SCJE · EMPLOYMENT LAWSeverance pay calculator

Since the 2012 employment reform, unfair dismissal has been compensated at 33 days’ salary per year of service, capped at 24 months’ pay. However, for contracts already in force before 12 February 2012 a dual computation is retained: the years worked up to that date are paid at 45 days per year and those after it at 33. Where the amount accrued in the first period already exceeds 720 days, that amount operates as its own cap, subject to the absolute limit of 42 months’ pay.

The objective dismissal governed by article 52 of the Statute is compensated at 20 days per year up to a maximum of 12 months’ pay, an amount the employer must make available to the employee at the very moment the letter is delivered. Where an objective dismissal is declared unfair, the compensation moves to the 33-day scale and any sum already received is deducted.

Two practical warnings. The first is the 20 working-day limitation period running from the effective date in which to challenge the dismissal: once it has elapsed, the claim is irretrievably lost. The second is that the final settlement and the severance pay are distinct concepts: the final settlement covers what has already accrued and remains unpaid, and signing it without reservation may hinder any subsequent claim.

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