Resignation by Conclusive Conduct – Clarifications from the Ministry

In recent note no. 2504 dated April 10, 2025, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, in response to a request for clarification from the National Council of the Labour Consultants’ Order (CNO), provided further details regarding Circular no. 6/2025. This circular contains initial operational guidelines related to the innovations introduced by the “Labour-Linked Act” (Law no. 203/2024), including the procedure for “resignation by conclusive conduct.”

The New Procedure and Ministerial Clarifications

According to Article 19 of Law no. 203/2024, in cases of “unjustified absence of the employee extending beyond the period established by the applicable national collective labour agreement (NCLA) or, if not provided, exceeding fifteen days”, and where the employee has neither submitted an explanation nor filed formal telematic resignation, the employer may activate the resignation by conclusive conduct procedure by notifying the local Labour Inspectorate. The employment relationship will then be considered terminated on the initiative of the worker.

The law thus explicitly acknowledges that an employment relationship can be terminated through what is known as resignation by conclusive conduct (or de facto resignation), allowing the employer to interpret the worker’s unexcused absence over a certain period as an intent to terminate the employment.

Communication to the Labour Inspectorate, which initiates this process, can only be made after a suitable period of unexcused absence, defined by the collective agreements or, in their absence, longer than 15 days.

In Circular no. 6/2025, the Ministry clarified that the 15-day period stipulated by law serves as a minimum legal threshold. Once this period has elapsed, the employer may notify the territorial Labour Inspectorate. If a different period is established by a collective agreement, it will apply only if it is longer than the legal minimum. If it is shorter, the legal period of 15 days must be observed, following the general principle that contractual autonomy may only modify legal provisions in melius (i.e., to the benefit of the worker).

The Ministry also introduced a clarification not explicitly stated in the law: the employer may initiate the resignation by conclusive conduct procedure not before the 16th day of unexcused absence, with the option to file the communication to the Inspectorate at a later time.

Likewise, the 15-day minimum must also be respected for sending the UNILAV notice of employment termination. The communication to the Inspectorate marks the start (dies a quo) of the 5-day period allowed for submitting the mandatory notice to the public employment service.

It is important to note, as stated in the second part of Article 19 of Law no. 203/2024, that once the procedure is activated, the Labour Inspectorate may verify the accuracy of the report, and the worker may demonstrate either that they provided a valid justification or that they were unable to do so due to force majeure or reasons attributable to the employer.

Note no. 2504 of April 10, 2025

Following clarification requests from the CNO, the Ministry addressed further details in Note no. 2504 of April 10.

Firstly, the Ministry clarified the legal status of the 15-day threshold for unjustified absence: while the law does not establish this period as mandatory and unalterable, it serves as a fallback measure in the absence of contractual provisions. Therefore, collective agreements could, in principle, define shorter periods.

However, the Ministry, while acknowledging the residual nature of the legal term, expressed caution, interpreting the phrase used by the legislator (“in the absence of a contractual provision, exceeding fifteen days”) as a sign that shorter durations should not be used, out of prudence. Thus, even though the law does not explicitly forbid shorter timeframes, it is considered that no interpretation should worsen the worker’s legal position, in order to prevent potential abuse or distortion of the employment relationship.

Additional Interpretative Clarifications

In response to further queries by the CNO, the Ministry also clarified what happens in the following cases:

1. If the Labour Inspectorate, after verifying the facts, finds the legal conditions unmet, the employer must reinstate the employment relationship. If the employer disagrees with the findings or considers the employee’s explanations insufficient, there will be no automatic reinstatement—the decision remains with the employer.
2. If the employee submits their resignation (even for just cause) after the procedure has started but before it takes effect, such resignation will take precedence over the resignation by conclusive conduct. In the case of resignation for just cause, the reasons will be assessed in the appropriate venues.