18/12/2015
18/12/2015
I would like to share my case for which I need your valuable opinion. I have just been terminated and given an official discontinuation of services letter with a notice period of 3 months. Will I be entitled to a termination fee? ... besides the indemnity, because my employer terminated me without probable cause? I went to the HR department but they told me that the termination fee would be the payment for the 3 months notice period that I have to work for ...
Name withheld
Answer: First of all, please remember that an employer doesn’t need an excuse to terminate your services. If the employer doesn’t need your services all he has to do is tell you to leave after giving you the three-month notice. In this regard the law is totally on his side.
In fact, the employer could land himself in trouble if he cited a reason and the employee disagreed with him over the issue. In such a case the employee could take the employer to court and if it was proved that the employer could not prove the reason “he put on paper” for the employee’s dismissal he could end up having to compensate the employee.
So, the easiest way out for the employer is to cite no reason for the termination. So, in your case you will not get anything other than your full indemnity regardless of the period you have worked. The only way you could have gotten any money from the employer would be if you had a “fixed time contract”. In such a case you could take the employer to court and he would have to pay an amount equal to the salary for the uncompleted part of the contract.