A work-related accident suspends the notice period of an employee who has resigned : his employment contract can only be terminated at the end of the sick leave, failing which the termination will be null

Bordeaux Court of Appeal July 3, 2024 n°21/04167

As a reminder, the protection of an employee who has suffered a work-related accident means that the employer is prohibited from dismissing the employee, except in cases of serious misconduct or where it is impossible to maintain the employment contract for a reason unrelated to the accident.

An employee resigns on February 1, 2019. His notice period ends on March 1, 2019. During his notice period, on February 22, 2019, he suffers a work-related accident and is prescribed sick leave from February 22, 2019 to January 25, 2020. His employer considers that the occurrence of this work-related accident has no impact on the notice period and gives the employee the termination documents on March 14, at the end of the notice period initially set, considering that :

• the protection afforded to an employee who has suffered a work-related accident does not apply to an employee who has resigned,
• and that, in any event, the employee had resigned before the accident occurred.

The employee contests this decision before the Conseil de prud’hommes, which validates the employer’s reasoning. However, the court of appeal overturned this decision, stating that :

• the occurrence of a work-related accident during the notice period suspends the notice period until the end of the sick leave resulting from the accident. During this period, the employer may only dismiss the employee for serious misconduct or if it is impossible to maintain the contract for reasons unrelated to the accident, failing which the dismissal is null and void.
• this rule applies even in the event of resignation – even if this predates the work-related accident.

The court of appeal concluded that the contract should have been terminated at the end of the sick leave, on January 25, 2020. By handing over the end-of-contract documents before this date, the employer demonstrated its intention to terminate the employment contract despite the suspension of the notice period. The termination of the contract therefore has the effects of a null dismissal, as it contravenes the protections afforded to employees who have suffered a work-related accident.

The Bordeaux Court of Appeal applied the case law of the French Supreme Court (Cass.soc. February 15, 2016 n°04-42.822) and recalls the extent scope of protection for an employee who has suffered an work-related accident, which applies during the notice period even if :

• the termination of the contract was initiated by the employee who chose to resign,
• the accident occurred after the resignation was notified.