Besides a dismissal or a relocation, there's another employment mechanism that directly affects a worker's rights without ending the contract: substantial changes to working conditions, which allow the company to alter relevant aspects of your job under certain requirements, with specific rights for the affected worker.
What counts as a substantial change
The law lists, non-exhaustively, various aspects whose significant alteration can be considered substantial: working hours, schedule and distribution of working time, shift-work arrangements, pay system and salary amount, work and performance system, and duties (when they exceed the limits of ordinary functional mobility within your professional group).
The difference between a substantial change and a simple organizational adjustment
Not every change to your working conditions constitutes a substantial change: minor adjustments within the company's usual organizational authority (for example, small schedule tweaks within reasonable margins) don't require following this specific procedure. Substantial changes are reserved for alterations significant enough to meaningfully change the conditions under which the employment relationship was originally agreed.
The grounds that must justify it
Just as with relocations and objective dismissals, the company must prove economic, technical, organizational, or production-related reasons that justify the change; it cannot impose it without justification tied to these legally defined grounds.
The procedure depending on whether it's individual or collective
- Individual change: the company must notify the affected worker (and their representatives) at least 15 days before the effective date.
- Collective change (affecting a significant number of workers within a given period): requires a prior consultation period with worker representatives, similar to the procedure for a collective dismissal.
Your rights when facing a substantial change
If the change causes you harm, especially in cases involving relocation, working hours, schedule, or shift, you have the right to end the contract with severance pay of 20 days' salary per year worked, up to a maximum of 9 months' pay (a different cap than other similar mechanisms), with no need to accept the newly imposed condition.
The option to challenge it in court
Besides the option to end the contract, you can legally challenge the change if you believe the grounds claimed don't hold up or the procedure wasn't followed correctly, and the judge can declare the change unjustified and order the company to restore the previous conditions.
Calculate your severance pay if you decide to end the contract
If a substantial change harms you and you decide to end the contract, our severance pay calculator helps you estimate the approximate severance pay you'd be entitled to based on your seniority and salary.