Rupture conventionnelle: procedure, deadlines and severance pay

More than 500,000 employees leave their company through this agreement every year. The procedure looks simple, yet a miscounted deadline or an undervalued payment costs dearly. A lawyer reviews your file in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Rupture conventionnelle: what the Labour Code says

Articles L.1237-11 and following of the Labour Code govern this form of termination. Employer and employee agree together to end an open-ended contract. Neither one simply endures the other's decision.

Three conditions really matter:

• An open-ended contract. A fixed-term contract can be ended by agreement, but under different rules.
• Free consent. The threat of dismissal or pressure from a manager vitiates the agreement.
• A procedure followed to the letter. One forgotten deadline makes the termination challengeable.

Neither party has to justify its decision, however. That is precisely what makes the rupture conventionnelle attractive compared with a resignation or a dismissal.

The procedure, step by step

Stage	Who acts	Duration
One or more interviews	Employer and employee	Free
Signing of form Cerfa no. 14598	Both parties	One day
Withdrawal period	Either side may pull out	15 calendar days
Approval request on TéléRC	The employer, usually	Immediate
Review by the labour authority	The administration	15 working days
End of the contract	The day after approval at the earliest	Date set in the agreement

You may bring someone to the interview. A colleague, a staff representative or, failing that, an employee adviser listed by the prefecture can play that role. Do tell your employer beforehand, since they may then be assisted too.

Careful: each party leaves with a signed copy. Without that handover, the Cour de cassation cancels the rupture conventionnelle.

The 15-day withdrawal period

The clock starts the day after signature. It runs in calendar days, so weekends and public holidays count. If the last day falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a holiday, it extends to the next working day.

During those fifteen days, either side withdraws freely, without giving reasons. Send a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, or hand it over against a signed receipt. The contract then simply continues.

Approval by the labour authority

Since 1 April 2022, the request must go through the TéléRC online service. The administration then has 15 working days to answer. Silence means acceptance: lawyers call this tacit approval.

The labour inspectorate mainly checks two points: compliance with the deadlines and the amount of the payment. A refusal therefore often follows a payment below the statutory minimum. Nothing prevents you from correcting the file and filing again.

Protected employees, such as union representatives or members of the social and economic committee, follow a special path. Their rupture conventionnelle requires authorisation from the labour inspector rather than simple approval.

How the payment is calculated

The specific payment can never fall below the statutory severance pay. That figure rests on the reference salary, namely the more favourable average between the last twelve and the last three months.

Length of service	Minimum statutory payment
Under 8 months	No statutory severance due
From 8 months to 10 years	One quarter of a month's salary per year
Beyond 10 years	One third of a month per year for the following years

Check your collective agreement next. Metalworking, banking and pharmaceuticals often provide more, and that higher figure then prevails. Nothing stops you from negotiating above it either: that is exactly what the discussion is for.

On tax, the payment escapes income tax up to the statutory or collectively agreed amount. It escapes social security contributions up to twice the annual social security ceiling, that is €96,120 in 2026.

Unemployment: what changed on 1 September 2026

A rupture conventionnelle opens unemployment rights. The amendment of 10 April 2026 to the unemployment insurance agreement, approved on 19 June 2026, nevertheless shortened the benefit period for this ground of termination.

Age at the end of the contract	Previous maximum	Current maximum
Under 55	18 months	15 months
55 and 56	22.5 months	20.5 months
57 and over	27 months	20.5 months

The date that counts is the end of the contract, not the signature. So negotiate that point carefully if your departure falls close to the threshold.

Challenging a rupture conventionnelle

The employment tribunal remains competent, despite the signed agreement. You have twelve months from approval to act, under article L.1237-14 of the Labour Code.

Judges mainly set agreements aside in three situations:

• Defective consent, where the signature follows threats, blackmail or an induced mistake.
• Psychological harassment, or established distress at work at the time of signature.
• Breach of procedure, especially the failure to hand a signed copy to the employee.

Cancellation then produces the effects of an unfair dismissal. Our article on the statutory compensation scale sets out the sums at stake. Conversely, serious misconduct alleged by the employer follows a very different logic.

When to consult a lawyer

A lawyer reads the agreement before signature, checks the calculation and spots forgotten clauses, such as non-competition or unpaid overtime. They also step in afterwards, when a signature was extracted under pressure. An employment lawyer answers within 20 minutes. The official simulator sits on the Ministry of Labour's TéléRC portal.