Bankruptcy Law

An employee whose claim does not appear in whole or in part on a statement of claims may, pursuant to Article L. 625-1(2) of the Commercial Code, bring an action before the labor court. In particular, an employee may bring an action to contest the legal representative's refusal to include his wage claim on the statement of claims resulting from an employment contract, even though a previous labor  …

Omission of the wage claim from the statements of claims

An employee whose claim does not appear in whole or in part on a statement of claims may, pursuant to Article L. 625-1(2) of the Commercial Code, bring an action before the labor court. In particular, an employee may bring an action to contest the legal representative's refusal to include his wage claim on the statement of claims resulting from an employment contract, even though a previous labor court decision has ordered the employer to pay the sums claimed . He may ask the employees' representative to assist or represent him before the labor court . The debtor and the receiver, when he has a mission of assistance, are called in court .

The employee's claim is brought directly before the adjudication panel , and not before the conciliation panel . The adjudication panel of the labor court has exclusive jurisdiction, to the exclusion of the interim judge, to hear disputes relating to claims that must appear on a statement of claims resulting from an employment contract, when the employee intends to obtain the implementation of the AGS guarantee . This exclusive jurisdiction deprives the employee of the right to apply to the interim judge for an advance on the claim . On the other hand, since the judicial court has jurisdiction to hear civil liability actions brought against the legal representative and incidental claims, the labor court cannot be seized by an employee who wishes to obtain an order that the legal representative guarantee the payment of the sums fixed as wage claims in the liabilities of the procedure .

Referral to the labor court must, under penalty of foreclosure, take place within two months of the publication of the statement of claims . The legal representative must inform the employees by any means of the nature and amount of the admitted or rejected claims, indicate the date of filing at the registry of the statement of claims and remind them of the existence and the starting point of the time-limit for foreclosure , failing which the time-limit cannot begin to run . In the absence of an individual notice, addressed to the employee, the time-limit does not run and the employee does not have to file an application for relief from foreclosure within the one-year period following the opening judgment . The letter from the legal representative informing the employee, not of the time-limit for the action to contest the statement of claims, but of the time-limit for the action for relief from foreclosure, does not cause the first time-limit to run either .

When the foreclosure period has expired, the employee whose claim has been omitted may be relieved of the foreclosure by the labor court on the sole condition that he acts to this end within the six-month period provided for in Article L. 622-26(3) of the Commercial Code, and without having to establish that his default was not due to his own fault . In addition, the Court of Cassation considers that the referral of a claim to the labor court by an employee who holds a claim prior to the opening of the insolvency procedure of his employer, which does not appear on a statement of claims resulting from the employment contract, necessarily entails an application for relief from the foreclosure when the procedure is instituted after the expiry of the two-month period, but within the one-year period from the decision to open the insolvency procedure . The expiry of the time-limit does not prevent the presentation of new claims by the employee after the regular initiation of his action .

Finally, the admission to the liabilities of the insolvency procedure of a claim entered on a statement of wage claims that has not been contested by the employees concerned is irrevocable, which makes it subject to the five-year statute of limitations applicable to wage claims . When part of the wage claim has been paid by the AGS, the employee can only go to court to obtain a determination of the balance of his or her total claim, less the advance made by the AGS .

Cass. soc., 16 December 1998, LawLex202200003982JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 25 June 2002, LawLex202100001521JBJ (RJ) ; 7 February 2006, LawLex202100003551JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 16 December 2008, LawLex202200003979JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 26 February 2013, LawLex202100003552JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 24 January 2018, LawLex202100001522JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 26 March 2003, LawLex202100003553JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 9 November 2005, LawLex202100003554JBJ (RJ).

Cass. soc., 21 November 2012, LawLex202100003555JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 9 October 2019, LawLex202100003532JBJ (LJ).

C. com. Law 625-5. For an application, see Cass. soc. 29 October 2010, LawLex202100003529JBJ (LJ). Rappr. Cass. soc., 5 December 2006, LawLex202200003995JBJ (RJ), emphasizing that the exemption from the preliminary conciliation procedure applies to the claim for payment made against the transferee company in the same proceedings and for the same claim for compensation as the claim for registration of the claim on the statement of claims of the transferor company.

Cass. soc., 4 December 1991, LawLex202200003993JBJ (RJ).

Cass. soc., 4 June 2003, LawLex202100003528JBJ (LJ) ; 23 October 2012, LawLex202100003530JBJ (RJ) ; 29 October 2010, cited above.

Cass. soc., 17 June 1992, LawLex202200003992JBJ (LJ).

Cass. soc., 19 January 2022, LawLex202200000722JBJ (LJ).

C. com., art. L. 625-1, al. 2 et art. R. 625-3, al. 4.

C. com. R. 625-3(1) applicable by reference to art. R. 631-32.

Bankruptcy Law

238. Omission of the wage claim from the statements of claims

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238. Omission of the wage claim from the statements of claims

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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