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The duty of loyalty arising from the employment contract between an employer and an employee also applies between employees!
About the decision of the Council of State of 10 July 2019 (n°408644) A protected employee, namely a staff representative, misused computer tools provided by the employer to access another employee's work email account without the latter's consent. The Council of State ruled that this fraudulent intrusion constituted a breach of the duty of loyalty arising from the employment contract, even though it occurred outside working hours and the employee was not at their workplace at the time. He was dismissed for misconduct After the employer obtained authorization from the Labor Inspectorate due to the employee's protected status, the dismissed protected employee challenged this administrative decision, thus falling under the jurisdiction of the Council of State (administrative court) and not the Social Chamber of the Court of Cassation.The Council of State ruled as follows: "An action by an employee outside the scope of their employment contract cannot justify dismissal for misconduct, unless it demonstrates a breach by the employee of an obligation arising from that contract." The employee had committed an act of disloyalty in the performance of their employment contract and had failed to meet their professional obligations arising from this legal act. This is not the first time the highest administrative court has sanctioned a protected employee for disloyalty. In a ruling dated March 27, 2015, the Council of State upheld a dismissal for breach of the duty of loyalty due to a protected employee's use of their allotted time for union activities to engage in other professional activities (CE, March 27, 2015, No. 371174, JSL, May 13, 2015, No. 387-7). The duty of loyalty thus extends beyond the actual hours worked on behalf of the employer.
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