A pharmacy technician who worked for 27 years in a pharmacy in the south of France will receive 34,800 euros in compensation after being fired for not having the qualifications required for the position. The Court of Casation considered that the responsibility for verifying the worker’s qualifications lay with the employer, who had failed to do so for decades.
According to the French digital newspaper, La Dépêche, the case will still have to be analyzed again by the Court of Appeal, due to an appeal filed.
The beginning of everything
It all started in 1998, when a young woman signed her first contract to work in a local pharmacy. Dressed in a white coat, she began working as a technician without anyone realizing that she did not have the diploma required by law.
For almost three decades, his career proceeded normally, until the pharmacy was sold. The new managers, upon reviewing the records, realized that the employee did not have the required qualifications. According to the same source, the situation, which had gone unnoticed for so long, became a legal problem when it became visible to the new managers.
The inspection that changed everything
At the end of 2017, a random inspection by the Regional Health Agency (ARS) officially revealed the absence of a pharmacy technician diploma. The employers attempted to contact the worker verbally and then sent two letters. As she was on sick leave, she did not respond. Shortly afterwards, she was suspended and, later, fired for alleged serious misconduct, being accused of lying and not fulfilling her duty in good faith.
The worker always maintained that she had never hidden the situation and that she worked with prior authorization. The failure occurred because the new owner did not check the records when taking over the pharmacy, maintaining the situation for years without any documentary control.
Court decision and appeal
In 2021, the labor court considered the dismissal unfounded and ordered the payment of more than 34,800 euros in compensation. The pharmacy appealed and, in 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the employer, claiming that the technician had failed to fulfill the duty of loyalty by not informing about her qualifications. This decision forced the worker to bear the costs of the process.
The appeal to the Marriage Court once again reversed the decision. The court concluded that the employer, by maintaining the employment relationship for so many years without verifying the qualifications, could not now allege negligence on the part of the employee. Henri Guyot, labor lawyer at Aerige, explained that the error probably occurred during the transfer of the pharmacy, when the new owners took over the staff without checking the files. He highlighted that, in regulated professions, the obligation to verify qualifications always lies with the company.
Employer’s responsibility
The case now returns to the Court of Appeal for further consideration, but the high court’s decision establishes that the employer has a responsibility to ensure that all workers comply with legal requirements. Compensation confirms that monitoring standards is a legal obligation of companies, and that the omission cannot be transferred to the worker.
How it works in Portugal
In Portugal, dismissal for alleged lack of qualifications in regulated professions follows the rules of the Labor Code, which provides for just cause when there is a culpable violation of the worker’s duties. But the employer always has the burden of proving the facts he invokes.
It is up to the employer to demonstrate the seriousness of the misconduct and the need for dismissal, and the worker can challenge the decision in court within the legal deadline. Recent jurisprudence reinforces that, if the employment relationship continues for years without verification of qualifications, this omission weighs on the assessment of the lawfulness of the dismissal and may lead to its being declared unfounded.
The Working Conditions Authority monitors compliance with labor standards and can intervene when there are failures in document verification in regulated sectors. In more serious cases, fines or other administrative measures may be imposed. According to , this type of control is essential to protect workers and customers, preventing inspection errors from affecting those who perform their duties legally and honestly.
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