Before making an employee redundant, the employer must:

• Seek internal redeployment within the company and the Group (if any) and offer to the employee any internal redeployment offer. Otherwise, the employee’s redundancy will be deemed unfair and the employee will be entitled to damages.
• Contact the employment commission (if any) established by the industry-wide collective bargaining agreement to seek any external redeployment offers (i.e., redeployment outside the company or the Group).

In a decision from February 2014 regarding external redeployment, the Supreme Court held that an employer in receipt of an external redeployment offer from the employment commission must notify any employee whose professional qualifications could enable him to perform such role in writing before proceeding with the redundancy. Otherwise, the redundancy will be deemed unfair and the employee will be entitled to damages. (Cass. Soc. February 18 2014 n°12-18029)