Dismissed before the end of the contract

Dismissed before the end of the contract

"Hello, I work for a telephone company. My contract was due to end in March 2013 but my employer recently told me that he couldn't keep me on for economic reasons. Is this legal?"

Nils, Onex

The law regulates the termination of contracts differently, depending on whether they are for a fixed or indefinite period. A contract is for a fixed term when, at the time it is entered into, the parties agree on its expiry. It is not necessary for the contracting parties to refer to a specific date; it is sufficient for the duration of the contract to be objectively determinable. Contracts concluded for the duration of a festival, a football season or during an employee's maternity leave are therefore fixed-term employment contracts.

This necessarily determinable nature is intended to protect the employee, who is thus informed of the date or even the moment when he or she will have to find another job. It should be noted that in case of doubt, there is a presumption in favour of a contract of indefinite duration.

The termination of a fixed-term contract is governed by Article 334 of the Swiss Code of Obligations. This provision stipulates that the contract is terminated without the need to give notice. In principle, therefore, such contracts cannot be terminated unilaterally before the agreed expiry date.

However, there are a number of exceptions to this principle.

As with open-ended contracts, the parties to a fixed-term contract may first agree in writing to a trial period of no more than three months, during which the contract may be terminated at any time subject to 7 days' notice.

In addition, the right to terminate for just cause also applies to fixed-term contracts, and either party may terminate the employment contract immediately if objective reasons make the continuation of the employment relationship unbearable.

Finally, to prevent over-commitment, the law provides that employment contracts concluded for a period of more than 10 years may be terminated subject to a notice period of six months.

In this case, you are clearly subject to a fixed-term contract and, if a trial period had been contractually agreed, it would clearly have expired by now. Furthermore, your employer is not invoking any just cause in support of the dismissal, since the economic reasons do not make the continuation of your employment relationship unbearable. Consequently, the notice of termination is null and void and you must continue to offer your services while your employer continues to owe you your salary.