Shared-custody dismissal rule: ending one contract changes the other

A private employer who dismisses a home employee hired on a permanent contract must summon the employee to a prior meeting and then send a dismissal letter, within set time limits. Dismissal is possible for any reason constituting a genuine and serious cause, gross misconduct or wilful misconduct. The standard dismissal procedures of the Labour Code for personal or economic grounds do not apply to this employment relationship.

In a shared-custody arrangement (garde partagée), where a childminder looks after the children of two families under two separate contracts each concluded with one familyService Public, the employer who decides to end the contract informs the other family in writing. The termination of one of the contracts changes the contract between the employee and the remaining familyService Public.

The second contract is then either amended by agreement through a written amendment (avenant), or terminated by the remaining employerService Public. Each private employer who wishes to end the contract binding them to the employee must run their own dismissal procedureService Public. The new guidance replaces a narrower note that only said each dismissal procedure is separate.

The amendment rule follows the general regime for home employees: any change to the contract must be set out in a written avenant, and the two contracts in a shared-custody arrangement each contain an identical clause recording the link with the other employer, since each employer establishes an individual written contract with the employee.

The steps of the procedure remain unchanged. The summons goes by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or hand delivery against receipt, and the meeting can be held no earlier than the fourth working day after first presentation of the letter. The meeting must be held in person, the employee cannot be accompanied, and recording is forbidden without joint agreement. If the employee does not attend, the procedure continues.

The dismissal letter states the grounds and is sent in writing to the employee's home address by registered letter. It can be sent from the fourth working day and no later than the thirtieth working day at midnight, counted from the day after the meeting or the scheduled date if it did not take place. Except in cases of gross or wilful misconduct, a notice period applies: one week for less than six months of continuous service with the same employer, one month from six months to under two years, and two months from two years. The notice runs from the first presentation of the registered letter.

The employer may release the employee from working the notice; the employee cannot object and receives compensatory notice pay. At the employee's request, release depends on the employer's agreement. An employee with at least eight months of service is entitled to severance pay, except for gross or wilful misconduct, calculated at a quarter of a month's salary per year of service up to ten years and a third of a month beyond that.

Legal basis: the rules rest on the Convention collective nationale des particuliers employeurs et de l'emploi à domicile du 15 mars 2021, articles 161 et suivants.