Before making any decision to dismiss an employee, an employer must invite them to a preliminary meeting. The purpose of summoning the employee to a meeting is to inform them of the reasons for the meeting and to give them sufficient time to prepare their defence. This summons must be sent by registered letter or delivered by hand with acknowledgment of receipt, and must indicate the purpose of the meeting.
The preliminary meeting may not take place fewer than five working days after the registered letter or letter of invitation was first presented by the postal service.
Summoning an employee to a preliminary meeting prior to dismissal by sending a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by hand delivery with acknowledgment of receipt is only a legal means of preventing any dispute over the date of the summons. Therefore, the absence of a receipt is irrelevant once it has been confirmed that the employee was summoned to the meeting.
In this case, the employee received a summons for the preliminary meeting on 11 February 2016, but refused to acknowledge receipt, but attended the meeting scheduled for 18 February 2016.
The Court of Cassation ruled that, since the employee had received a summons to a preliminary meeting and had not disputed attending it, the dismissal procedure was valid. The fact that the employee did not acknowledge receipt was irrelevant.
