The CJEU recently ruled that the European Union law is incompatible with national laws that allow an employer not to specify the reasons for the termination of a fixed-term employment agreement, even though the employer is required to do so when terminating an employment agreement of indefinite duration.
The main dispute was between a fixed-term employee and his former employer. Under the national law, the employer terminated the employment agreement with prior notice without stating the reasons for its decision. The worker claimed that the lack of such information infringes the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the European Union and Polish law, pleading that his dismissal was unlawful. He claimed that under the Polish law there is an obligation to state the reasons for the termination of employment agreements of indefinite duration.
CJEU has held that, in case a fixed-term worker is not informed about the reasons for the termination of his agreement, he is deprived of important information for assessing whether his dismissal is unjustified. Thus, the Polish legislation applicable in the case in question establishes a difference in treatment to the detriment of the workers employed under fixed-term agreements. However, it is for the national court to determine whether the worker employed for a fixed period is, in the present case, in a situation comparable to that of a worker employed for an indefinite period.
