Lyreco Belgium NV v Sophie Rogiers.
Date: 2014-02-27
30. As is apparent from the first paragraph in the preamble to the Framework Agreement, from paragraphs 4 and 5 of its general considerations and from clause 1.1 thereof, the Framework Agreement constitutes an undertaking by the two sides of industry to introduce, through minimum requirements, measures to offer both men and women an opportunity to reconcile their work responsibilities with family obligations (see, to that effect, Meerts , paragraph 35; Case C‑149/10 Chatzi  [2010] ECR I‑8489, paragraph 56; and Case C‑7/12 Riežniece  [2013] ECR, paragraph 31).
31. It is also clear from paragraph 6 of the general considerations of the Framework Agreement that measures to reconcile work and family life should encourage the introduction in the Member States of new flexible ways of organising work and time which are better suited to the changing needs of society, taking the needs of both undertakings and workers into account ( Meerts , paragraph 36).
32. The Framework Agreement is thus in line with the fundamental social rights enshrined in paragraph 16 of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers on equal treatment for men and women, to which the Framework Agreement refers, inter alia, at paragraph 4 of its general considerations, and which is also mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 151 TFEU, social rights which are associated with the improvement of living and working conditions and with the existence of proper social protection for workers, in the present case those who have applied for or taken parental leave (see, to that effect, Meerts , paragraph 37; Case C‑486/08 Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols  [2010] ECR I‑3527, paragraph 52; and Chatzi , paragraph 36).
33. To this end, the Framework Agreement, in accordance with clause 2.1 thereof, enables new parents to take a break from work to devote themselves to their family responsibilities, whilst giving them the assurance, set out in clause 2.5, that they will be, as a rule, entitled to return to the same job at the end of the leave (see Chatzi , paragraph 57, and Riežniece , paragraph 32).
35. As is apparent from its wording, that provision seeks to protect workers against dismissal on the grounds of an application for, or the taking of, parental leave (see Meerts , paragraph 33, and Riežniece , paragraph 34).
36. Having regard to the objective pursued by the Framework Agreement, as recalled in paragraphs 30 and 31 above, to offer both men and women an opportunity to reconcile their work responsibilities with family obligations, clause 2.4 must be interpreted as articulating a particularly important European Union social right and it may not, therefore, be interpreted restrictively (see, to that effect, Meerts , paragraph 42 and the case-law cited, and Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols , paragraph 54).
38. It must, however, be found that such a protective measure would lose a great part of its effectiveness if, in a situation in which a worker employed for an indefinite duration on a full-time basis, like Ms Rogiers in the main proceedings, is unlawfully dismissed during part-time parental leave, the fixed-sum protective award to which that worker is entitled were to be determined not on the basis of the salary earned under the full-time employment contract but on the basis of the reduced salary earned during the part-time parental leave. Such a method of determining the amount of that fixed-sum award would be likely not to have a deterrent effect sufficient to prevent the dismissal of workers on part-time parental leave (see, to that effect, Meerts , paragraphs 46 and 47).
40. Furthermore, such a method of determining the amount of the fixed-sum protective award, because it is likely to dissuade some workers from taking parental leave, would be liable too to thwart the aim of the Framework Agreement, in that the latter seeks, as was recalled at paragraph 30 above, to make it easier to reconcile working and family life (see, to that effect, Meerts , paragraph 47).
43. As the Court has previously held, it is apparent from both the wording of that clause and its context that that provision is intended to avoid loss or reduction of rights derived from an employment relationship, acquired or being acquired, to which the worker is entitled when he starts parental leave, and to ensure that, at the end of that leave, with regard to those rights, he will find himself in the same situation as he was before the leave ( Meerts , paragraph 39, and Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols , paragraph 51).
44. It is clear from the objectives of the Framework Agreement, recalled in paragraphs 30 to 32 above, that the concept of ‘[r]ights acquired or in the process of being acquired’ within the meaning of clause 2.6 of the Framework Agreement covers all the rights and benefits, whether in cash or in kind, derived directly or indirectly from the employment relationship, which the worker is entitled to claim from the employer at the date on which parental leave starts (see Meerts , paragraph 43, and Zentralbetriebsrat der Landeskrankenhäuser Tirols , paragraph 53).
45. Such rights and benefits include all those relating to employment conditions, like the right of a worker employed under a full-time contract of indefinite duration who is entitled to part-time parental leave to a fixed-sum protective award in the event of the employer’s unilateral termination of a contract without compelling or sufficient reason. That award, the amount of which is linked to the salary related to that contract and the aim of which is to protect such a worker against dismissal on the grounds of an application for, or the taking of, parental leave, is paid to the worker by reason of his employment, which would have continued but for the unfair dismissal (see, by analogy, Case C‑33/89 Kowalska  [1990] ECR I‑2591, paragraphs 10 and 11; Case C‑167/97 Seymour-Smith and Perez [1999] ECR I‑623, paragraphs 23 to 28; and Meerts , paragraph 44).