The case concerns a prejudicial question from a Polish court regarding a dispute between a fixed-term worker and his former employer. According to Polish law, temporary employment contracts are excluded from the obligation for employers to communicate the reasons for dismissal. The Polish court asked the CJEU whether this situation conforms with the principle of non-discrimination, laid down in article 4(1) of the EU framework agreement on fixed-term work (transposed by Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999).
It is up to the national courts to determine whether the fixed-term workers are here in a comparable situation to workers employed for an indefinite duration, however, the CJEU implies that this is the case. The Court also clearly indicates that the Polish legislation establishes a difference in treatment to the detriment of workers employed on fixed-term contracts. As the temp workers do not have a right to receive the dismissal reasons, the only legal method of getting to know if the reasons are valid is to file a claim before the courts.
The national court also needs to see… Read more
