National Chamber of
Miscellaneous
Summons / Application
* Memorandum
* NKGB (National Chamber of Judicial Officers) - ICMA Survey 2003-2004
o Summary Report
o Slideshow
POSTAL STRIKE …. don't panic, put your trust in a judicial officer!
You want to serve a notice of termination and observe a notice period. Registered post is not the only way to validly serve termination notices: notice by way of judicial officer’s writ is another option.
Principles
Remember that if you wish to terminate the employment contract with your employee and observe a notice period, you must comply with a number of formalities. If you do not do so, your notice will be invalid.
The formalities to be observed include a number of specific rules concerning the notice of termination. These rules differ depending on whether it is the employee who is terminating the employment contract (resignation) or the employer (dismissal/redundancy):
- if the employee resigns, written notice may be given by hand, by registered letter or by judicial officer’s writ.
- if the employer dismisses the employee or makes him/her redundant, written notice may only be given by registered letter or by judicial officer’s writ. In this case, any written notice given to the employee by hand is invalid.
Although a little more expensive, notice by judicial officer's writ, as an alternative to notice by registered letter, offers maximum peace of mind.
The judicial officer’s writ is deemed to have been received immediately and the notice period can commence on the following day (insofar as the rules for the commencement of the notice period for blue-collar or white-collar workers have been observed).
As such, notice by judicial writ may be a good alternative if you can no longer send your registered post on time (after all, a registered letter is only deemed to have been received on the third working day after it is sent) or if there is a postal strike.
As already stated, the quality of the product carries a somewhat higher price tag. Notice by judicial offer’s writ will cost between €100 and €200. However, this may well be worth it if you wish the notice period to commence as soon as possible. And, of course, you can also end up saving a lot of money, if risking things would mean having to pay another month’s salary!
