KOSOVO Law and Practice Contributed by: Ardian Rexha, Nora Grajcevci Mehmeti and Vjollca Hiseni, Rex Law Partners
breach of its obligations under the employment con - tract. Unilateral termination by the employer is permitted if one of the following legal bases applies: • the employee is no longer capable of performing their duties; • the termination is necessary for economic (eg, loss of revenue, cost-reduction measures), techni - cal (eg, automation of functions or replacement of certain tasks) or organisational (eg, changes to operational structure, elimination of certain func - tions) reasons; or • there has been serious misconduct or dissatisfac - tory performance of work duties. For indefinite-term contracts, the notification periods are based on seniority: • for six months to two years of service, the notice period is 30 days; • for two to ten years of service, the notice period is 45 days; and • for more than ten years of service, the notice period is 60 days. For fixed-term contracts, the notice period is 30 days. There are two cases in which the employer is permit - ted to terminate the contract without complying with the notice periods described in the foregoing: (i) the employee repeatedly commits less serious miscon - duct or breaches employment obligations, or (ii) the employee’s performance is unsatisfactory despite a previous written warning. However, immediate dismissal in these cases is con - ditioned on the following: • the employee has previously been issued a writ - ten description of the dissatisfactory conduct or performance; • the employee has been provided a reasonable period within which they could have improved this situation; and
• the employee was provided a clear warning that failure to improve within that period could result in dismissal without further notice. In any case, the employer must hold a meeting with the employee to explain the grounds before issuing a warning or terminating employment. In this meet - ing, the employee is entitled to be accompanied by someone of their choosing, and this right should be communicated to them beforehand, usually in the for - mal invitation. The decision to terminate employment must be issued in writing and state the legal and factual grounds therefor. Additionally, the employer is obliged to pay all outstanding salary and other allowances up to the effective date of termination. Collective Redundancies A collective dismissal occurs when at least 10% of employees, but no fewer than 20%, are discharged within a six-month period for economic, technical or organisational reasons. If this threshold is not met, the termination of employment relationships is treated as unilateral termination for organisational reasons, per the rules described in the foregoing. The employer must notify employees and trade unions in writing at least one month in advance, specifying the number of employees affected and measures tak - en to alleviate consequences. The employer must also notify the employment office in writing. Employees with indefinite-term contracts are entitled to a single severance payment upon termination, the sum of which is relative to the years of service with the employer. 4.5 Employee Representations As mentioned in 4.4 Termination of Employment Con- tracts , when an employer holds a meeting to explain the termination of an employment contract or to issue a warning, the employee is entitled to be accompa - nied by a representative of his or her choice. Exclud - ing this situation, there is no statutory requirement for employee representation in Kosovo.
542 CHAMBERS.COM
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