ERTEs & Disciplinary Proceedings

What is it?

Who is it for?

• Companies experiencing a temporary but significant drop in activity that threatens their ability to meet payroll
• Businesses affected by a sudden force majeure event — flood, fire, pandemic restrictions, or similar — who need to act quickly
• Employers who need to address repeated absenteeism, poor performance, or serious misconduct by an employee
• Companies in sectors with seasonal demand cycles that want to understand whether an ERTE could be used to manage workforce costs lawfully
• HR managers who need procedural certainty before imposing any disciplinary sanction to avoid it being overturned on a technicality

What's included in our service

• Assessment of whether the company's situation meets the legal grounds for an ERTE (economic, technical, organisational, productive, or force majeure)
• Preparation of all ERTE documentation including the company's financial justification report, the communication to SEPE, and the notification to employee representatives
• Management of the mandatory consultation period with the workers' committee or trade union representatives
• Coordination of SEPE filings so that employees receive their unemployment benefit without interruption
• Preparation of disciplinary sanction letters and warning notices with the legally required content
• Advice on graduated sanctioning under the applicable collective agreement, ensuring proportionality between the offence and the penalty
• Support if the disciplinary sanction or ERTE is challenged by employees or their representatives

Documentation you will need to provide

• For ERTEs: up-to-date financial statements, sales figures, order books, or other evidence of economic or productive downturn
• For force majeure ERTEs: official documentation evidencing the event and its impact on operations
• List of affected employees, their categories, working schedules, and the proposed reduction or suspension
• Names and contact details of employee representatives or trade union delegates
• For disciplinary proceedings: a detailed factual account of the incident(s), dates, witnesses, and any supporting evidence
• The employee's disciplinary record and any previous sanctions still within their validity period

Key deadlines

• Force majeure ERTE applications must be submitted to the labour authority as soon as possible after the triggering event; processing time is typically 5 working days
• Economic/organisational ERTEs require a minimum 15-day consultation period with employee representatives before the measure takes effect
• Employees must be notified individually of the ERTE terms at least 24 hours before it comes into force
• Disciplinary sanctions must be communicated in writing to the employee without undue delay after the facts come to the employer's knowledge
• Employees have 20 working days to challenge a disciplinary dismissal and 20 calendar days to challenge a lesser sanction before the employment tribunal