End of employment
When an employee resigns
An employee does not require a specific reason for resigning. However, they do have to observe the mandatory notice period.
- An employment contract valid until further notice will end after the notice period.
- An employee can resign their employment contract valid until further notice at any time.
Notice periods when an employee resigns:
| Duration of employment | Notice period when employee terminates the employment |
|---|---|
| Maximum of five years | 14 days |
| More than five years | 1 month |
The notice period begins on the day following the notice.
When an employer terminates the employment
An employment contract that is valid until further notice can be ended with a termination. In such situations, the employer must observe the notice periods defined in the Employment Contracts Act or agreed in the collective agreement and the employment contract.
The employer must have a legally justified and compelling reason for terminating the contract. Such compelling reasons are, for example:
- serious violations of obligations that have an essential impact on the employment relationship
- an essential change of occupational capacities related to the employee’s person due to which they are no longer capable of dealing with their duties. There could be reasons behind this cause such as a long-term illness and losing one’s occupational abilities for their current role. However, prior to ending the employment relationship, the employer has the obligation to review and offer the employee other duties that would meet the employee’s current occupational abilities, as well as the possibility of professional rehabilitation.
- substantial and permanent decrease in the work the employer is able to offer if the employee cannot be placed in or trained for other duties.
If the employee has neglected the duties of their employment relationship, their contract cannot be terminated before the employee has been given a chance to rectify their actions by giving them a warning.
An employee’s illness, injury or accident, participation in a strike, their opinions or civil actions are not justifiable grounds for terminating an employment contract.
When an employer terminates the employment contract, the notice periods are as follows:
| Duration of employment | Notice period when employer terminates the employment |
|---|---|
| 0 – 1 year | 14 days |
| more than 1–4 years | 1 months |
| more than 4–8 years | 2 months |
| more than 8–12 years | 4 months |
| more than 12 years | 6 months |
The notice period begins on the day following the notice.
A fixed-term employment contract can only be terminated if the option of terminating the contract has been explicitly stated in the employment contract. In other cases, the fixed-term contract cannot be terminated; it will remain valid until the end date agreed in the contract.
An employment contract can always be ended with a mutual agreement. If a termination or a cancellation of a trial period is not possible, you can propose the cancellation of a fixed-term contract to your employer, in mutual understanding. If the employer agrees, a written agreement should be made.
- A cancellation will immediately end an employment contract.
- On both sides, cancelling an employment contract is only possible for a highly justifiable reason. Such reason can be a violation or gross negligence by the other party that is so severe that the other contract party cannot be reasonably expected to continue the employment relationship even for the duration of the notice period.
- It the employee has been absent from work for at least seven days without reporting a valid reason for their absence, employer is entitled to consider the employment contract as cancelled, starting from the beginning of the employee’s absence.
- A cancellation during trial period will immediately end an employment contract.
- An employment contract can be cancelled mutually during the trial period, if the trial period was agreed on in the employment contract. The purpose of a trial period is to assess whether the employment relationship meets both parties’ expectations. Due to this, cancellation during the trial period is fairly easy.
- Cancellation during a trial period should not, however, be done on a discriminatory or inappropriate basis, such as due to a pregnancy or the employee’s state of health.
Shop stewards, occupational safety and health representatives, employee representatives and co-operation representatives who have explicitly been elected for a term are protected against dismissal.
An employer can only dismiss or furlough a representative if their job is completely eliminated and the employer is unable to arrange other similar work for them or retrain them for another position.