A Study Of The Right Of Layoff In The French Labor Law

Under the context of the global-wide economic crise, the layoff and the unemployment by which is caused is becoming an international hot topic. The layoff is the one-sided termination of the labor contract by the employers, where the agreement of the employees is excluded. The layoff concerns not only the obligatory force of the labor contract itself, but also the fundamental rights of the employees:the right of work. In the french law, the right of layoff by the employers has passed from the traditional civil law field into a domain of "the social law"; the layoff problem is no longer a simple question of the contractual obligation. More over, in applicating the right of layoff, firstly, the employer should have a legitimate cause; then, he should follow the legitimate procedure in order to respect the employees' procedural rights. Thereby, the prescriptions on the right of layoff in the French labor law has an important referential value to our country.According to the Labor Code of France, it's obligatory to give a serious and real cause for a layoff decision. It is means that when the employer applicate the right of layoff, he must find a "serious and real" reason to prove this decision is right. The "reality " means that the employer should not fire the employee by using a hypocrite reason to cover the true idea. The "seriousness" means that the cause of layoff should be so grievous that it is no longer possible to continue this work without any damage:in that case, the layoff is necessary.The layoff must follow a certain procedure. The Labor Code of France stipulate that the employer should follow the procedure strictly to exercise his power. It is in order to insure that the employee concerned has enough opportunity to defend himself. If the employer has violated the procedure stipulated by law, the consequence will be very negative for him. Finally, we can learn a lot of precious experience from the french legal system. In particular, our country should establish a independent and specialized labor justice system.