On sick leave, this healthcare professional took more than 5 years to win his dispute against his employer. He obtained the annulment of his dismissal.
Yes, even doctors can be off work. In 2019, a healthcare professional signed a 3-year fixed-term contract in a Communal Social Action Center (CCAS) located in Gironde. This municipal public establishment manages the social policies of the municipality, from aid to the elderly to those to families in difficulty.
This territorial doctor has the annual objective of carrying out 3 procedures per hour. A steady pace. On July 30, 2021, he went on paternity leave for a short period. But although he was due to return on August 7, he was placed on sick leave for a long period. A few months later, on January 10, 2022, the president of the CCAS dismissed the doctor by order. Without notice or compensation.
The reasons are numerous and diverse. Lack of respect towards superiors, breach of duty of confidentiality, non-compliance with schedules but also sexual relations in the workplace with a consenting colleague. The doctor contests his dismissal as unfair. He returned to work on January 18, 2022, at the Agen hospital center.
It is in this new environment that he asks his former employer for payment of the Annual Compensation Supplement (CIA), a bonus paid to civil service agents. However, the president of the CCAS refuses his bonus on April 1, 2022. And he is not kidding. He believes that his objectives are neither achieved nor evaluable because of the doctor’s long sick leave. On the other hand, the healthcare professional is claiming €7,620 in bonuses, various compensations and €20,000 in moral damages.
From then on, two procedures were initiated: one against the dismissal and the other for the payment of the bonus. On March 16, 2023, the Bordeaux administrative court annulled the doctor’s dismissal. The judges evoke an error of assessment and only accept the fault of having had sexual relations in the workplace. An error which, in itself, cannot justify dismissal. It now remains to decide on the bonus.
On November 9, 2023, the Bordeaux administrative court once again ruled in favor of the doctor and ordered the CCAS to pay him €2,740 in various compensation. But CCAS doesn’t really execute. Ordered to re-examine the file, he carries out a simulated evaluation of the doctor, without ever consulting him. In addition, he is appealing this decision, contesting the amount to be paid to him.
These calls are handled by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux in two stages. First on April 22, 2025 when it validates the cancellation of the dismissal. Then April 21, 2026 on the amount of the fine. The appeal court goes even further. The CCAS must now pay more than €8,000 to the doctor, a sum including his premium, and €1,500 in legal costs. The lesson of justice is clear. Even on sick leave or paternity leave, public employees retain the right to their bonuses. The deliberation of the CCAS itself, however, provided for the maintenance of the bonus as long as the agent had been present at least six months in the year, which the doctor had largely achieved.
