AKMV Termination (of employment) without stating a reason
QUESTION
Hello, I would like to ask — can an employer force an employee to resign, even if the employee has no intention of doing so? Thank you.
ANSWER:
The employer cannot force you to submit a resignation. As an employee, you may resign for any reason or without stating a reason at all.
If the employer wants to terminate your employment, they may do so only for reasons specified in the Labour Code, and the reason for the termination must be clearly stated in the notice.
According to § 61(2) of the Labour Code: “The reason for the termination must be factually defined in the notice in such a way that it cannot be confused with another reason, otherwise the termination is invalid. The reason for the termination cannot be changed afterwards.”
The employer may terminate an employee under § 63(1) and following, for example if:
The employer or its part is being dissolved or relocated, and the employee does not agree with the change of the agreed place of work;
The employee becomes redundant due to a written decision by the employer (or relevant authority) regarding a change in its tasks, equipment, or a reduction in staff to improve work efficiency, or due to other organizational changes. This also applies to temporary employment agencies if the redundancy results from the end of temporary assignment;
The employee has lost the ability to perform their work due to medical reasons, as per a medical certificate, or is not allowed to perform the work due to an occupational disease or exposure limits set by the public health authority;
The employee: (i) does not meet the requirements set by legal regulations for performing the agreed work, (ii) has ceased to meet the requirements under § 42(2) (e.g., appointment or election), (iii) does not meet the employer’s internal requirements for proper performance of the agreed work, through no fault of the employer, or (iv) performs work unsatisfactorily, and the employer has given the employee a written notice within the last six months to remedy the deficiencies, and the employee has not remedied them within a reasonable time.
There are grounds for immediate termination, or the employee has committed a less serious breach of work discipline; a warning must be given within the last six months for such less serious violations.
Again, per § 61(2) of the Labour Code: “The reason for the termination must be factually defined in the notice in such a way that it cannot be confused with another reason, otherwise the termination is invalid. The reason for the termination cannot be changed afterwards.”
JUDr. Veronika Michalíková, MBA