{"id":1987,"date":"2026-04-10T19:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/v-kakih-sluchayah\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T02:53:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T23:53:53","slug":"v-kakih-sluchayah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/blog\/v-kakih-sluchayah\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlawful dismissal in 2026: one month to sue, reinstatement and payments"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dismissal can be challenged within one month of being handed the copy of the order, or of the employment record being issued: that is the period set by Article 233 of the Labour Code. The employee pays no court fee. If the court finds the dismissal unlawful, the employee is reinstated and awarded average earnings for the period of enforced absence, but for no more than one year.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One month is all the time Article 233 of the Labour Code allows for going to court over a dismissal. For other employment disputes the period is three times longer, three months, and that difference costs hundreds of people their jobs each year: they write to the labour service and to their former management first, and reach the court too late.<\/p>\n

The second point people rarely know concerns money: a claimant in reinstatement and wage recovery cases is exempt from the court fee at every level. Going to court therefore costs nothing in itself, and the expense comes down to legal help; the prices are on the page of legal service costs<\/a>, and cases of this kind are handled by our employment disputes lawyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The one-month deadline and what to do once it has passed<\/h2>\n

Time runs from the day the copy of the dismissal order is handed over, or from the day the employment record book or the record of employment from the insured persons register is issued. Where the employer never handed over the order or the documents, time does not start to run at all, and that argument saves more claims than any other.<\/p>\n

A deadline missed for good reason is restored by the court under Article 234. Lengthy medical treatment, service in the armed forces, caring for a seriously ill family member and being abroad because of the fighting are all accepted. The application to restore the period is filed with the claim and must be supported by documents, or the court leaves the claim without consideration.<\/p>\n

When a dismissal is unlawful<\/h2>\n

The list of grounds on which an employer may dismiss is closed: Articles 40 and 41 contain it. Changes in the organisation of production and redundancy, unsuitability for the position, systematic failure to perform duties, absence without good reason, turning up at work intoxicated, theft of property, and certain additional grounds for particular categories of employee. Any other reason makes the dismissal unlawful automatically.<\/p>\n

The second group of cases concerns procedure. Even on a lawful ground, a dismissal is quashed where the employer did not ask for written explanations, did not issue an order recording the disciplinary offence, missed the one-month period for imposing a sanction from the day the breach came to light, or dismissed the employee during sick leave or annual leave, which part 3 of Article 40 expressly forbids.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Situation<\/th>\nProvision<\/th>\nWhat was breached<\/th>\nConsequence for the employer<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Redundancy without two months\u2019 notice<\/td>\nArt. 49-2<\/td>\nthe redundancy procedure<\/td>\nreinstatement and pay for the enforced absence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dismissal during sick leave<\/td>\npart 3 of Art. 40<\/td>\nthe ban on dismissing in that period<\/td>\nthe order is quashed by the court<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Absence without the employee\u2019s written explanation<\/td>\nArt. 149<\/td>\nthe procedure for imposing a sanction<\/td>\nthe dismissal is held unlawful<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dismissing a pregnant woman or a mother of a child under 3<\/td>\nArt. 184<\/td>\nguarantees for particular categories<\/td>\nreinstatement whatever the ground<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Final settlement not paid on the day of dismissal<\/td>\nArts. 116, 117<\/td>\nthe deadline for the final settlement<\/td>\naverage earnings for the delay, up to 6 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Who cannot be dismissed<\/h2>\n

Article 184 forbids an employer to dismiss pregnant women, women with children under three (or under six on medical advice), and single mothers with a child under fourteen or a child with a disability. The exception is the complete liquidation of the business, and even then dismissal is allowed only with compulsory placement in other work.<\/p>\n

Separate guarantees protect an employee elected to a trade union body, and people called up for military service, whose job is kept for them. Breaching those guarantees means reinstatement regardless of how well founded the ground of dismissal itself was.<\/p>\n

The redundancy procedure<\/h2>\n

The employer must give the employee personal notice of the coming redundancy at least two months in advance, as Article 49-2 requires, and offer other work at the same business. Article 42 gives a preferential right to stay to employees with higher qualifications and productivity, and, all else being equal, to those with two or more dependants or long unbroken service there.<\/p>\n

On the day of dismissal severance pay of at least one average monthly wage is paid under Article 44. A redundancy that never actually happened \u2014 where someone else is taken on for the same post a week later \u2014 is treated by the courts as a sham, and that is the commonest ground for reinstatement in this category of case.<\/p>\n

What can be recovered besides reinstatement<\/h2>\n

The main payment is average earnings for the period of enforced absence under Article 235, capped at one year. Where the employer delayed carrying out the reinstatement order, Article 236 allows average earnings for the whole of that delay. For a late final settlement Article 117 provides average earnings for the period of delay, but for no more than six months.<\/p>\n

Moral damage is compensated under Article 237-1, where the breach caused mental suffering or the loss of normal social ties. The sums here are more modest than people expect, so the claim is best supported by medical records; the general rules are on the page about compensation for moral and material damage<\/a>. A reinstatement order is enforced immediately under Article 430 of the Civil Procedure Code, before it even takes legal effect.<\/p>\n

What to do after a dismissal<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. On the day of dismissal ask in writing for the copy of the order and the record of employment: the one-month period runs from that date.<\/li>\n
  2. Secure the evidence before filing: orders, rotas, correspondence, colleagues\u2019 statements, screenshots of work chats. Access to internal systems disappears once you are out.<\/li>\n
  3. File the claim at the court where you live or where the employer is based, within one month, and pay no court fee.<\/li>\n
  4. Raise three heads at once: quash the order, reinstate you in the post, and recover average earnings for the enforced absence.<\/li>\n
  5. File a complaint with the State Labour Service in parallel: the inspector\u2019s notice becomes further evidence in the case.<\/li>\n
  6. Once reinstatement is ordered, return to work the next working day, even if the employer has appealed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Typical mistakes employees make<\/h2>\n