Facts
A. and B. were employees of company C. AG. Due to the poor economic situation, C. AG dismissed its last 10 employees, including the two claimants, without consulting the personnel and without informing the cantonal labour office. The claimants contested the dismissals and claimed compensation. The court of first instance ordered C. AG to pay compensation to the claimants, considering that the dismissals were abusive due to the non-compliance with the collective dismissal procedure. However, the court of appeal overturned this judgment, finding that the dismissals were valid despite the non-compliance with the procedure and that the claims for compensation were time-barred.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the failure to notify the cantonal labour office, as provided for in Art. 335g CO, must have the same legal consequences as the delay in this notification, namely the postponement of the termination of the employment contract. Indeed, the purpose of this notification obligation is to allow the office to intervene and seek solutions, which was not possible in the present case. Therefore, the employment contracts of the claimants did not end until the moment they accepted new employment, i.e. 14 April 2003 for the first and 24 March 2003 for the second. The claims…