French Labour Law

Dismissal for Work-Related Unfitness in France: A Step-by-Step Employer Guide

DAIRIA Law · 2026-09-08 · 11 min

Dismissal for Work-Related Unfitness in France: A Step-by-Step Employer Guide

One of your employees has just been declared unfit (inapte) by the occupational physician following a workplace accident or an occupational illness. You now have to manage a dismissal for work-related unfitness — one of the most tightly regulated procedures in French employment law. A single misstep — a missed deadline, a forgotten works council (CSE) consultation, a poorly drafted letter — can turn this termination into a dismissal without real and serious cause, resulting in doubled compensation.

This operational guide walks you through the process step by step, from the unfitness opinion to the final settlement (solde de tout compte), telling you exactly what to do, in what order, and with what evidence.

Work-related unfitness (inaptitude professionnelle) refers to the situation of an employee who, because of a workplace accident or an occupational illness, can no longer hold their position — even a modified one — according to the exclusive finding of the occupational physician. This finding triggers reinforced obligations for the employer, particularly regarding compensation.

Since the Act of 8 August 2016 (applicable from 1 January 2017), the procedure is unified regardless of the origin of the unfitness: the steps (CSE consultation, redeployment search, justification of impossibility) are identical. However, compensation remains differentiated: where the origin is work-related, the employee is entitled to a doubled special dismissal indemnity and an indemnity equivalent to the notice period (Articles L. 1226-14 and L. 1226-15 of the French Labour Code).

Key point: the date of the unfitness opinion is the triggering event for the entire procedure. It determines the applicable law and starts the clock on the employer’s obligations (Cass. soc., 11 May 2022, No. 20-20.717; 24 January 2024, No. 22-13.979).

For the protective regime of work-related unfitness to apply, two cumulative conditions must be met as at the date of termination:

  1. A causal link, at least partial, between the workplace accident/occupational illness (AT/MP) and the unfitness found by the occupational physician.
  2. The employer’s knowledge of this work-related origin at the time the dismissal is notified.

In practice, the employer must build a solid evidentiary file: correspondence with the CPAM (the French health insurance fund), the occupational physician’s opinion, medical certificates, and the workplace accident declaration. If the employer legitimately did not know of the work-related origin as at the date of termination, the ordinary (non-work-related) regime applies.

Step 1: Receive and analyse the unfitness opinion

As soon as the opinion is received, you must carry out several essential checks:

  • Precisely date the receipt (registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, signed hand-delivery, electronic acknowledgement) — this date starts the 15-day challenge period and the D+30 clock for the resumption of salary.
  • Read the wording of the opinion word for word to identify whether it contains a redeployment exemption (two legal formulations are possible since 2017).
  • Verify formal compliance: cited provisions (R. 4624-42, L. 4624-4), nature of the examination (return-to-work, on request — never a pre-return examination), and mandatory statements.

Note: since 2017, a single examination is sufficient to establish unfitness. A second examination is only required if the physician deems it necessary, within 15 days (Article R. 4624-42 of the French Labour Code). The physician may even establish unfitness during an examination organised while the contract is suspended, despite new sick-leave certificates (Cass. soc., 10 December 2025, No. 24-15.511).

Step 2: Check whether a redeployment exemption exists

A redeployment exemption exists only if the unfitness opinion expressly states one of the two legal formulations:

  1. “Any continued employment of the employee would be seriously detrimental to their health”
  2. “The employee’s state of health precludes any redeployment in a position”

If one of these statements appears in the opinion without any scope restriction, the employer is exempt from any redeployment search and from CSE consultation. It may proceed directly to the dismissal procedure (Cass. soc., 8 June 2022, No. 20-22.500; 16 November 2022, No. 21-17.255; 12 April 2023, No. 21-21.394).

Major pitfall: if the opinion restricts the exemption to “within the company” or “at the site”, this is not a global exemption. The employer remains required to search for redeployment in other establishments or at group level (Cass. soc., 8 February 2023, No. 21-11.356; 13 September 2023, No. 22-12.970; 13 December 2023, No. 22-19.603). Only wording explicitly covering the entire scope (company, subsidiaries, holding company) constitutes a full exemption (Cass. soc., 12 February 2025, No. 23-22.612).

In the absence of a valid exemption, the redeployment obligation begins as at the date of the opinion. It applies within a specific scope:

  • All business sectors and establishments of the company (Cass. soc., 6 February 2008, No. 06-43.944).
  • The group in France, defined by capital control (Articles L. 233-1, L. 233-3 and L. 233-16 of the French Commercial Code), only in those entities where the interchangeability of staff is ensured (Cass. soc., 5 July 2023, No. 22-10.158).

In concrete terms, you must:

  1. Map all available positions in the company and the group.
  2. Request clarification from the occupational physician (Article L. 4624-4) on the employee’s residual capacities, possible workplace adjustments, and feasible training.
  3. Document every step: letters to subsidiaries, follow-ups, responses received, and a table of compatible/incompatible positions.
  4. Establish the group’s scope with solid evidence: legal organisation chart, consolidated accounts, articles of association (Cass. soc., 6 November 2024, No. 23-15.368).

Redeployment offers must be serious, precise and made in good faith: job title, detailed duties, location, working hours, classification, remuneration, and planned adjustments (Cass. soc., 20 September 2006, No. 05-40.295). A vague offer — for example, a mere reference to “secretarial” or “reprography” work in a convocation — is not sufficient (Cass. soc., 7 January 2015, No. 13-13.793).

Good to know: if you make an offer that complies with the physician’s recommendations, recent case law presumes that the redeployment obligation has been fulfilled. It is then up to the employee to demonstrate a lack of good faith (Cass. soc., 4 September 2024, No. 22-24.005).

Step 4: Consult the CSE

Consultation of the Social and Economic Committee (Comité social et économique, or CSE) is mandatory except where there is a valid and complete redeployment exemption. It must take place:

  • After the finding of unfitness (if two examinations were prescribed, after the second).
  • Before any actual redeployment offer to the employee.
  • Before initiating the dismissal procedure.

Watch the timing: a dismissal notified on the same day as the CSE meeting is deemed to be without real and serious cause, unless the employer proves that the consultation took place earlier in the day (Cass. soc., 5 March 2025, No. 23-13.802). Be sure to time-stamp every step systematically (time of the CSE meeting, time of the offer, time of sending the letter).

Step 5: Inform the employee of the impossibility of redeployment

If no redeployment position is available (or if the employee has refused a compliant offer), you must inform the employee in writing of the reasons preventing redeployment before initiating the dismissal procedure (Cass. soc., 15 December 2021, No. 20-18.782). Verbal notification or a mere mention in the dismissal letter is not sufficient (Cass. soc., 8 January 2019, No. 17-20.068).

This letter must detail: the search scope explored, the positions analysed, the reasons for incompatibility, the responses from the group entities, and the exchanges with the occupational physician.

Exception: written information is not required where the employee refuses an offer complying with the recommendations (Cass. soc., 24 March 2021, No. 19-21.263) or where there is a legal exemption.

Step 6: Proceed with the dismissal

A dismissal for work-related unfitness follows the procedure for dismissal on personal grounds:

  1. Invitation to the preliminary meeting (registered letter or hand-delivery).
  2. Preliminary meeting (at least 5 working days after the invitation).
  3. Notification of dismissal (at least 2 working days after the meeting).

The dismissal letter must imperatively mention two cumulative elements:

  • The employee’s physical unfitness.
  • The impossibility of redeployment (or the exemption if the opinion provides for one).

Mentioning only “unfitness” without the impossibility of redeployment constitutes an imprecise ground that can be sanctioned (Cass. soc., 16 October 2024, No. 23-17.949).

Step 7: Calculate the termination indemnities

Where the unfitness is work-related, the employee is entitled to two specific indemnities provided for by Article L. 1226-14 of the French Labour Code:

The special dismissal indemnity

It is equal to twice the statutory dismissal indemnity (Article L. 1234-9). Note: only the statutory indemnity is doubled. The contractual indemnity (indemnité conventionnelle) is never doubled unless an express clause of the collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise (Cass. soc., 25 March 2009, No. 07-41.708; 20 November 2024, No. 23-14.949).

Calculation method:

  • Calculate A = 2 × statutory dismissal indemnity.
  • Calculate B = contractual indemnity (not doubled).
  • Pay the more favourable amount: max(A, B).

The special indemnity must be calculated on a gross basis (Cass. soc., 7 May 2024, No. 22-21.479).

The compensatory indemnity equal to the notice period

The employee receives an indemnity equal to the compensatory notice indemnity provided for in Article L. 1234-5, but its legal nature is different. It is not strictly a “notice indemnity” — it is a specific termination indemnity. As a result:

  • It is calculated on the statutory notice period (not the contractual period, even if longer) (Cass. soc., 12 July 1999, No. 97-43.641).
  • It is subject to social security contributions (Cass. soc., 11 January 2017, No. 15-19.959).
  • It does not give rise to paid-leave entitlement (Cass. soc., 4 December 2001, No. 99-44.677).
  • It can be combined with daily social security benefits (IJSS).
  • It does not push back the date of termination, which remains the date of notification of the dismissal (Cass. soc., 15 June 1999, No. 97-15.328).

Beware of the one-month deadline: the resumption of salary (D+30)

If, within one month following the finding of unfitness, the employee is neither redeployed nor dismissed, the employer must resume paying the full salary. This period runs from the date of the medical examination establishing unfitness (not from the date the employer receives the opinion) (Cass. soc., 1 December 2021, No. 19-20.139).

Points of vigilance:

  • Challenging the opinion does not suspend this obligation: the D+30 clock runs even if an appeal is brought before the labour tribunal (Conseil de prud’hommes) (Cass. soc., 10 January 2024, No. 22-13.464).
  • Additional examinations or postponements do not prevent the salary from becoming payable at the end of the month (Cass. soc., 8 April 2015, No. 13-22.461).

The complete timeline of the procedure

Here is the sequence that must be strictly followed:

  1. Day D — Unfitness opinion: record the date, start the D+15 (challenge) and D+30 (salary) clocks.
  2. D+1 to D+10 — Launch the mapping of positions, request clarification from the occupational physician, prepare the note for the CSE.
  3. After searches — Consult the CSE (after unfitness, showing both date AND time).
  4. Post-CSE — Send precise offers to the employee (or inform in writing of the impossibility).
  5. Before D+30 — Initiate the dismissal procedure (invitation → meeting → letter) or, if this is not possible, resume payment of salary.

FAQ — Dismissal for work-related unfitness

Can an employee be dismissed for unfitness during sick leave?

Yes, the occupational physician may establish unfitness during an examination organised while the contract is suspended, and the dismissal may be notified even while the employee is on sick leave. The essential point is that the procedure (redeployment, CSE, written information) is fully complied with (Cass. soc., 10 December 2025, No. 24-15.511).

Can the employee challenge the unfitness opinion?

Yes, before the labour tribunal (Conseil de prud’hommes), within 15 days of receiving the opinion. After this period, the opinion is binding on the parties and the judge (Cass. soc., 7 December 2022, No. 21-23.662). However, this challenge does not suspend the process: the employer must pursue the redeployment procedure in parallel.

What happens if the employee refuses redeployment?

Refusal is not in itself misconduct. The employer records the refusal, then continues its searches or concludes that redeployment is impossible. If the refused offer complied with the physician’s recommendations, the presumption of proper performance of the obligation works in the employer’s favour (Cass. soc., 4 September 2024, No. 22-24.005).

Does the unfitness of a protected employee change the procedure?

Yes. For a protected employee (union representative, CSE member, etc.), the employer must obtain authorisation from the labour inspectorate before proceeding with the dismissal. Litigation over the authorisation decision falls within the jurisdiction of the administrative courts.

Facing a work-related unfitness situation and wish to secure your procedure? Contact the DAIRIA lawyers for tailored support.

To go further, see our complete guide to dismissal and our AT/MP guide.

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