Numerous employees have found themselves at some point in their lives in . This process becomes even more bitter when the circumstances also end in a long judicial process for demanding what is fair.
This is what happened to a beautician in France, who had to go through a long judicial process after being fired in May 2016. After a few months at work, her doctor gave her sick leave that It lasted until 2019, when she was fired from her job.. “The dismissal was notified by the liquidator appointed by the court as part of the company’s liquidation process,” Xavier Berjot, a lawyer at the Paris Bar Association, explained to the media. .
In December 2023, his case took a turn when the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal ruled inadmissible. In its ruling it entitles all employees with at least one year of service to compensation, in accordance with the scale provided for in article L1253-3 of the French Labor Code. For companies with fewer than eleven employees, the minimum compensation is half a month’s salary. While in companies with eleven employees or more the minimum compensation is one month’s salary.
The woman accumulated almost three years of service between 2016 and 2019, but her claim for compensation was denied. “The Court of Appeal considered that the employee, who He had been on sick leave for more than two years, he had only been on sick leave for six months. Therefore, he rejected his right to compensation for unfair dismissal,” Berjot said.
In this way, the first instance judges deducted the periods of sick leave from the employee’s seniority. Given this, he decided to appeal to the Court of Cassation. This finally ruled in his favor in a ruling on October 1. “The Court of Cassation is based on consolidated jurisprudence according to which periods of suspension of the employment contract – including sick leave – cannot be deducted from the employee’s seniority,” the lawyer added.
This ruling makes it clear that sick leave time is part of an employee’s seniority. However, the amount of compensation may be affected by periods of absence due to sick leave. “The amount of compensation may be affected in other contexts: for example, in relation to legal compensation for dismissal, the Court of Cassation has ruled that certain absences can reduce the calculation basis (Cass. soc., September 28, 2022, no. 20-18.218),” highlighted Berjot.
After a long journey, the Court of Cassation determined that the beautician had two years and ten months of service, for which she ended up receiving compensation of between 0.5 and 3.5 months of salary. He ended up being granted the maximum amount, which translated into 5,989 euros.
