What are the reasons for canceling the employment contract?
There are four groups of reasons for termination of the employment contract:
- reasons related to the employee’s ability to work and his behavior
- violations of work obligations committed by the employee through his own fault
- non-compliance with work discipline by the employee
- the needs of the employer
Reasons related to the employee’s ability to work and his behavior
- the most important reason from this group is if the employee does not achieve work results or does not have the necessary knowledge and abilities to perform the tasks he is working on
Reasons related to violations of work obligations committed by the employee through his own fault (most significant)
- if he negligently performs his work duties
- if he abuses his position or exceeds his authority
- if he uses work tools irresponsibly or does not use safety equipment at work
Reasons related to non-compliance with work discipline by the employee (most significant)
- if he unjustifiably refuses to perform tasks and carry out the employer’s orders
- if he abuses the right to leave due to temporary inability to work
- if he does not respect the work discipline prescribed by the employer’s act, i.e. if his behavior is such that he cannot continue working for the employer
Reasons related to the needs of the employer
- if, due to technological, economic or organizational changes, the need to perform certain work ceases or the volume of work is reduced
- if he refuses to conclude the annex to the employment contract
Procedure in case of termination of employment contract
Before terminating the employment contract due to violation of work obligations or non-compliance with work discipline, the employer is obliged to provide the employee with a written warning about the existence of a reason for terminating the employment contract and leave him a period of at least eight days from the date of delivery to respond to the allegations in the warning. Before terminating the employment contract because the employee does not achieve work results or does not have the necessary knowledge and skills, the employer is obliged to give the employee a written notification regarding the deficiencies in his work, instructions and an appropriate deadline for improving his work. The employment contract is canceled by a decision in written form and must contain an explanation and instructions on the legal remedy.
What are the employee’s rights in case of illegal dismissal?
If, in the course of the procedure for annulment of the decision on the termination of the employment contract, the court determines that the termination is illegal, at the request of the employee, it will decide that the employee should return to work, that he be paid compensation for damages and the payment of mandatory social insurance contributions for the period in which the employee was unemployed. Therefore, the employee has the right to compensation in the amount of lost earnings, as if he had been working all the time.
If the court determines that the dismissal is illegal, and the employee does not request to return to work, the court will, at the request of the employee, oblige the employer to pay compensation to the employee in the amount of a maximum of 18 times the employee’s salary, depending on the time spent in the employment relationship with the employer, the age of the employee and the number of dependent family members
If the court determines that the dismissal is illegal, but the employer proves that there are circumstances that reasonably indicate that the continuation of the employment relationship, taking into account all the circumstances and the interests of both parties in the dispute, is not possible, the court will reject the employee’s request to return to work and award him compensation damages in a double amount in relation to the amount that would be awarded if the employee demanded payment instead of reinstatement.
If the court determines that the dismissal was illegal, but that the employer only violated the rules of the dismissal procedure, it will reject the employee’s request for reinstatement, and will award up to six wages as compensation.
Compensation for damages is reduced by the amount of income that the employee earned on the basis of work upon termination of the employment relationship.
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
