Labour & Termination
Severance by tenure, advance notice, and the unfair-dismissal line, rights both employees and employers must know equally.
Every dismissal involves at least three sums: statutory severance, pay in lieu of notice, and unfair-dismissal damages, each with its own rules and exceptions.
We act for dismissed employees, and for employers who must terminate lawfully without inviting claims.
What this dispute is, and where it comes from
Employer–employee disputes over dismissal, unpaid wages or severance, and forced resignations, born of restructurings, contested performance or discipline, and both sides misreading their legal rights.
Documents & evidence to gather first
- The employment contract and work rules
- Pay slips and wage-payment records
- Termination letters, warnings, or the resignation letter
- Work-order chats and appraisals
- Proof of tenure and final position
How we can help
Legal knowledge worth knowing
Minimum severance by tenure: 120 days service = 30 days' pay, 1 yr = 90, 3 yrs = 180, 6 yrs = 240, 10 yrs = 300, 20 yrs+ = 400 days at the final wage.
No severance for dishonesty, intentional damage, gross negligence, serious or repeated rule-breaking, 3 consecutive working days' abandonment, or a final prison sentence, but the ground must be stated in the termination letter, or it cannot be raised later.
Open-ended employment requires written notice of at least one pay period, or wages in lieu.
For unfair dismissal the court may order reinstatement or damages, weighing age, tenure, hardship, and the cause of dismissal.
Supreme Court No. 1538/2558, even where the labour court found that the employee did intentionally cause the employer loss, the employer could not later rely on that ground to withhold severance, because it was not set out in the letter of dismissal nor notified at the time, as Section 119 final paragraph of the Labour Protection Act requires.
Supreme Court No. 8417/2551, the Labour Protection Act does not use the phrase dishonestly as defined in Section 1(1) of the Criminal Code, so dishonesty in Section 119(1) takes its dictionary sense of bad conduct, cheating and want of straightforwardness, which is wider than the criminal meaning.
Supreme Court No. 2347/2543, an employer's lack of liquidity with no new investor was an adequate reason, so the dismissal was not unfair, but it was not a Section 119 ground either and so did not relieve the employer of severance or pay in lieu of notice.
Limitation periods and deadlines you cannot miss
- 2 yrsWages, overtime, severance, and contract sums
- 30 daysChallenging a labour inspector's order (s.125)
- 10 yrsUnfair-dismissal damages (general limitation)
The above is a brief summary of legal principles for general knowledge only, not advice on any specific case. Statutes may have been amended and application always turns on the facts. Please verify the current law or consult an attorney before acting.