Can I send notice of termination by email?

Termination notice sent by email

In the age of digitalization, employers are increasingly opting for the convenience of keeping employee documentation in electronic format. Digital tools allow employment processes to be carried out more efficiently. In this article, we will discuss how to terminate an employee’s employment relationship, what formalities must be completed for the notice sent by email to be valid, whether the notice is effective if the employee avoids reading the emails, and what to do if sick leave is received after the notice has been given.

Termination of employment contract

The termination of an employee’s employment contract may result from a number of reasons, i.e. the employer’s decision, the employee’s decision, or even the employee reaching retirement age, and in a number of ways. Article 30.1 of the Labour Code regulates the possibility of terminating an employment contract:

• by agreement of the parties,
• by declaration of one of the parties subject to the notice period (termination of the employment contract by notice,
• by declaration of one of the parties without prior notice (termination of the employment contract without prior notice,
• during the period for which it was concluded.

Regardless of the reason, this process must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of employment law and in compliance with appropriate notice periods and obligations towards the employee, including: providing a factual and truthful reason for the termination of the employment contract.

Notice of Termination – Email with Attachment

When an employer decides to part ways with an employee, he must provide the employee with this information along with the prepared document. Increasingly, there are situations when an employee learns about the dismissal during an online conversation via online platforms, for example, ZOOM, Teams or Google Meet. In addition, an employee who previously suspected that he might be dismissed and did not attend the scheduled online meeting will not be able to protect himself from receiving a notice of dismissal in this way, and may only expose himself to unpleasant situations arising from refusal to comply with an official order.

A notice of termination of the employment contract is sent to the employee’s business or personal email address. Although such a solution is not regulated in the Labour Code, it is important to bear in mind Article 300 of the Labour Code, which explicitly states that, in matters not regulated by labour law, the provisions of the Civil Code apply mutatis mutandis to the employment relationship, if they are not incompatible with the principles of labour law. For a notice sent by email to be effective, several fundamental principles contained in the Labour Code and the Civil Code must be followed.

When does termination of the contract by email take effect?

The most important elements are keep the termination notice in writing and provide you with a qualified electronic signature. This results directly from art. 781 of the Civil Code. The way of preparing it is arbitrary. In other words, content The document can be handwritten or electronic, but must still contain a qualified electronic signature.. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court judgment of 24 August 2009, ref. file: 58/09,,the content of the declaration of intent in electronic format may be prepared in various ways, for example, handwritten, but must be provided with a qualified electronic signature.“.

If an employee doesn’t open the email warning them, is it ineffective?

If an employee does not open the email with the notice attached, this does not automatically mean that the notice is ineffective. If the termination notice is sent electronically and the message contains an attachment with a qualified electronic signature and is written, it is considered to have been delivered when the employee can read it. The result comes directly from art. 61 § 2º of the Civil Code – The declaration of will expressed in electronic format is presented to another person at the time it is executed in electronic communication, so that this person can familiarize himself with its content. The aforementioned article confirms that it does not matter whether the employee read the notice of termination or whether he consciously did not open the correspondence containing the notice of termination of the employment contract, it remains in force.

Employee’s medical leave after receiving email with notice

If the employee received an email with notice of termination and was granted sick leave on the same day, it is questionable whether such notice will be effective. According to art. 41 of the Labor Code, the employer cannot terminate the employment contract during the employee’s incapacity for work. However, if the termination notice was sent electronically and delivered before the employee took sick leave, it will still be valid.It doesn’t even matter if the medical license was issued retroactively, for example, the day before the notification was received.

This thesis is confirmed by numerous case laws, including: Judgment of the Supreme Federal Court of 6 October 2004, file reference number: 614/2003 ,,Termination of an employment contract with an employee who worked and subsequently demonstrated that on the day of giving notice he was unable to work due to illness does not violate Article 41 of the Labour Code, which states that the employer may not terminate the employment contract during the employee’s leave or during other justified absences from work if the period giving the right to terminate the employment contract without notice has not yet expired. In view of the above, the Court concluded that the workplace did not violate the provisions of the Labour Code by terminating the plaintiff’s employment contract.“.
and Supreme Court decision of 19 February 2014, reference number: 266/13 ,,Termination of an employment contract with an employee who worked and subsequently demonstrated that on the day of the notice period he was unable to work due to illness does not violate art. 41 kp“.