Cass. soc., Apr. 24, 2024, no. 22-20.472
While a reading of article L1235-1 might suggest that the conciliation minutes only allow the parties to waive claims relating to the termination of the employment contract, the French Supreme Court has clarified that the parties are free to extend the subject of their conciliation to issues going beyond those of severance pay alone.
In this case, in the context of a conciliation report, the parties agreed to the payment of a global, lump-sum, transactional and definitive indemnity, specifying that the agreement constituted a waiver of all claims and indemnities and entailed the withdrawal of all proceedings and actions in respect of all disputes arising or to arise from the employment contract and the employee’s mandate.
Subsequent to the signing of the conciliation report, the employee brought a new action before the Conseil de prud’hommes seeking payment of the financial consideration for her non-competition clause.
The Court of Appeal upheld his claim, relying both on :
– on a strict reading of article L.1235-1 of the French Labor Code, which concerns indemnities relating to the termination of the employment contract ;
– the fact that the employee had not been informed that her waiver of all claims and indemnities relating to the termination of the employment contract would also affect her right to benefit from the financial compensation provided for in the non-competition clause;
– on the impossibility of waiving in advance a right that has not been acquired.
The French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) censured this position, ruling that the conciliation and referral office has general jurisdiction, and that in this particular case, the parties’ reciprocal obligations under a non-competition clause were well within the scope of the agreement:
– the parties having appeared voluntarily before the conciliation board;
– the agreement stipulated that it was valid as a waiver of all claims and indemnities, and entailed a waiver of all proceedings and actions for disputes arising or to arise from the employment contract and the employee’s mandate.
This decision secures the conciliation minutes, since they extinguish any dispute relating to the conditions of conclusion, performance and termination of the employment contract, in return for the payment of a lump-sum indemnity.