OD FLASH | Additional compensation provided for in a collective agreement: cannot be combined with compensation for dismissal without real and serious cause

Cass. soc. 14-1-2026 No. 24-13.463 F-D, V. v. Arris Solutions France

An employee dismissed on economic grounds sought damages before the labor court for dismissal without real and serious cause and payment of additional compensation provided for in a majority collective agreement.

This agreement provided for the payment of additional compensation to any employee who was dismissed, described as damages and intended to compensate for the harm caused by the collective dismissal. It specified that this compensation had the same purpose as compensation for dismissal without real and serious cause and could not therefore be combined with it. Its payment was conditional on the absence of a referral to the labor court and was only made one month after the expiry of the limitation period for labor court proceedings.

The Versailles Court of Appeal, after finding that the dismissal was without real and serious cause, awarded the employee compensation on that basis, but rejected her claim for additional compensation on the grounds that the two types of compensation had the same purpose and could not be combined.

The Court of Cassation rejected the employee’s appeal. It pointed out that compensation for dismissal without real and serious cause compensates for the damage resulting from the unjustified loss of employment and noted that the collective agreement attributed the same purpose to the additional compensation. It concluded that the Court of Appeal had rightly ruled out any combination of these two types of compensation.

The Court confirmed that additional compensation resulting from a collective agreement cannot be combined with compensation for dismissal without real and serious cause, since they compensate for the same damage.