The termination of an employment relationship may occur as a result of four situations – termination of the relationship (in a situation where the term of the employment contract ends), termination by mutual agreement of the parties (in this situation we are dealing with a mutual termination of the relationship), termination by termination of the contract without notice (this applies to separations commonly referred to as "disciplinary") or – in a situation where only one party wishes to part with the other – by termination of the contract.
Termination of employment relationship
The simplest solution to the relationship with an employer is termination of employment. This applies to situations where an employee has signed a fixed-term contract, after which the contract is automatically terminated. This typically involves entering into a new employment contract – it's worth noting in this context the possibility of requesting an indefinite-term contract (the maximum duration of fixed-term contracts is generally 33 months, with a total of three contracts – the next contract must then be an indefinite-term contract).
Regardless of the above, the employment relationship (after the period for which the contract was concluded) will terminate automatically – in the absence of any interference by the parties.
Resolution Agreement
A slightly more complicated solution is a termination agreement. Parties may sign it when they agree to end the relationship but wish to regulate additional obligations differently than in the employment contract (for example, by changing the notice period).
This solution may be beneficial for both parties in certain cases – the employer will not be obliged to indicate the reason for the termination, while the employee may negotiate better terms for terminating the employment.
It is worth remembering that the agreement may also close off a number of possibilities, primarily excluding the possibility of filing an appeal against the termination notice in court.
An agreement may be proposed by one of the parties or reached through negotiations. However, it must be in writing.
Termination of the contract without notice
The most extreme situations within an employment relationship end with the termination of the contract by one party, without observing the notice period. Colloquially, this situation is called disciplinary dismissal. However, it should be noted that such a declaration can be made by both parties to the relationship – the employee and the employer.
This option will arise in situations of serious violations of fundamental obligations, both on the part of the employee and the employer, respectively. However, it should be noted that this option is extremely rare and requires the existence of very serious violations.
In such a situation, the employment relationship will be terminated by notice from one party to the other. There will be no notice period in this situation – the termination will be immediate.
However, this topic is so broad that it will be the subject of one of the next articles in the series.
Termination of the contract due to notice
The final, most popular, and well-known option is to terminate the contract by declaration, while adhering to the notice period. This type of termination is possible for both parties.
The employee will be able to give notice at any time – for example, when they find a new job. The employer, however, will have to meet a number of requirements to make this possible. The most important requirement, however, is the requirement to provide a reason for the termination (in the case of fixed-term and indefinite-term contracts). The reason must be real, specific, and genuine; if it is not, the employee can challenge it by filing a lawsuit. Therefore, the notice of termination should be precise and leave no room for interpretation.
However, it should be remembered that there are many exceptions in which it will be impossible to give notice (for example, during the employee's holiday).
As you might guess, this solution involves submitting a declaration to the other party of their intention to terminate the employment relationship. The parties will then be required to continue performing the contract for the notice period (depending on length of service, for contracts other than a trial period, this will be 2 weeks for contracts up to 6 months, 1 month for contracts between 6 months and 3 years, and 3 months for contracts over 3 years).
After the notice period, the employment relationship will be terminated. It's worth noting that a notice period expressed in weeks will always end on Saturday, while a notice period expressed in months will end at the end of the following month. For example, an employee with a two-week notice period who submitted their notice on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, will end their notice period on March 23, 2024. An employee with a one-month notice period who submitted their notice on February 4, will end their notice period on the last day of March, March 31.
The above issues can be successfully applied to contracts for a trial period, but the notice periods are then 3 days in the case of a contract concluded for less than 2 weeks, 1 week in the case of a contract concluded for at least 2 weeks and 2 weeks in the case of a contract concluded for 3 months.
Terminating a contract by notice requires analyzing a number of factors that must be present for this type of termination to be valid. We will expand on these factors in subsequent articles.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of March 7, 2024
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