The form of terminating an employment contract is crucial to its effectiveness. An incorrectly submitted notice of termination may lead to the employee's claims and even reinstatement or compensation.
Changes taking place in the field of digitalization may encourage employees to terminate their employment contracts via electronic messages.
Is it possible to terminate an employment contract by e-mail? Here are the recipes
As the “Entrepreneur's Guide” reminds, the Labor Code requires that termination of an employment contract be submitted in writing. Most often, they are delivered in person or by registered mail, which is regulated by the relevant provisions of the codes.
However, the formal provisions do not directly refer to the situation in which an employee or employer delivers notice of termination of an employment contract by e-mail. This situation was not taken into account when creating the regulations, but technological progress forces us to consider such a scenario.
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As explained by the “Entrepreneur's Guide”, Art. 78 § 1 of the Civil Code states that “in order to maintain the written form of a legal act, it is sufficient to place a handwritten signature on a document containing the content of the declaration of will.”
Although even these provisions do not directly refer to the delivery of documents electronically, it can be concluded that a handwritten signature is crucial. On a scan, photo or fax, such a signature is only a copy, which effectively excludes it from being valid.
Termination of the contract by e-mail. The law is not clear
As explained by the “Entrepreneur's Guide”, termination of an employment contract sent by e-mail could be effective, provided, however, that it is accompanied by an e-signature. These are the conclusions drawn from the position of the Supreme Court.
He emphasized that “the minimum requirement for maintaining the written form is to submit a handwritten signature on the document containing the content of the declaration of termination of the employment contract.”
“Entrepreneur's Guide” indicates that the law allows the possibility of terminating an employment contract also by e-mail. An e-signed notice of termination of an employment contract can be sent to the employee's business e-mail address, but it is worth asking for confirmation of receipt.
Termination of the employment contract. How to write them correctly?
In principle, both the employee and the employer can terminate an employment contract. Importantly, this document may contain a notice period or be prepared without it.
As the “Entrepreneur's Guide” reminds us, the employer must remember to provide the reason for termination in the case of an indefinite-term contract and to be informed about the right to appeal to the labor court.
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In turn, the employee may terminate the employment contract without giving a reason for the termination. The condition is to maintain the appropriate form of the document. The notice of termination of an employment contract submitted by an employed person should include, among others: place and date, basic employer data, employee data, but also a declaration of termination of the employment contract specifying the date of its conclusion and the parties to the contract.
