The specific payment for a rupture conventionnelle (a statutory mutually-agreed termination) has a legal floor: it cannot be lower than the statutory severance pay (indemnité de licenciement, article L1237-13 of the Labour Code), or than the contractual severance pay where the collective agreement is more favourable. Above that minimum, the amount is freely negotiated between employer and employee, with no ceiling. Calculating the payment therefore means first working out that floor, then assessing the room for negotiation.
The rupture conventionnelle is an amicable way of ending an open-ended employment contract. It is neither a resignation nor a dismissal: employer and employee agree together on the terms of the end of the contract, first among them the payment made to the employee. It gives entitlement to unemployment benefit, which a resignation in principle does not.
Its validity rests on a regulated procedure: one or more meetings, the signing of an agreement, a withdrawal period, then administrative approval (homologation). Following these steps is what makes the termination secure, for the employee as much as for the employer.
The Labour Code requires that the specific rupture conventionnelle payment be no lower than the statutory severance pay (indemnité de licenciement). The latter is calculated according to a formula set by article R1234-2:
| Length of service | Amount per year |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 years | 1/4 of a month's salary |
| Beyond 10 years | 1/3 of a month's salary |
The reference salary used is whichever is more favourable to the employee, between the average of the last twelve months and a third of the last three months (exceptional bonuses then being pro-rated). Where the collective agreement provides for more favourable severance pay, it is that contractual amount which serves as the floor.
Take an employee paid 3,000 euros gross a month, with 12 years of service.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First 10 years | 10 × 1/4 of a month | 2.5 months |
| Years beyond 10 | 2 × 1/3 of a month | 0.67 month |
| Total in months | 2.5 + 0.67 | about 3.17 months |
| Floor payment | (10 × 1/4 + 2 × 1/3) × 3,000 euros | 9,500 euros |
This 9,500 euro figure is the legal minimum. Employer and employee can agree on a higher sum: this is common where the employee has a bargaining argument, for example a latent dispute that the amicable termination avoids.
Conversely, a payment set below this floor weakens the agreement: the administration can refuse approval, and the employee can later challenge the amount. Checking the floor calculation before signing is therefore a safety reflex for both parties, all the more so as the applicable collective agreement may raise this minimum without the employer thinking of it spontaneously.
The procedure imposes a fixed timetable that has to be anticipated:
Between signing and the actual departure, at least close to a month therefore passes. A miscalculation of the time limits is a frequent ground for refusal of approval.
The legal floor says nothing about what is really at play in the negotiation. An employee with serious arguments to put before the conseil de prud'hommes (France's labour court), for example unpaid overtime or a context raising the fear of a dismissal without real and serious cause, carries more weight in the discussion. On the employer's side, accepting a payment above the floor can cost less than litigation with an uncertain outcome.
To put a figure on that room, the right question is not "how much does the law require", but "how much would this file be worth if it went to litigation". This is where a valuation grounded in comparable decisions informs the negotiation, by giving an order of magnitude of the risk on each side. Plato produces this estimate and the associated case-law benchmark, with each amount staying traceable back to its source. For the employer, this reading fits into assessing labour-litigation risk before a dismissal and compares with the valuation of a settlement.
What is the minimum amount of a rupture conventionnelle?
The amount cannot be lower than the statutory severance pay, calculated under article R1234-2 (1/4 of a month per year up to 10 years, 1/3 beyond). If the collective agreement provides for more favourable severance pay, that is the floor.
How is the statutory pay used as the floor calculated?
On the basis of the reference salary most favourable to the employee (the average of the last twelve months or a third of the last three months), at a quarter of a month per year of service up to ten years, then a third of a month per year beyond.
Is the rupture conventionnelle payment capped?
No. Only a minimum is imposed. The parties can agree on a higher amount, often where the employee has bargaining arguments or where a latent dispute makes the amicable termination preferable to litigation.
What are the time limits for a rupture conventionnelle?
A withdrawal period of fifteen calendar days after signing, then a review period of fifteen working days by the DREETS. The termination cannot take effect before the day after approval, so close to a month in total.
What happens if the administration does not reply?
Silence from the DREETS at the end of the fifteen-working-day review period counts as approval. The agreement is then deemed approved and the termination can take effect.
Does the rupture conventionnelle give entitlement to unemployment benefit?
Yes, unlike a resignation. This is one of the reasons employees favour this form of termination, subject to the affiliation conditions of the unemployment insurance scheme.
Is the rupture conventionnelle payment taxable?
Its tax and social regime differs from that of salary and depends on the amount paid and the employee's situation, in particular their pension rights. It must be checked case by case.
Can a tool estimate the amount to negotiate?
Yes. Plato calculates the floor payment and places the value of the file in litigation from comparable decisions, which gives an order of magnitude of the room for negotiation, with each figure staying traceable back to its source.