France: There is No Right to Silence During Pre-Dismissal Hearings

French law provides that employees must be invited to a meeting before they are dismissed so that they can respond to the grounds on which their employer envisages dismissing them. There has been a recent debate on whether employees should be formally notified of their right to remain silent.

The issue at hand was whether the dismissal of employees who had not formally been notified that they could remain silent during their pre-dismissal meeting could be challenged on such grounds.

In a decision rendered by the French Constitution Court on September 19, 2025, it was decided that employees did not need to be notified of their right to remain silent during their pre-dismissal meeting.

In practice, employees can still choose to remain silent if they wish. They can even refuse to attend this meeting without this being either considered to constitute misconduct or signify that their dismissal is automatically based on valid grounds. The pre-dismissal hearing is a guarantee of due process offered to the employee which they can refuse to use.

 

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

Make sure that you summon employees to a pre-dismissal meeting at a date and time they can attend. Even if they are not obliged to attend, making it impossible for them to do so can lead to an award of damages.