To participation of trade-union organization in termination of employment relationship

Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labour Code, as amended, differentiates at termination of the employment relationship by notice or by immediate termination of the employment relationship by employer between two groups of employees. In case of employees – members of the authority of the trade-union organization, which operates at employer, and in case of employees – ex-members of the authority of the trade-union organization during one year after termination of their term of office, the employer has to ask the trade-union organization for the prior consent with the notice or with the immediate termination of the employment relationship. If the tradeunion organization refuses to grant the prior consent and the employer terminates even so the employment relationship with this employee, this notice or this immediate termination of the employment relationship are in principle completely invalid legal acts. In case of other employees the employer has to discuss the notice or the immediate termination of the employment relationship with the trade-union organization, which operates at employer, but absence of the discussion doesn’t cause invalidity of the notice or of the immediate termination of the employment relationship. This article tries to answer the question, if the legal regulation, which protects the members of the authority of the trade-union organization from notice or from immediate termination of the employment relationship, is really necessary and consistent with the Constitution. This article is based on actual legal regulation to the 1st April 2013, on established judicature and on opinions of various experts.