Economic dismissal in a company in bankruptcy: what is the procedure?
Verified 14 October 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
Additional cases ?
When a company is in financial difficulty, it may be placed in bankruptcy in the context of a collective procedure. This can lead toimmediate and definitive cessation of activity the company or provide for a period of temporary maintenance of the activity. The judicial liquidator make employees redundant economically under conditions which vary according to the situation. He consults the CSE: titleContent and inform the Dreets: titleContent. We are taking stock of the regulations.
At the beginning of the collective proceedings, the commercial court invites the liquidator to appoint or have elected a employee representative. The CSE appoints this representative among the company's employees. In the absence of CSE, employees elect their representative. The employee representative checks the statement of wage claims employees of the company, established by the judicial liquidator. The employee representative shall also perform the functions of the CSE, if there are none in the company.
The procedure for economic redundancy differs depending on whether it is carried out at the end of the activity company or during the period of provisional retention of the activity.
Permanent cessation of activity
The liquidator terminate the employment of all employees of the company on economic grounds in accordance with the decision ordering the liquidation.
Where a period of temporary continuation of activity is laid down in the judgment ordering the liquidation, employees still present in the company at the end of that period shall be dismissed under the same conditions.
Warning
Before dismissals can be made, the liquidator must first check whether a reclassification of employees is possible in another establishment of the company, or in another company of the group for example.
Step-by-step approach
CSE consultation and information procedures for the Dreets: titleContent differ according to the number of employees made redundant and the number of employees in the company.
There are 2 categories of dismissal:
- Small dismissal: from 2 to 9 employees licensees regardless of the company's workforce
- Great dismissal: at least 10 employees laid off.
The procedure of great dismissal presents differences depending on the size of the company less than 50 employees or 50 or more employees.
FYI
If there is no CSE in the company, it is the employee representative which is being consulted.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Small layoffs of 2 to 9 employees
Pre-termination consultation provides the CSE with useful information about the proposed mass termination. Only one meeting is mandatory.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned on the health, the security or the working conditions company employees.
The CSE is due to give its opinion on the proposed redundancy in the maximum period of 12 days following the decision of the commercial court ordering the liquidation.
After the CSE meeting, the liquidator shall inform the Dreets: titleContent of the proposed dismissal.
Large redundancy in a company with less than 50 employees
The liquidator shall transmit by any means a copy of the judgment of judicial liquidation to the Dreets: titleContent.
Pre-termination consultation provides the CSE with useful information about the proposed mass termination. Only one meeting is mandatory.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned in relation to health, safety or working conditions
- Measures envisaged for limit redundancies and for facilitate reclassification of the employees concerned.
The CSE is due to give its opinion on the proposed redundancy in the maximum period of 12 days following the decision of the commercial court ordering the liquidation.
FYI
All the information provided to CSE at the time of the convening of the meetings and the minutes shall be communicated simultaneously to Dreets.
The minutes shall include the views, suggestions and suggestions of CSE.
The liquidator informs the Dreets of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
Large layoff in a company of 50 employees and more
The liquidator transmit by any means a copy of the judgment of judicial liquidation to the Dreets: titleContent.
In the event of economic dismissal of at least 10 persons in a company with at least 50 employees, the CSE may issue an opinion after 1 meeting only on the proposed collective redundancy. However, in case of recourse to an expert, a 2nde CSE meeting is organized.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned on the health, the security or the working conditions company employees.
The liquidator must establish a job protection plan (PES) and pass it on to CSE and Dreets.
The liquidator shall send a copy of the PSE to the Dreets of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
Who shall I contact
Dreets has a deadline of 4 days from the last meeting of the CSE to take its decision on the validation or rejection of the PES.
In the event of an unfavorable decision, the CSE shall be consulted within 3 days. If necessary, the amended document and the CSE opinion shall be forwarded to Dreets, which shall take a decision within 3 days.
Where the employer intends to dismiss an employee for economic reasons, it must in principle call for a preliminary interview.
During this preliminary interview, the employee can be assisted.
In case of dismissal of at least 10 employees in a company in which there is a CSE: titleContent, there is no prior maintenance. Exception: One protected employee is called for a preliminary interview.
Warning
The employer must propose to the employee a professional security contract (CSP)regardless of the size of the company.
The liquidator informs the employee of his dismissal for economic reasons by sending him a letter of dismissal.
The letter is sent to the employee within the maximum period of 15 calendar days after the date of the judgment of judicial liquidation.
This period is 21 days whether an employment protection plan (ESP) has been implemented.
Warning
The 7-day or 15-day time limits usually provided for notify economic dismissal after the date of the prior interview, are not applicable.
The termination letter must include the following:
- Economic reasons (e.g. economic difficulties) and their impact on the employee's employment or employment contract (e.g. job termination)
- Prior efforts of training, adaptation and reclassification employee
- Possibility to benefit from a rehire priority for 1 year from the termination of the employment contract and the conditions for its implementation.
A model letter of economic redundancy is available:
Template Letter - Final Letter of Economic Termination - CSP
If the dismissal for economic reasons is notified during the 21-day cooling-off period to join the professional security contract (CSP), the employer shall:
- Recalls the end date of the reflection period
- Clarifies that in case of refusal, this letter constitutes the notification of dismissal.
This is known as notification of dismissal as a precautionary measure.
A model letter of economic dismissal sent to protective title is available:
Template Letter - Letter of economic dismissal sent as a precautionary measure - CSP
The employment contract is terminated at the end of the notice of dismissal.
In case of acceptance of professional security contract (CSP), it shall be terminated at the end of the 21-day reflection period.
In the event of dismissal of less than 10 employees, the Dreets: titleContent must be informed of dismissals.
What information does Dreets receive?
The liquidator must inform Dreets of the dismissals pronounced, within 8 days of sending the termination letters to the employees concerned.
It shall then provide the following information:
- Name and address of the company
- Nature of the activity and number of employees of the company or establishment
- Surnames, forenames, nationality, date of birth, sex, address, employment and qualification of the dismissed employee(s)
- Date of the notification redundancies for the employees concerned.
How does the liquidator transmit the information to Dreets?
The liquidator inform Dreets of the dismissals of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
Please note
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
Provisional maintenance period
In certain situations (e.g. possible resale of the company), the commercial court may permit the temporary continuation of the company's activity.
This authorization shall be granted for a period of up to 3 months renewable 1 time.
During this period, the liquidator dismiss employees for economic reasons only if it deems it appropriate urgent, inevitable and indispensable.
Dismissals must have previously been authorized by the judge commissioner of the commercial court.
Step-by-step approach
CSE consultation procedures differ depending on the number of employees made redundant and the number of employees employed by the company.
There are 2 categories of dismissal:
- Small dismissal: from 2 to 9 employees licensees regardless of the company's workforce
- Great dismissal: at least 10 employees laid off.
The procedure of great dismissal presents differences depending on the size of the company less than 50 employees or 50 or more employees.
FYI
If there is no CSE in the company, it is the employee representative which is being consulted.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Small layoffs of 2 to 9 employees
Pre-termination consultation provides the CSE with useful information about the proposed mass termination. Only one meeting is required.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned on the health, the security or the working conditions company employees.
The CSE is due to give its opinion on the proposed redundancy in the maximum period of 12 days following the decision of the commercial court ordering the liquidation.
After the CSE meeting, the liquidator shall inform the Dreets: titleContent of the proposed dismissal.
Large redundancy in a company with less than 50 employees
The liquidator transmit by any means a copy of the judgment of judicial liquidation to the Dreets: titleContent.
Pre-termination consultation provides the CSE with useful information about the proposed mass termination. Only one meeting is mandatory.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned in relation to health, safety or working conditions
- Measures envisaged for limit redundancies and for facilitate reclassification of the employees concerned.
The CSE is due to give its opinion on the proposed redundancy in the maximum period of 12 days following the decision of the commercial court ordering the liquidation.
FYI
All the information provided to CSE at the time of the convening of the meetings and the minutes shall be communicated simultaneously to Dreets.
The minutes shall include the views, suggestions and suggestions of CSE.
The liquidator inform the Dreets of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
Large layoff in a company of 50 employees and more
The liquidator shall transmit by any means a copy of the judgment of judicial liquidation to the Dreets: titleContent.
In the event of economic dismissal of at least 10 persons in a company with at least 50 employees, the CSE may issue an opinion after 1 meeting only on the proposed collective redundancy. However, in case of recourse to an expert, a 2nde CSE meeting is organized.
The information transmitted to CSE with the convening of the meeting includes the following items :
- Reasons economic, financial or technical aspects of the proposed redundancy
- Number of redundancies considered
- Professional categories concerned (for example, workers, employees and supervisors or executives)
- Criteria proposed for the order of dismissals
- Number of employees, whether permanent or not, employed in the establishment
- Provisional schedule redundancies
- Economic measures envisaged
- Possible consequences of redundancies planned on the health, the security or the working conditions company employees.
The liquidator must establish a job protection plan (PES) and transmit it to CSE and the Dreets: titleContent.
The liquidator shall send a copy of the PSE to the Dreets of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
Who shall I contact
Dreets has a deadline of 4 days from the last meeting of the CSE to take its decision on the validation or rejection of the PES.
In the event of an unfavorable decision, the CSE shall be consulted within 3 days. If necessary, the amended document and the CSE opinion shall be forwarded to Dreets, which shall take a decision within 3 days.
The liquidator address at commissioner judge an application for authorization to dismiss.
The liquidator shall attach to the application the following documents:
- CSE Opinion
- Justifications for its requests to facilitate compensation and reclassification of employees
- Decision of the Dreets: titleContent in case of job protection plan.
The order rendered by the commissioner judge include the following information:
- Number of employees authorized for dismissal
- Activities concerned
- Professional categories concerned.
The order is notified to the CSE.
In the absence of CSE, the order is notified to the employee representative.
It is then forwarded to the following organizations:
- Public Prosecutor's Office
- Administrator
- Judicial agent.
Where the employer intends to dismiss an employee for economic reasons, it must in principle call for a preliminary interview.
During this preliminary interview, the employee can be assisted.
In case of dismissal of at least 10 employees in a company in which there is a CSE: titleContent, there is no prior maintenance. Exception: One protected employee is called for a preliminary interview.
Warning
The employer must propose to the employee a professional security contract (CSP)regardless of the size of the company.
The liquidator informs the employee of his dismissal for economic reasons by sending him a letter of dismissal.
The letter is sent to the employee within the maximum period of 15 calendar days after the date of the judgment of judicial liquidation.
This period is 21 days whether an employment protection plan (ESP) has been implemented.
Warning
The 7-day or 15-day time limits usually provided for notify economic dismissal after the date of the prior interview, are not applicable.
The termination letter must include the following:
- Economic reasons (e.g. economic difficulties) and their impact on the employee's employment or employment contract (e.g. job termination)
- Prior efforts of training, adaptation and reclassification employee
- Possibility to benefit from a rehire priority for 1 year from the termination of the employment contract and the conditions for its implementation.
A model letter of economic redundancy is available:
Template Letter - Final Letter of Economic Termination - CSP
If the dismissal for economic reasons is notified during the 21-day cooling-off period to join the professional security contract (CSP), the employer shall:
- Recalls the end date of the reflection period
- Clarifies that in case of refusal, this letter constitutes the notification of dismissal.
This is known as notification of dismissal as a precautionary measure.
A model letter of economic dismissal sent to protective title is available:
Template Letter - Letter of economic dismissal sent as a precautionary measure - CSP
The employment contract is terminated at the end of the notice of dismissal.
In case of acceptance of professional security contract (CSP), it shall be terminated at the end of the 21-day reflection period.
In the event of dismissal of less than 10 employees, the Dreets: titleContent must be informed of dismissals.
What information does Dreets receive?
The liquidator must inform Dreets of the dismissals pronounced, within 8 days of sending the termination letters to the employees concerned.
It shall then provide the following information:
- Name and address of the company
- Nature of the activity and number of employees of the company or establishment
- Surnames, forenames, nationality, date of birth, sex, address, employment and qualification of the dismissed employee(s)
- Date of the notification redundancies for the employees concerned.
How does the liquidator transmit the information to Dreets?
The liquidator inform Dreets of the dismissals of dematerialized way on the following website:
Portal for the dematerialized management of collective breaks in employment contracts (RUPCO)
Please note
In case of malfunction of the computer reporting system, the transmission of information and requests shall take place by any other means (by registered mail for example).
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Judicial winding-up - economic dismissal procedure
Judicial winding-up procedure
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Judicial winding-up - temporary continuation of activity
Judicial winding-up - temporary continuation of activity