In a ruling dated March 18th, 2026 (24-22.713) published in the official bulletin, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) affirmed that an employee holding a mandate, as defined in Article L2411-1, external to the company, can only claim the protection associated with that mandate during a negotiated termination (rupture conventionnelle) procedure if, at the latest during the preliminary interview(s) stipulated in Article L1237-12 of the French Labor Code, they informed the employer or if they provide proof that the employer was aware of it.
If the employee is not informed in a timely manner, they are deprived of the benefit of their protected status, which limits subsequent challenges to the termination.
Conversely, the possibility of providing evidence of prior knowledge by the employer preserves the effectiveness of the protection, preventing it from being dismissed for purely formal reasons.
III. Ruling.
The Court of Cassation dismissed the employee's appeal.
The Court of Cassation, citing Articles L1237-12 and L1237-15 of the French Labor Code, stated that a negotiated termination must be preceded by one or more meetings during which the parties agree on its principle, and that protected employees, particularly those covered by Articles L2411-1 and L2411-2 of the French Labor Code, benefit from a specific regime requiring authorization from the labor inspector.
The court reiterates its established case law, according to which an employee holding a mandate outside the company can only claim the protection attached to that mandate if they informed the employer of its existence no later than the preliminary dismissal interview, or, in the absence of such an interview, before notification of the termination [3]. It also reiterates that the absence of the interview(s) stipulated in Article L 1237-12 of the French Labor Code renders the negotiated termination agreement null and void [4].
The court concludes that, in the context of a negotiated termination agreement, an employee holding a mandate outside the company can only claim their protected status if they informed the employer no later than the interview(s) stipulated in Article L1237-12 of the French Labor Code, or if they demonstrate that the employer was aware of it at that time. She adds that the Court of Appeal correctly concluded that, having found that the employee had not informed the employer of his status as an employee representative during the preliminary meeting of June 1, 2018, the negotiated termination agreement concluded on June 20, 2018, was not invalid due to a violation of his protected status.
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Frédéric CHHUM avocat et ancien membre du conseil de l’ordre des avocats de Paris (mandat 2019-2021)
Rosaline Haas juriste
CHHUM AVOCATS (Paris, Nantes, Lille)
e-mail: chhum@chhum-avocats.com
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