Termination of Employment in Georgia

1) What types of employment termination are there?

In Georgia, there are several types of employment termination: mutual agreement between the parties, unilateral termination by either the employer or the employee, expiration of the employment contract, or completion of the agreed-upon work. Additional grounds include the employee’s long-term incapacity to perform their duties, business-related reasons such as permanent company closure. Employment may also be terminated on other grounds as provided by law.

2) What are the legal grounds for termination initiated by the employer?

Incompatibility of the employee’s qualifications or professional skills with the position held or the work to be performed;

Gross violation by the employee of obligations imposed by the employment contract, collective agreement, or internal labor regulations; Economic circumstances, or technological or organizational changes that necessitate workforce reduction; The employee’s long-term incapacity to work.

3) What are the legal procedures required for terminating an employee?

In cases of termination the employer ის required to provide written notice of the termination.  Additionally, upon the employee’s request, the employer is obligated to provide a written justification for the decision to terminate the employment contract.

4) What are the mandatory notice periods for termination?

When an employer intends to terminate an employee due to organizational or technological changes, economic circumstances, lack of the employee’s qualifications, In the event of long-term incapacity to work ;other objective reasons, the employer is obligated to:

Provide the employee with at least 30 calendar days’ prior written notice, in which case the employee is entitled to one month’s salary as compensation;

Alternatively, provide at least 3 calendar days’ notice, in which case the employee is entitled to two months’ salary as compensation.

5) What severance pay and compensation are employees entitled to?

An employee is entitled to receive payment for days worked as well as compensation for any unused vacation days. 

In accordance with the applicable legislation, depending on the ground for termination and the notice period provided, the employee is entitled to receive either one or two months’ salary as compensation.

If reinstatement is not possible, the court may award monetary compensation to the employee. The amount of compensation is not specifically defined by law and is instead assessed on a case-by-case basis at the court’s discretion.

6) How should employers handle termination due to poor performance or misconduct?

In the event of misconduct committed by the employee, the employer is entitled to terminate the employment agreement on two possible grounds:

• Gross violation of the employee’s obligations under the employment contract, internal labor regulations, or other applicable workplace rules;
• The violation by an employee of his/her obligations under an individual employment agreement or a collective agreement and/or of internal labour regulations, if any of the disciplinary steps under the said individual employment agreement or collective agreement and/or internal labour regulations has already been taken against the employee during the last year;

In the event of poor performance by the employee, the employer may terminate the employment contract on the following ground: Incompatibility of the employee’s qualifications or professional skills with the requirements of the position or the work to be performed;

When invoking this ground for termination, there must be documented evidence of the employee’s lack of the required skills or competencies to perform the job adequately.

7) What legal recourse is available to employees in case of unlawful termination?

In the case of unlawful dismissal, the employee has the right to appeal to the court and request:

• Reinstatement to their position;
• Recognition of the termination decision as invalid;
• Compensation for lost wages (back pay);
• Compensation for moral damages

If reinstatement is not feasible, the court may order the employer to pay the employee appropriate monetary compensation in lieu of reinstatement.

8) What is the procedure for terminating an employment contract with foreign nationals?

Dismissal of a foreign citizen is carried out following the general procedure. A local employer is obliged, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, to provide information to the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia regarding the early termination of an employment contract concluded with a labor immigrant, or regarding the extension of the term of such a contract.

Author: Sophiko Gogishvili