Publié le 23/05/2026

French labour law - Professional Journalists with More Than 15 Years of Service: The Arbitration Commission, Solely Competent to Award dismissal indemnity in Cases of Judicial Termination of Contract (cass. Soc. , May 6th, 2026)

Article juridique - Droit du travail

In a ruling published in the Bulletin of May 6, 2026 (25-12.049), the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) affirmed, for the first time to our knowledge, that the Arbitration Commission for Journalists alone has the competence and authority to rule on the awarding and amount of severance pay to professional journalists with more than fifteen years of service, regardless of the reason for termination, including when such compensation is due following a court-ordered termination of the employment contract.

This decision is significant for all journalists with more than 15 years of service, as it confirms the exclusive competence of the Arbitration Commission for Journalists regarding the awarding of severance pay.

III- Ruling of the Court of Cassation.

The judicial termination of an employment contract at the employee's request has the same effect as a dismissal without just cause, meaning the employee is entitled to compensation through severance pay and compensation for dismissal without just cause.

Pursuant to Article L7112-3 of the French Labor Code, if the employer initiates the termination, the employee is entitled to compensation that cannot be less than one month's salary for each year or fraction thereof of service. The maximum number of monthly payments is set at fifteen.

According to Article L7112-4 of the French Labor Code, when seniority exceeds fifteen years, an arbitration board is convened to determine the compensation due. The arbitration board's decision is binding and cannot be appealed.

It follows from the combination of these texts that the journalists' arbitration commission alone has the jurisdiction and authority to rule on the granting and amount of severance pay to a professional journalist with more than fifteen years of service, regardless of the reason for dismissal, including when such compensation is due following a court-ordered termination of the employment contract.

The Court of Appeal, having noted that, by a judgment that had become final, the labor court had ordered the judicial termination of the employee's employment contract on March 11, 2022, producing the effects of a dismissal without just cause, and that the employee had more than fifteen years of service, correctly concluded, without violating the principle of res judicata, that the journalists' arbitration commission was competent to rule on the employee's claim for severance pay.

IV-Analysis.

It should first be noted that the Advocate General had recommended rejecting the argument, and the Court of Cassation followed his position.

This judgment of May 6, 2026, confirms, on the one hand, that judicial termination must be analyzed as a breach of the employment contract initiated by the employer.

The Court of Cassation clarified in this judgment that the arbitration board has sole jurisdiction to rule on the awarding and amount of severance pay when the journalist in question has more than 15 years of service, including when this compensation is due following the pronouncement of the judicial termination of the employment contract.

The fact that the termination is considered to be initiated by the employer thus makes the arbitration board competent—which enjoys a monopoly on the awarding of severance pay and on determining its amount.

Pour lire l’intégralité de la brève, cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous

https://www.village-justice.com/articles/resiliation-judiciaire-contrat-travail-journaliste-senior-commission-arbitrale,57472.html

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