and detrimental impact on the employee.

Employees subject to termination laws

All employees.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employees who have not exhausted the statutory sick-leave entitlement are protected from dismissal on grounds of health, until the full sick-leave entitlement has been taken.

In addition, under the Labor Law, employees may not be provided with a termination notice while on any of the leaves prescribed under the Labor Law (sick leave, annual leave, maternity leave, parental leave, study leave and bereavement leave). Notice will begin on the 1st day following the day prescribed for the employee’s return from leave, unless both parties agree otherwise.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

UAE nationals are entitled to higher protection from dismissal. As part of such additional protection, approval from MOHRE is recommended before the employment of a UAE national can be terminated.

Mass layoff rules

No mass layoff rules exist.

Notice

Under the Labor Law, there is a statutory minimum notice of 30 days and a maximum permitted notice of 90 days. There is a minimum notice period of 14 days during an employee’s probation period.

In the DIFC, the minimum notice periods are:

• 7 days if the period of continuous employment is less than 3 months
• 30 days if the continuous employment is over 3 months but less than 5 years and
• 90 days if the continuous employment is in excess of 5 years.

In the ADGM, where the employee has been continuously employed for 1 month, the minimum notice periods are:

• 7 days if the period of continuous employment is less than 3 months and
• 30 days if the continuous employment is 3 months or more.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Depends on contract terms. However, it should be noted that Article 62(4) of the DIFC law contains strict provisions in relation to payment in lieu of notice.

Under the Labor Law and DIFC Employment Law, garden leave and payment in lieu of notice is permitted and can be contractually agreed between the parties. Under ADGM Employment Regulations, payment in lieu of notice is permitted and can be contractually agreed between the parties. The ADGM Employment Regulations do not set out any specific right to garden leave; however, it can be contractually agreed between the parties and in practice is often implemented.

Severance

Unless terminated under Article 44 of the Labor Law or “for cause” in the DIFC and ADGM, employees are entitled to salary and benefits to the termination date, notice (or payment in lieu), payment in lieu of accrued but untaken annual leave, the cost of a flight/air ticket to repatriate the employee to their home country (unless (i) dismissal is attributable to employee and the employee has the funds to pay their own costs; or (ii) the employee has obtained alternative sponsorship to remain in the UAE), an end-of-service gratuity payment and reimbursement of unpaid business expenses. Under the Labor Law, in case of employer termination, the end-of service-gratuity is computed at 21 days' pay per year of service for the first 5 years of employment, provided the employee has reached a year's service (pay to include basic pay only) and 30 days' pay for each subsequent year. Such payment cannot exceed 2 years' pay. The position is the same in the ADGM.

In the DIFC, with regards to end-of-service gratuity, the DIFC Worker Workplace Savings Scheme known as DEWS replaced the end-of-service gratuity on February 1, 2020. Therefore, workers in employment before February 1, 2020 and who have at least 1 year’s continuous service with their employer on termination can either be paid the end-of-service gratuity accrued before the implementation of DEWS or on termination, or have their accrued gratuity transferred into DEWS.

Grounds

Termination is permissible, if a fair process has been followed, on the following grounds only: misconduct, capability (including performance and ill-health), redundancy, illegality and "some other substantial reason of a kind to justify dismissal."

Employees subject to termination laws

Employees with fewer than 2 years' seniority have no unfair dismissal protection, save in certain circumstances where no seniority is required, including dismissals for whistleblowing, connected to family/pregnancy rights, trade union membership and activities, among others.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

No statutory prohibitions.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not required.

Mass layoff rules

Strict information and consultation rules apply where 20 or more employees are to be made redundant within 90 days or less. The employer must also notify the Secretary of State of the redundancies. Failure to do so is a criminal offense.

Notice

No notice required in the first month of employment. After this, 1 week’s notice per complete year of service, up to 12 weeks. May be required to give longer notice, if reasonable. Not required for terminations for gross (ie, extremely serious) misconduct. Longer notice may be agreed upon and set out in the contract of employment.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

No. Entitlement depends on contract terms.

Severance

Payable to redundant employees with 2 years' seniority only: 1/2 week's pay per year of service, for service under age 22; 1 week's pay per year of service, for service aged 22 to 40; and 1.5 week's pay per year of service, for service age 41 and above. Pay capped at GBP544 per week. The rate will increase in April 2023. More generous terms are possible.

Grounds

In almost all states, absent a contract or union agreement to the contrary, an employer may terminate an employee for any non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reason, at any time, with or without notice, and with or without cause.

Employees subject to termination laws

Generally, all employees are protected by some laws prohibiting termination for certain reasons (eg, discrimination or retaliation). Employees who are parties to a collective bargaining agreement or have a written employment agreement may have greater protections, as dictated by their contracts.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

Employers cannot terminate employees based on any protected category, in retaliation for a complaint of discrimination or harassment based on any protected category or for engaging in protected whistleblowing activity. Greater protection may be afforded by state or local laws, collective bargaining agreements or individual contracts.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not applicable for this jurisdiction.

Mass layoff rules

Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, employers with more than 100 employees generally must provide 60 days’ notice to affected employees and certain government agencies of a plant closing or mass layoff that surpasses certain thresholds of employees affected. Some states have “mini-WARN” acts with more far-reaching requirements (ie, applicable to employers with fewer employees, are triggered at lower thresholds and/or provide for longer notice periods, imposing severance pay on top of notice requirements).

Notice

Generally, no advance notice is required for a termination of employment, unless otherwise required by contract or the termination involves a triggering event under the WARN Act or a state equivalent "mini-WARN" act (see above). Certain states (eg, Georgia) may require that the terminated employee be provided a written notice related to the separation.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

Payment in lieu of notice is permitted even if there is no contractual right to make such a payment. It is not common for an employee to be placed on garden leave.

Severance

Severance pay is often granted to employees upon termination of employment; however, other than as provided by contract or in an employer's severance plan or policy, there is generally no statutory right to severance pay under federal or state law, except in Puerto Rico. Certain states may require employers to offer severance in the event of a facility closing or mass dismissal.

Grounds

An employer may terminate an employee “with cause” based on the following grounds (within the restrictions indicated below, see “Bar against dismissal”):

• Dishonest, immoral or aggressive behavior.
• Offense or disrespect to the employer, the employer's representatives or family.
• Intentional or negligent behavior that may affect health and safety at work.
• Omissions or imprudence that seriously affects health and safety at work.
• Failure to attend work for 3 days within a month, without cause.
• Causing damage (with intent or negligence) to machinery, tools, furniture, raw materials or finished or unfinished products.
• Disclosure of industrial or trade secrets.
• Serious breach of labor-related obligations.

• Abandonment of work, including the sudden and unjustified exit from the workplace without permission; refusal to perform duties that are part of the job of the employee, unless the duties represent an imminent and grave danger to the life or health of the employee; and unjustified absence of the employee in charge of machinery or an activity that could disrupt other activities of the business.

Job Stability

All employees, except for top-level and management, are entitled to job stability, which means they cannot be dismissed without cause.

If an employer intends to terminate an employee “for cause,” it must notify the competent labor courts and indicate the grounds for dismissal with 5 working days from termination. If the employer fails to notify the courts, the dismissal will be considered “without cause”.

Employees may challenge the dismissal with the courts but lose the right to re-instatement if they do not oppose the dismissal within 10 days of the termination of employment.

In addition, the following employees are afforded special protections against dismissal, meaning they can only be dismissed with cause and prior authorization from the Labor Inspectorate:

• Pregnant women, from the beginning of the pregnancy, up to 2 years after birth
• Fathers, from the beginning of the pregnancy, for up to 2 years after birth
• Parents adopting children under the age of 3, for up to 2 years from the adoption
• Parents of a disabled or sick child
• Employees during suspension of the labor relationship
• Employees outsourced through unlawful outsourcing arrangements
• Trade union representatives and
• Health and safety representatives.

Employers should consider, however, that this protection and procedure is temporally superseded by the current general bar against dismissal that is in place (see “Bar against dismissal”).

Bar against dismissal

There is currently a general bar against dismissal or labor freezes in Venezuela which prevents employers from terminating employees on indefinite-term contracts without cause and without obtaining prior authorization from the Labor Ministry. The labor freeze applies to all employees except those holding top-level management positions and seasonal or temporary employees.

Only in the most extreme cases of misconduct or insubordination does the Labor Ministry grant authorization for dismissal. Therefore, employers tend to seek mutual agreement with employees to terminate the labor relationship.

Although labor freezes are intended to be temporary, the president has been extending them continuously since April 2002. The last extension was ordered by Executive Decree No. 4,753 published in the Official Gazette No. 6,723 on December 20, 2022. It has a duration of two years until December 31, 2024.

Third-party approval for termination

See above, under “Bar against dismissal."

Mass layoff rules

Mass layoffs occur when dismissals take place within a 3-month period, in the following numbers:

• At least 10 percent of employees in companies with more than 100 employees.
• 20 percent of employees in companies with more than 50 employees.
• 10 employees in companies with less than 50 employees.

When a mass layoff takes place, the Labor Ministry has the authority to suspend collective redundancies to ensure employment. Mass layoffs requirements do not apply to job reductions that are the result of voluntary departures of employees following enhanced termination offers. The requirements only apply to job reductions that are implemented unilaterally by employers.

Employers must initiate an administrative procedure for termination of its workforce before the Labor Ministry. The petition must set forth the economic or technical reasons that underpin the termination of workforce and provide certain supporting documentation. Once the petition is filed, a negotiation committee is set up. The negotiation committee is composed of 1 representative appointed by the workers’ union, 1 representative appointed by the employer and the labor inspector who chairs the committee and acts as a mediator. The negotiation committee may seek an agreement on the number of workers to be terminated, the timeframe for such terminations and the termination payments that will be provided to departing workers. Instead of the workforce termination, the negotiation committee may agree on alternative measures that avoid the job cuts.

This procedure is rarely used in Venezuela and most terminations are the result of a negotiation process with no government involvement.

Notice

N/A. None required.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

N/A

Severance

Employees are entitled to severance payments upon termination of employment regardless of the reason for termination. To ensure payment, employers must make quarterly deposits throughout the employment relationship equivalent to 15 days of pay, into a bank trust or by means of its accounting. This amounts to 60 days of pay per year, based on the salary earned at the time of each deposit, plus 2 additional days per year of seniority, up to 90 days in total.

The accumulated severance deposited or accrued generates interest at a special rate determined by the Venezuelan Central Bank for severance. This must be deposited or accrued on a yearly basis. If requested by the employee, the interest must be paid annually to the employee.

Upon termination, the employee is entitled to receive, whichever amount is greater, (i) the total amount deposited or (ii) the equivalent of 1 month’s salary at the time of termination multiplied by the number of years worked.

The salary basis used to determine the severance payment is the employee’s “global” salary, which includes both regular and occasional payments received by the employee.

Severance should be paid within 5 days of the termination date. Any payments made to the employee using severance funds prior to termination of employment are treated as severance advances, and these can only be granted once a year, for up to 75 percent of the accrued severance amount. They must only be used for specific purposes listed by law, such as home construction, purchase or repair, payment of mortgages on housing, school tuition and medical expenses.

Grounds

The grounds for termination of an employment contract include the following:

• Expiry of the term
• The agreed work is completed
• Agreement between the parties
• Employee is imprisoned or legally prevented from carrying out the contract
• The foreign employee is deported in accordance with an order issued by the courts or competent authorities
• The work permit of a foreign employee expires
• The employee dies, is missing or has lost legal capacity for civil acts
• The employer dies, is missing or loses legal capacity for civil acts, or ceases its operations; or a business registration authority states that the company does not have a legal representative or authorized person
• The employee is dismissed in accordance with the laws
• One of the parties unilaterally terminates (eg, due to performance issues) in accordance with the law
• The employer makes the employee redundant as a result of a restructuring, a change of technology, economic reasons or due to a merger, division, sale, lease, conversation of the company’s form, consolidation or separation of the enterprise, transfer of ownership or rights of the assets of the enterprise, and
• One of the parties terminates the employment contract or probationary contract during or at the end of the probationary period.

An employer may unilaterally terminate an employment contract where:

• The employee repeatedly fails to perform their work in accordance with the terms of the labor contract. However, in order to do so, the employer must specify the criteria for assessing the level of completion of work in a performance policy. Such a policy must be issued after consulting the Organization Representing the Employees at the Grassroots Level, if any
• The employee is sick or has an accident and remains unable to work after relevant periods of medical treatment specified at law
• The employee fails to attend the workplace after 15 days from the expiration of a labor contract suspension period
• The employee has reached the retirement age
• The employee is absent from work without a legitimate reason for 5 consecutive working days or more
• The employee provides untruthful information (ie, the employee’s full name, date of birth, gender, residential address, educational standard, trade skills and qualifications, certification of health status and other matters directly relevant to entering into the labor contract which the employer requests) when entering into the labor contract and this fact adversely affected recruitment of the employee
• The employer is forced to reduce employment, after attempting all measures to recover from a natural disaster, fire or dangerous epidemic, enemy destruction, resettlement or narrowing of production and business as required by a competent State agency.

An employee on an indefinite-term employment contract may unilaterally terminate the contract if they provide the employer with at least 45 calendar days' advance notice or at least 120 calendar days’ advance notice (if the employee works in certain industries and trades and special jobs as regulated by the government, including as an enterprise manager as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises).

An employee working under a definite-term labor contract from 12 to 36 months may unilaterally terminate the contract by giving a 30 calendar days’ advance notice or 120 calendar days’ advance notice (if the employee works in certain industries and trades and special jobs as regulated by the Government, including as an enterprise manager as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises).

Further, an employee working under a definite-term employment contract with a term of less than 12 months may unilaterally terminate the contract by giving advance notice of at least 3 working days or advance notice of a period equal to a quarter of the term of the employment contract (if the employee works in certain industries and trades and special jobs as regulated by the Government, including as an enterprise manager as prescribed by the Law on Enterprises).

However, the employee is not required to give an advance notice to the employer if the employee:

• Is not assigned to the correct job or workplace, or is not given the work conditions agreed upon in the contract
• Is not paid their salary fully or in a timely manner
• Is mistreated, humiliated or forced to work by the employer
• Is sexually harassed at the workplace
• Is pregnant and must cease working per the advice of a competent medical examination and treatment establishment
• Reaches the retirement age or
• Has been provided untruthful information by the employer which has adversely affected the implementation of the  employment contract.

Employees subject to termination laws

All.

Restricted or prohibited terminations

An employer is not permitted to unilaterally terminate an employment contract if:

• The employee is suffering from an illness or injury caused by a work-related accident or occupational disease and is undergoing treatment by a doctor, other than in the circumstances specified in the "Grounds" section above
• The employee is on annual leave, paid leave or any other type of leave permitted by the employer or
• The female employee is pregnant, the employee is on maternity or paternity leave or is nursing a child under 12 months of age.

Third-party approval for termination/termination documents

Not applicable.

Mass layoff rules

Mass layoff rules apply in cases of termination of employment due to restructuring, change of technology or changes for economic reasons. If the employer is unable to create new jobs and must make employees redundant, the employer must pay severance allowances to those employees. In order to conduct a mass layoff of its employees, the employer must have discussions with the organization representing the labor collective at the grassroots level and provide 30 days' advance notice to the provincial state administrative body for labor and to the impacted employees.

Notice

The employer must give prior notice to the employee when unilaterally terminating an employment contract, unless otherwise provided by law. The notice period must be:

• At least 45 days in the case of an indefinite-term employment contract
• At least 30 days in the case of a definite-term contract with a term of from 12 months to 36 months and
• At least 3 working days in the case of a definite-term contract with a term of less than 12 months, or in the case of termination of the contract due to illness or injury of the employee, as prescribed by law.

However, where the employee performs certain jobs regulated by the government (including, inter alia, where the employee works as an enterprise manager as prescribed in the Law on Enterprises), the employer must provide at least 120 days’ advance notice if the employee is working pursuant to an indefinite-term employment contract or a definite-term employment contract of 12 months or more, or an advance notice of at least a period equal to a quarter of the term of the employment contract if the employee is working pursuant to an employment contract with a term of less than 12 months.

Statutory right to pay in lieu of notice or garden leave

There is no specific right of payment in lieu of notice or garden leave under Vietnamese law. However, the employer and the employee are generally entitled to mutually agree to payment in lieu of notice or garden leave.

Severance

Generally, employees working for 12 months or more are entitled to a severance allowance equal to the aggregate amount of half of 1 month's salary for each year of employment, unless the employee and the company contributed to the mandatory unemployment insurance scheme for the entire duration of the employment relationship.

In the event of restructuring, change of technology or changes for economic reasons; or upon the merger, consolidation, division or separation of an enterprise; or sale, lease out or conversion of the enterprise’s form; or transfer of the ownership or rights of the assets of the enterprise, the retrenchment allowance is 1 month's salary for each year of employment, with a minimum of 2 months' salary.

An employee who unilaterally and illegally terminates a contract is not entitled to a severance allowance and must pay compensation to the employer of half of 1 month's salary.

"Salary," for the purposes of calculating severance payment, refers to the average salary set out in the labor contract including (1) wage rates for the work or position (based on the wage scales formulated by the employer in accordance with labor laws), (2) wage allowances and (3) other additional items specified together with the wage rate agreed in the labor contracts which are regularly paid each pay period earned in the 6 months immediately preceding termination.