wombatboy

Hello

I might be taking a new job in another country (US) and will have to give notice. Unfortunately on my contract my notice period is 6months which will mean the other place maybe will have a problem hiring me. Would anyone have any contacts for law advice in France?

I asked a lawyer and he said I have to give personal grounds to leave notice period early, but I am considering sitting down with my company to mutually agree the best notice I can give with respect to finding a replacement for my role.
Only trouble is they have been difficult with people leaving in the past and hold them to their notice. A bit stressed about it as my French is so intermediate that tackling HR seems scary.

ps my english translation of contract says 6 months but my french contract says something else. Hence why I want to see a lawyer.

Tweedpipe

As a manager in France I always worked closely with HR.

You say, "my english translation of contract says 6 months but my french contract says something else." This intrigues me.
Did HR initially give you a contract in French AND in English? If so, it's possible (but highly unlikely) that there was conflicting information regarding the period of notice required for terminating employment.

Or have you done an on-line translation from your French contract - results of which and/or interpretation can always be a bit 'iffy'.

wombatboy

Thanks for your reply! They gave me a french contract which stated it depends on my classification of role for my notice period. Then i got sent a translation in english that stated 6 months instead of that section.
So it depends on notice period relating to my role in the creative advertising industry. Apparently.

Tweedpipe

After discussion with an HR specialist:-
Here's the link which should answer all your queries.

Contractually (and probably legally) it would appear that you would have to give 6 months notice prior to leaving. French companies usually state such a notice in their offer letter so that they can have sufficient time to source a new candidate.
If you wanted to leave, say after 3 months (for example having accepted another employment) you would have to state personal grounds for leaving. Or, if you are on good terms with your manager, try to renegotiate the initial 6 months down to 3 months.

Q- What would happen if you left early without having the agreement of the company?
A- You would lose all benefits and other compensation during the 6-month notice period (which is normal and which is most common, employees leave a company to join another so they should not be able to benefit from the former company's compensation/benefits plan).
Or:
- The company could request that you pay X amount to compensate those 6-months 'not worked' or other fees - this could get ugly - and a visit to the office of the Ombudsman could be in order to seek for advice, and see what is the common practice of companies in that region.

wombatboy

Thank you so much Tweedpipe. I couldn't find anything before. This information is really helpful. I was planning on giving personal reasons, but I hope they understand - i will work with them to find replacement

wombatboy

well, here's the kicker. I went to a lawyer to check out my contract + english translation.

It turns out that the level I was on in my contract for advertising was only a 3 month period of notice. And the company had put 6 months on my translation - but this was not true.
I am not sure whether this was a clerical error. Um.

So I am currently working my 3 months notice and off to LA. Will miss France a lot. But whatever - you have to go where opportunity knocks.

dennerlymum

Glad to hear that you got it sorted!