Unlawful termination of the contract of employment occurs if the termination by notice is not justified.

It may also consist in infringement of the provisions governing the termination of contracts of employment by notice, such as:

• failure to provide the cause for the termination,
• failure to consult the intention to terminate with the trade union organisation,
• breach of special protection against the dismissal of certain groups of employees, in particular the prohibition on terminating a contract or the obligation to obtain the consent of the competent authority,
• application of a shorter notice period than required,
• failure to observe the prescribed written form,
• failure to inform the employee of the means of redress available to them against termination.

In the event of unlawful termination of a contract of employment, the employee may appeal to the labour court. They are entitled to the following claims:

• that the termination be deemed ineffective,
• reinstatement to work under previous conditions,
• compensation.

The court may issue a decision declaring the notice of termination ineffective before the expiry of the notice period. Such a decision prevents further run of the notice period, which thus does not lead to termination of the contract of employment.

A decision to reinstate the employee to work on the previous conditions is made if the notice period has expired and the employment relationship has been terminated.  The court may only reinstate the employee to work and therefore rule on their re-employment on the previous conditions.

When reinstating the employee to work, the court also decides on the remuneration for the period of remaining without work, however, no more than 2 months, and when the notice period was 3 months, no more than 1 month.

The remuneration is payable for the entire period of remaining without work in the case of:

• employees during the period of 4 years before the retirement age,
• pregnant employees,
• employees benefiting from maternity, parental or paternity leave, including from the date on which the employee applied for such a leave, or part thereof, until the end of that leave,
• when the termination of the contract of employment is restricted by a special provision (for example, for a trade union activist, social labour inspector).

Compensation is, on the other hand, financial compensation. The amount of compensation is no less than the remuneration for the period of notice and not more than 3 months’ remuneration.

In the case of a fixed-term contract of employment, compensation is payable in the amount of remuneration for the intended term of the contract, but no more than for 3 months.

The employee is only entitled to compensation in the event of:

• a fixed-term contract termination, if its term expired before the decision of the labour court, or
• reinstatement to work is not advisable because of the short period of time left until the expiry of that term.

In the event of applying a shorter notice period, the contract of employment is terminated at the end of the correct notice period.