French labor court (prud’hommes) time limits: filing, limitation and appeal periods

In employment law, the time limit depends on the nature of the claim: performance of the contract, termination, wages, discrimination, harassment. The basic text is article L1471-1, which provides two years for the performance of the contract and twelve months for termination, but excludes in particular wage claims, discrimination and harassment claims and compensation for bodily injury.

• Labor court: challenging the termination of the employment contract (dismissal, taking act of the breach, judicial termination): 12 months, from the date the dismissal (or termination) was notified (Labor Code, art. L1471-1, para. 2)
• Labor court: challenging a negotiated termination (rupture conventionnelle): 12 months, from the date the agreement was approved (express or implied) (Labor Code, art. L1237-14)
• Negotiated termination: right of withdrawal (15 calendar days): 15 days, from the date the agreement was signed (Labor Code, art. L1237-13)
• Labor court: claiming wages (three-year limitation period): 3 years, from the date the claim fell due (or the end of the contract, for the three-year cap) (Labor Code, art. L3245-1)
• Labor court: claim relating to the performance of the contract: 2 years, from the date the employee knew or should have known the facts (Labor Code, art. L1471-1, para. 1)
• Labor court: discrimination claim: 5 years, from the date the discrimination was revealed (Labor Code, art. L1134-5)
• Labor court: compensation for moral or sexual harassment: 5 years, from the date the employee knew or should have known the facts (Civil Code, art. 2224; excluded from art. L1471-1 (para. 3))
• Challenging the final settlement receipt (solde de tout compte): 6 months, from the date the receipt was signed (Labor Code, art. L1234-20)
• Employer: starting disciplinary proceedings (limitation period for misconduct): 2 months, from the date the employer learned of the facts (Labor Code, art. L1332-4)
• Dismissal: employee’s request for clarification of the grounds: 15 days, from the date the dismissal was notified (Labor Code, art. R1232-13)
• Labor court: appeal against a labor court judgment: 1 month, from the date the judgment was notified (receipt of the court registry’s letter) (Labor Code, art. R1461-1)

This table is generated from the presets of Jurisvio’s deadline calculator: it cannot differ from the tool.

• The starting point: notification of the termination, approval, knowledge of the facts or revelation of the discrimination depending on the claim. A wrong starting point shifts the whole deadline.
• Time limits in months or years expire on the day with the same date; a limit that expires on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday is in principle extended to the next working day. For limitation periods, the scope of that extension is debated: bring the claim before the court before the date without extension.
• Bringing the case before the labor court, even one without jurisdiction, interrupts the limitation period (article R1452-1).
• The time the authority has to examine a negotiated termination for approval (fifteen working days) is counted in working days: it is not calculated like the others.
• Economic dismissal: a challenge is barred after twelve months from the last meeting of the works council (comité social et économique) or, for the individual claim, from notification (article L1235-7).

Decree no. 2026-683 of 27 July 2026 amended articles R1452-2 to R1452-4. For proceedings started from 1 October 2026, the petition contains the information required by article 57 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a brief statement of the grounds, each head of claim and a list of exhibits (bordereau); it is accompanied by the latest payslip or any document showing the employer’s activity. Exhibits are sent to the defendant before the hearing.

This is an example of why Jurisvio dates the review of each text and monitors changes: see the update method described on the employment law page.

The deadline calculator applies the public holiday calendar, shows the date before extension and displays each time limit’s reference and caveat. In an employment litigation matter, the time limit matching the dispute is suggested from the dates entered at intake; you validate it before saving it. The calculation is indicative: check the applicable text.