French Labour Law

How to Handle Dismissal for Professional Inaptitude Step by Step

DAIRIA Law · 2026-06-04 · 10 min

How to Handle Dismissal for Professional Inaptitude Step by Step

Your employee has just been declared unfit for work by the occupational doctor following an occupational accident or an occupational disease. You must now manage a dismissal due to professional inaptitude, which is one of the most regulated procedures in employment law. A misstep—a missed deadline, a forgotten CSE consultation, a poorly drafted letter—can transform this termination into a dismissal without real and serious cause, with doubled compensation at stake.

This operational guide takes you through the process step by step, from the notification of unfitness to the final settlement, indicating exactly what to do, in what order, and with what evidence.

What is Professional Inaptitude?

Professional inaptitude refers to the situation of an employee who, due to an occupational accident or disease, can no longer occupy their position—even in a modified form—according to the exclusive finding of the occupational doctor. This finding triggers enhanced obligations for the employer, particularly regarding compensation.

Since the law of August 8, 2016 (applicable from January 1, 2017), the procedure is unified regardless of the origin of the inaptitude: the steps (CSE consultation, search for redeployment, justification of impossibility) are identical. However, compensation remains differentiated: in the case of professional origin, the employee benefits from a special dismissal indemnity that is doubled 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 notification of unfitness is the triggering event for the entire procedure. This date determines the applicable law and starts the clock on the obligations (Cass. soc., May 11, 2022, n° 20-20.717; January 24, 2024, n° 22-13.979).

How to Determine the Professional Origin of Inaptitude?

For the protective regime of professional inaptitude to apply, two cumulative conditions must be met at the date of termination:

  1. A causal link, at least partial, between the occupational accident/occupational disease (AT/MP) and the inaptitude found by the occupational doctor.
  2. The employer’s knowledge of this professional origin at the time of notifying the dismissal.

In practice, the employer must compile a solid evidential file: exchanges with the CPAM (French health insurance), opinion of the occupational doctor, medical certificates, declaration of the occupational accident. If the employer legitimately did not know the professional origin at the date of termination, the common law regime (non-professional) applies.

Step 1: Receive and Analyse the Notification of Unfitness

Upon receiving the notification, you must carry out several essential checks:

  • Precisely date the receipt (registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, personal handover with signature, electronic receipt)—this date opens the 15-day contestation period and the D+30 clock for resuming salary payment.
  • Read the wording of the notification to identify whether it contains a waiver of redeployment (two legal formulations possible since 2017).
  • Verify formal regularity: referenced texts (R. 4624-42, L. 4624-4), nature of the visit (return, upon request—never a pre-return), mandatory mentions.

Caution: Since 2017, one examination is sufficient to establish unfitness. A second examination is only required if deemed necessary by the doctor within 15 days (Article R. 4624-42 of the Labour Code). The doctor may even find unfitness during an examination organised during the suspension of the contract, despite new sick leaves (Cass. soc., December 10, 2025, n° 24-15.511).

Step 2: Check for a Waiver of Redeployment

A waiver of redeployment only exists if the notification of unfitness expressly mentions one of the two legal formulations:

  1. “Maintaining the employee in a position would be seriously detrimental to their health”
  2. “The employee’s state of health prevents any redeployment into another role”

If one of these mentions appears in the notification without restriction, the employer is exempt from any search for redeployment and from consulting the CSE. They can proceed directly to the dismissal procedure (Cass. soc., June 8, 2022, n° 20-22.500; November 16, 2022, n° 21-17.255; April 12, 2023, n° 21-21.394).

Major Pitfall: If the notification restricts the waiver to “within the company” or “on-site,” this is not a global waiver. The employer remains obliged to seek redeployment in other establishments or at the group level (Cass. soc., February 8, 2023, n° 21-11.356; September 13, 2023, n° 22-12.970; December 13, 2023, n° 22-19.603). Only a formulation explicitly covering the entire scope (company, subsidiaries, holding) constitutes a complete waiver (Cass. soc., February 12, 2025, n° 23-22.612).

In the absence of a valid waiver, the redeployment obligation begins from the date of the notification. It expands within a specific scope:

  • All activity sectors and establishments of the company (Cass. soc., February 6, 2008, n° 06-43.944).
  • The group in France, defined by capital control (Articles L. 233-1, L. 233-3 and L. 233-16 of the Commercial Code), in the only entities where staff interchange is guaranteed (Cass. soc., July 5, 2023, n° 22-10.158).

In practical terms, you should:

  1. Map all available positions in the company and group.
  2. Request clarifications from the occupational doctor (Article L. 4624-4) regarding residual capacities, possible adjustments, and training opportunities.
  3. Document each action: letters to subsidiaries, follow-ups, responses received, table of compatible/incompatible positions.
  4. Establish the group’s scope with solid proof: legal organisational chart, consolidated accounts, statutes (Cass. soc., November 6, 2024, n° 23-15.368).

Redeployment offers must be serious, precise, and fair: job title, detailed missions, location, hours, classification, remuneration, proposed adjustments (Cass. soc., September 20, 2006, n° 05-40.295). A vague offer—for example, a simple mention of “secretary” or “copying” in a summons—is insufficient (Cass. soc., January 7, 2015, n° 13-13.793).

Good to Know: If you make an offer in accordance with the recommendations of the doctor, recent case law assumes that the redeployment obligation has been satisfied. It then falls to the employee to demonstrate a lack of loyalty (Cass. soc., September 4, 2024, n° 22-24.005).

Step 4: Consult the CSE

Consultation with the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) is mandatory unless there is a valid and complete waiver of redeployment. It must occur:

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

Caution Regarding Timing: A dismissal notified on the same day as the CSE meeting is considered without real and serious cause unless the employer proves the chronological precedence of the consultation (Cass. soc., March 5, 2025, n° 23-13.802). Be sure to timestamp each step (CSE meeting time, offer time, letter sending time).

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 opposing redeployment before starting the dismissal procedure (Cass. soc., December 15, 2021, n° 20-18.782). A verbal notification or a simple mention in the dismissal letter is not sufficient (Cass. soc., November 28, 2018, n° 17-20.068).

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

Exception: Written information is not required in the case of refusal by the employee of a compliant offer (Cass. soc., March 24, 2021, n° 19-21.263) or in the case of a legal waiver.

Step 6: Proceed with the Dismissal

Dismissal for professional inaptitude follows the procedure for dismissal for personal reasons:

  1. Summon to a preliminary meeting (registered letter or personal handover).
  2. Preliminary meeting (at least 5 working days after the summons).
  3. Notification of dismissal (at least 2 working days after the meeting).

The dismissal letter must explicitly mention two cumulative elements:

  • The employee’s physical inaptitude.
  • The impossibility of redeployment (or the waiver if the notification provides for it).

Mentioning only “inaptitude” without the impossibility of redeployment constitutes an imprecise reason subject to sanction (Cass. soc., October 16, 2024, n° 23-17.949).

Step 7: Calculate the Termination Indemnities

In cases of professional inaptitude, the employee is entitled to two specific indemnities provided for by Article L. 1226-14 of the Labour Code:

The Special Dismissal Indemnity

This is equal to double the legal dismissal indemnity (Article L. 1234-9). Caution: only the legal indemnity is doubled. The conventional indemnity is never doubled unless expressly stated in the collective agreement (Cass. soc., March 25, 2009, n° 07-41.708; November 20, 2024, n° 23-14.949).

Calculation Method:

  • Calculate A = 2 × legal dismissal indemnity.
  • Calculate B = conventional indemnity (not doubled).
  • Pay the most favourable amount: max(A, B).

The special indemnity must be calculated in gross (Cass. soc., May 7, 2024, n° 22-21.479).

The Compensatory Indemnity Equivalent to the Notice Period

The employee receives an indemnity equal to the compensatory indemnity for notice as provided by Article L. 1234-5, but its legal nature is different. It is not a “notice indemnity” per se—it is a specific termination indemnity. Consequently:

  • It is calculated based on the legal notice period (not the longer conventional duration) (Cass. soc., July 12, 1999, n° 97-43.641).
  • It is subject to social charges (Cass. soc., January 11, 2017, n° 15-19.959).
  • It does not give rise to paid leave (Cass. soc., December 4, 2001, n° 99-44.677).
  • It accumulates with sick leave benefits.
  • It does not postpone the date of termination, which remains that of the notification of dismissal (Cass. soc., June 15, 1999, n° 97-15.328).

Caution Regarding the One-Month Deadline: Resuming Salary Payment (D+30)

If, within one month following the finding of unfitness, the employee is neither redeployed nor dismissed, the employer must resume full salary payment. This deadline runs from the date of the medical examination establishing unfitness (not from the date the employer receives the notification) (Cass. soc., December 1, 2021, n° 19-20.139).

Points of vigilance:

  • The contestation of the notification is not suspensive: the D+30 clock runs even if an appeal is filed with the CPH (Conciliation and Social Affairs Tribunal) (Cass. soc., January 10, 2024, n° 22-13.464).
  • Additional examinations or postponements do not prevent the payment of salary at the end of the month (Cass. soc., April 8, 2015, n° 13-22.461).

The Complete Chronological Timeline of the Procedure

Here is the sequence to be strictly followed:

  1. Day J — Notification of unfitness: record the date, open the D+15 (contestations) and D+30 (salary) clocks.
  2. Day J+1 to J+10 — Initiate the mapping of positions, request clarifications from the occupational doctor, prepare the note for the CSE.
  3. Post-Research — Consult the CSE (after unfitness, show both date AND time).
  4. Post-CSE — Send precise offers to the employee (or inform them in writing of the impossibility).
  5. Before D+30 — Initiate the dismissal procedure (summons → meeting → letter) or, if not possible, resume salary payment.

FAQ — Dismissal for Professional Inaptitude

Can we dismiss for inaptitude during sick leave?

Yes, the occupational doctor may establish unfitness in an examination held during the suspension of the contract, and dismissal may be notified even while the employee is on sick leave. The key is that the procedure (redeployment, CSE, written information) must be fully respected (Cass. soc., December 10, 2025, n° 24-15.511).

Can the employee contest the notification of unfitness?

Yes, before the Conseil de Prud’hommes (Labour Court), within 15 days of receiving the notification. After this period, the notification is binding on both parties and the judge (Cass. soc., December 7, 2022, n° 21-23.662). However, this challenge is not suspensive: the employer must continue the redeployment procedure in parallel.

What happens if the employee refuses redeployment?

Refusal is not culpable in itself. The employer records the refusal and then continues their searches or concludes impossibility. If the refused offer was compliant with the recommendations of the doctor, the presumption of proper fulfilment of the obligation reinforces the employer’s position (Cass. soc., September 4, 2024, n° 22-24.005).

Does the inaptitude of a protected employee change the procedure?

Yes. For a protected employee (trade union representative, CSE member, etc.), the employer must obtain the authorization of the labour inspection before proceeding with the dismissal. The administrative judge is responsible for the decision regarding authorization.

Are you facing a professional inaptitude situation and want to secure your procedure? Contact DAIRIA lawyers for tailored assistance.

*For further reading, consult our complete guide to dismissal and our guide to AT/MP.

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