News on the presumption of resignation

As a reminder, the new article L. 1237-1-1 of the Labour Code introduces a presumption of resignation in the event of voluntary abandonment of his post by the employee. An employee who voluntarily abandons his or her post and does not return to work after having been given formal notice to justify his or her absence and to return to his or her post, by registered letter or by letter delivered personally against receipt, within a period set by the employer (which may not be less than a minimum period set by decree), is presumed to have resigned on expiry of this period. Application decree no. 2023-275 of 17 April 2023 on the implementation of this presumption of resignation was published in the Official Journal on 18 April 2023, and came into force on 19 April 2023. The new article R. 1237-13 of the Labour Code states that: The employer who finds that the employee has abandoned his or her post and wishes to invoke the presumption of resignation provided for in article L. 1237-1-1 shall give the employee formal notice, by registered letter or by letter delivered personally against receipt, to justify his or her absence and to return to his or her post. The deadline set by the employer in application of article L. 1237-1-1 may not be less than 15 days. This period begins to run from the date of presentation of the formal notice. In the event that the employee intends to put forward a legitimate reason to the employer, such as, in particular, medical reasons, the exercise of the right to work, or the need to return to work, which is likely to preclude a presumption of resignation, the employer will have the right to require the employee to return to work.