Home / Practice areas / Employment law
We advise the employer at the moment the decision is taken, so that it does not have to be defended three years later.
An employment tribunal claim is won or lost long before the hearing: when the contract is drafted, when the disciplinary file is kept, when the pre-dismissal interview is held. What was not written down at the time cannot be invented before the tribunal.
We act for employers in the Basque Country, Béarn and the Landes — retail, industry, hotels, independent professions — in day-to-day advice as much as in defence, working with their payroll bureau.
Drafting and updating contracts, mobility, exclusivity and non-competition clauses, annualised day-rate agreements, fixed-term and seasonal contracts: every clause has to stand up to scrutiny much later, in circumstances that have turned hostile.
Meetings, formalities, calculating the payment, approval by the labour authorities: a mutually agreed termination is the safest route when it is genuinely consented to. It becomes a risk when it is used to disguise a dismissal or takes place against a background of alleged harassment.
Personal or economic grounds, procedure, the pre-dismissal interview, notification, notice period: we prepare the file before the procedure is started and draft the letter, which fixes the limits of the dispute once and for all.
Recording hours, overtime, on-call time, day-rate agreements and monitoring of workload: this is the leading ground on which employers are ordered to pay, because proving working time does not rest on the employee alone.
Limited in time, in territory and in scope of activity, necessary to the protection of the business, and backed by financial compensation: without that it is void, and enforcing it costs more than not having it.
A sale of goodwill, a partial contribution of assets, a change of service provider: employment contracts continue automatically. We identify the perimeter transferred, what becomes of the collective agreements and the information obligations, before the transaction.
Conciliation, the hearing panel, referral to a professional judge where the panel is split, appeal: we defend the employer, taking on the difficult files and saying clearly, from the outset, what is defensible and what is not.
Holding office and an employment contract at the same time, the social security cover of a majority manager, company officers and unemployment insurance: the status is chosen on incorporation and reviewed when the capital changes.
The right moment
A contract read over before the hire costs an hour. The same clause, argued before the employment tribunal four years later, costs several months’ salary and the director’s time.
The subject is the same. It is when it is dealt with that makes the cost.
How we work
You set out the situation, we say frankly whether we are the right people and what the work would involve. No commitment at this stage.
It describes what is done, what is not, the basis on which fees are calculated and the timetable. Nothing starts without your written agreement.
One lawyer holds your file; each question is dealt with by whichever of us handles it every day. You have only one person to call.
Formalities, filings, deadlines: the firm takes over and keeps you informed until the file is closed.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, within twelve months of its approval, in particular for defective consent. It stands on shaky ground where it takes place against a background of reported harassment, during sick leave following an accident at work, or where the employee shows that it was forced on them. Formal meetings and a clear written record of the exchanges protect the employer.
On length of service and reference salary, under the statutory formula or under the collective agreement if that is more favourable — and it often is. Where a dismissal is held to be without real and serious cause, damages are added, within a scale whose floors and ceilings depend on length of service.
They are where they are not backed by a valid collective agreement, an annual meeting on workload and a system that actually monitors it. An agreement without those safeguards is declared unenforceable, and all overtime becomes payable retrospectively.
Neither immediate dismissal nor silence. The employee must be formally required to justify the absence or return to their post, proof of sending must be kept, and then, failing any reply, disciplinary proceedings started. Abandonment of post is now governed by a presumption of resignation framed by strict time limits.
No, it is void. The employer cannot rely on it, and the employee can claim damages if they have complied with it. Conversely, the employer may waive the clause on the conditions and within the time limits set out in the contract — provided that option was written in at all.
The same rights, with particular rules on the end of the contract, its renewal and the end-of-contract payment. A seasonal contract presupposes a regular and foreseeable variation in activity; used for a permanent need, it is reclassified as a permanent contract.
It depends on how solid the file is, on the cost of the time involved and on the effect within the workforce. A well-drafted settlement puts an end to the dispute for good; badly drafted, it leaves claims alive. We cost the risk before advising one course or the other.
Practice areas involved
Un seul module de ce site dépose des cookies : la mesure de nos campagnes publicitaires. Vous l’autorisez ou non ci-dessous, et pouvez revenir sur ce choix à tout moment depuis le lien « Gestion des cookies » en bas de page.
Storing your cookie preferences and securing the form. No tracking, no transfer to a third party.
The firm runs advertisements on Google. This module tells us which of them lead to an enquiry, so that we do not pay for advertisements that serve no purpose. Google is established in the United States; the transfer is governed by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework. Declining has no effect on your browsing.
Visitor statistics produced for our use alone, with a truncated IP address, with no cross-referencing between sites and no transfer to a third party. This configuration falls within the exemption recommended by the CNIL: it does not require your consent, and you may nonetheless object to it from our privacy policy.
Your choice is kept for six months, then you will be asked again. Refusing has no effect on your browsing: the whole site remains available, and nothing is measured.