EU: ECJ defines conditions for reviews of employees on parental leave whose position is removed

In a decree rendered today, June 20, the Luxembourg judges decided that, under Community law, when preparing the employee reviews within the framework of the cancelation of positions on economic grounds, it was not possible for an employee on parental leave to be evaluated while away on the basis of review principles and criteria putting them in a disadvantageous situation compared with workers who did not take a similar leave.  According to the judges, this means that all workers who might be affected by the cancelation should be reviewed, that the review should be based on the exact same criteria as those applying to the active workers and that meeting these requirements doesn’t imply being physically present for the workers on parental leave.  (Ref.  130416)
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Facts. Mrs. Riežniece used to be a civil servant in a service where a position was removed for economic reasons. The decision was made when she was on parental leave (since 2007). Therefore, her latest annual review – assessing the quality of her work and destined to improve and promote her professional development – dated back to 2006. To determine who would be affected by the removal of the position, the four civil servants affected were reviewed in 2009. Three of the eight criteria were

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