How to Conduct the Pre-Dismissal Interview in France: A 2025 Practical Guide for Employers

The pre-dismissal interview (entretien préalable au licenciement) is a mandatory and essential step in the procedure for dismissal on personal grounds. Provided for by Articles L. 1232-2 to L. 1232-4 of the French Labour Code, it guarantees the employee’s right to be heard before any decision is taken by the employer. Failure to comply exposes the company to significant financial penalties.

The Legal Obligation to Hold a Pre-Dismissal Interview

Any dismissal on personal grounds requires a pre-dismissal interview, whether the dismissal is disciplinary or non-disciplinary. This obligation applies regardless of the company’s headcount and regardless of the employee’s length of service.

The purpose is twofold:

To set out the grounds for the contemplated dismissal to the employee (Article L. 1232-3)
To gather the employee’s explanations and observations

The pre-dismissal interview is not a mere formality: it is an adversarial discussion (échange contradictoire) that may influence the employer’s final decision. The French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) regularly reiterates that the employer must not have made its decision before the interview.

The Notice of Interview: Mandatory Form and Content

The notice convening the pre-dismissal interview must be sent to the employee by:

Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception, or LRAR)
Or hand delivery against a signed receipt

The content of the notice is strictly governed by Article L. 1232-2. It must state:

The purpose of the interview: the contemplated dismissal of the employee
The date, time and place of the interview
The right to be assisted: the employee may be assisted by a person of their choice belonging to the company’s staff or, where there are no staff representatives, by an employee advisor (conseiller du salarié)
The address of the labour inspectorate (inspection du travail) and of the town hall where the list of employee advisors is available

Caution: Omitting the reference to the employee’s right to assistance, or providing an incorrect address for the list of advisors, constitutes a procedural irregularity giving rise to a right to compensation (Cass. soc., 3 June 2015, No. 14-12.245).

The 5 Working Days’ Notice Period

Article L. 1232-2 imposes a minimum period of 5 working days (jours ouvrables) between the presentation of the notice letter and the date of the interview. This period is calculated as follows:

The day on which the letter is presented does not count (dies a quo)
If the 5th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the period is extended to the next working day
Working days are all days except Sundays and statutory public holidays

Practical example: The registered letter is presented on Monday 6 January 2025. The count begins on Tuesday 7 (day 1), Wednesday 8 (day 2), Thursday 9 (day 3), Friday 10 (day 4), Saturday 11 (day 5). The interview may take place from Monday 13 January onwards.

Practical tip: Always build in a safety margin by scheduling the interview 7 to 8 days in advance to account for postal delays. Where a registered letter is not collected, the period runs from the first presentation.

Conduct of the Pre-Dismissal Interview

The interview must be held during the employee’s working hours. Time spent in the interview is treated as effective working time and must be paid as normal.

Location of the interview: in principle, the interview takes place at the employee’s workplace or at the company’s registered office. The Cour de cassation has upheld the holding of an interview at the premises of another company within the group, provided this does not create excessive difficulty for the employee (Cass. soc., 20 October 2009, No. 08-42.155).

Typical sequence:

The employer or its representative welcomes the employee and, where applicable, the person assisting them
The employer sets out the grounds for the contemplated dismissal
The employee is invited to speak and to provide their explanations
An adversarial exchange takes place
The employer states that it will take its decision at a later date

Assistance for the Employee

The employee may be assisted by:

A company employee of their choice: a union representative, a member of the works council (CSE), or any other colleague
An employee advisor (conseiller du salarié) (only where there are no staff representatives in the company): an external person listed on a departmental register

The person assisting cannot speak in the employee’s place, but may intervene to ask questions, request clarifications and take notes. They are bound by a duty of discretion regarding the information they become aware of (Article L. 1232-8).

Assistance for the Employer

The employer may be represented by a member of the company’s staff authorised to conduct the interview (HR director, line manager, site director). However, the employer may not be assisted by a lawyer or an external advisor.

The Cour de cassation accepts that the employer may be accompanied by several people from the company, provided that this presence does not create a situation of intimidation for the employee.

Mistakes to Avoid During the Pre-Dismissal Interview

Announcing the decision during the interview: the employer must indicate that the dismissal is “contemplated” and not decided
Refusing to listen to the employee: the interview must be a genuine adversarial exchange
Recording the interview without the employee’s knowledge: covert recording is an unfair practice
Involving an external third party: only members of staff may assist the employer
Holding the interview on a non-working day: the interview must take place on a working day

FAQ – The Pre-Dismissal Interview

Must the employer draft minutes of the pre-dismissal interview?

No statutory provision requires minutes to be drafted. However, it is strongly recommended to record the discussions in writing to build evidence in the event of litigation.

What happens if the employee does not attend the interview?

The employee’s absence does not suspend the procedure. The employer may notify the dismissal within the statutory time limits, provided the notice of interview was properly given.

Can the pre-dismissal interview be postponed?

Yes, either the employer or the employee may request a postponement. If the employer postpones, it must send a new notice complying with the 5 working days’ period.

For tailored support with your dismissal procedures, contact DAIRIA Avocats. Our platform DAIRIA IA can help you generate notices of interview that comply with the French Labour Code.

The Legal Framework of Dismissal: Key Principles

Dismissal is strictly governed by the French Labour Code. The employer must comply with a precise procedure, failing which the termination may be reclassified as a dismissal without real and serious cause (licenciement sans cause réelle et sérieuse). Article L. 1232-1 of the French Labour Code requires that any dismissal on personal grounds be justified by a real and serious cause, that is, an objective, accurate and sufficiently serious ground.

The procedure necessarily comprises:

The notice convening a pre-dismissal interview (Article L. 1232-2): by registered letter or hand delivery, with a minimum period of 5 working days before the interview
The pre-dismissal interview (Article L. 1232-3): during which the employer sets out the grounds for the contemplated decision and gathers the employee’s explanations
Notification of the dismissal (Article L. 1232-6): by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, at least 2 working days after the interview

Case law has clarified these requirements. In a decision Cass. soc., 13 September 2023, No. 22-10.529, the Cour de cassation reiterated that insufficient reasoning in the dismissal letter does not deprive the dismissal of real and serious cause but gives rise to compensation that may not exceed one month’s salary. This solution follows on from Ordinance No. 2017-1387 of 22 September 2017.

To explore this topic further, see our complete guide to dismissal.

Sums Payable to the Dismissed Employee

Any dismissed employee is entitled, subject to meeting length-of-service conditions, to several types of payment:

The statutory severance indemnity (indemnité légale de licenciement) (Articles L. 1234-9 and R. 1234-1 to R. 1234-4 of the French Labour Code): 1/4 of a month’s salary per year of service for the first 10 years, then 1/3 of a month beyond that. The minimum length of service required is 8 uninterrupted months
The compensatory notice indemnity (indemnité compensatrice de préavis): except where the employer waives the notice period (in which case it remains payable) or in the event of gross or wilful misconduct
The compensatory indemnity for paid leave (indemnité compensatrice de congés payés): for accrued but untaken days

In the event of a dismissal without real and serious cause, the employee may claim damages, the amount of which is capped by the scale set out in Article L. 1235-3 of the French Labour Code (the “Macron scale”). This scale sets a floor and a ceiling based on the employee’s length of service and the company’s headcount.

The Cour de cassation confirmed the compliance of this scale with international standards in its decisions of 11 May 2022, Nos. 21-14.490 and 21-15.247, holding that it was contrary neither to Article 10 of ILO Convention No. 158 nor to Article 24 of the European Social Charter.

It is also advisable to check whether the applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for more favourable provisions on severance indemnities.

Practical Checklist: Securing a Dismissal

Here are the key points of vigilance for employers:

✅ Verify that the ground relied upon does constitute a real and serious cause (or gross/wilful misconduct as the case may be)
✅ Gather supporting evidence before initiating the procedure (witness statements, warning letters, appraisals, etc.)
✅ Scrupulously comply with the notice period (minimum 5 working days)
✅ State in the notice the employee’s right to be assisted (by a staff representative or, where there is no CSE, by an external advisor)
✅ Draft the dismissal letter with precise and materially verifiable grounds
✅ Comply with the notification time limit (minimum 2 working days, maximum 1 month for disciplinary matters)
✅ Correctly calculate the severance indemnity, taking into account the collective bargaining agreement and the payslip
✅ Provide the end-of-contract documents: work certificate, France Travail certificate, final settlement statement
✅ Inform the employee about the portability of provident and health insurance cover (Article L. 911-8 of the French Social Security Code)

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