Is complaining about your employer on Facebook a valid resignation?

Employees do frequently express frustrations about their jobs on social media. But can an employer simply interpret a negative Facebook message as a final resignation? The answer is usually no; the will to resign must be absolutely certain and unambiguous. If the employer does unilaterally terminate the employment contract on the basis of a misinterpretation, it is terminating the contract itself irregularly and risks having to pay a hefty termination fee.

The facts and legal context

A case before the Labor Court involved the following situation:

• An employee on a part-time contract of indefinite duration had been unable to work since the end of April 2022.
• In October 2022, she posted on her Facebook profile an advertisement for a competing tanning center.
• In the comments below this post, a friend asked if she no longer worked for her employer.
• The employee replied in the affirmative, indicating that this had been the case since late April and calling the situation “a liberation”.
• When asked by another contact where she was working then, she replied that she was not working anywhere at the time.
• The employer seized on these Facebook posts and interpreted them as an immediate resignation by the employee.
• The employer then sent a registered letter to formally confirm the dismissal and demanded severance pay of more than 4,800 euros from the employee himself for failing to perform a notice period.

The decision and the law

The Labor Court of Liege, Liege Division ruled decisively against the employer in a judgment dated May 16, 2024, and awarded the employee severance pay. The court reasoned this as follows:

• A conversation with friends on the Facebook timeline does not constitute a certain and unequivocal expression of the will to resign from the company.
• The employee's statements merely reflected the actual, practical situation.
• After all, she was effectively performing no work since April, simply because her employment contract had been suspended due to illness.
• Moreover, internal chats revealed that the employer had been looking for a means to work the employee out without compensation for months.
• The employer even responded under a false name (‘Emma’) to the Facebook message in question, admitting to “thinking” that the texts could legally be considered dismissal, showing that he himself realized that the employee's intent was uncertain.
• Because the employee had not resigned herself, the court ruled that the party who falsely establishes the other's breach of contract is, in fact, himself irregularly terminating the contract.

Legal analysis and interpretation

In Belgian labor law, the unilateral termination of an employment contract is subject to strict rules. A resignation (the employee's will to break the contract) may never be presumed. There must be a certain and unequivocal expression of will.

Statements made in a friendly atmosphere, on social media, or on an emotional whim, rarely carry that certainty. In this particular case, the employer seemed to opportunistically abuse the situation. By twisting factual statements about a suspension due to illness into a desire for contract termination, the employer became a victim of its own demarches. This judgement demonstrates that those who wrongfully establish and invoke the other party's irregular breach of contract are, in fact, irregularly terminating the contract themselves. As a result, the employer is liable for the statutory severance pay.

What this specifically means

• For employers: Never simply seize on informal statements made by your employees on forums or social media as a formal dismissal. Drafting a C4 for ‘work abandonment’ or ‘voluntary resignation’ without absolute, preferably written, certainty about the employee's intentions poses a huge legal risk. You will end up paying the termination fee yourself.
• For employees: You are legally protected from employers who willfully misinterpret your words on social media in order to fire you cheaply. Nevertheless, this case proves that judges and employers do watch. Even if it was not a dismissal here, a thoughtless Facebook post in other circumstances can still lead to discussions about reputational damage, defamation, or even dismissal for cause.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Can a statement on Facebook legally count as dismissal?
No, as a rule, it does not. A valid dismissal requires a certain and unambiguous expression of the employee's will to terminate the employment contract. Informal conversations with friends on social media do not meet that strict requirement.

What happens if the employer still considers my online words unfairly dismissed?
If your employer mistakenly considers you redundant and stops your employment, the employer actually terminates the employment contract itself in an irregular manner. You are then entitled to a payment of severance pay.

Conclusion

A dismissal may never be based on interpretations or suspicions from an informal Facebook message. In Belgium, there is only dismissal when there is an absolute, unequivocal expression of will. If an employer acts prematurely, the situation turns against him and he risks substantial severance pay.