Mutual termination on TéléRC: process, form and 2026 deadlines

Updated 18 June 2026. Reviewed by Samuel Hayot, chartered accountant registered with the OEC Paris Île-de-France.

Mutual termination looks simple on paper: an agreement, a form, a deadline, an approval. In our payroll exit assignments, the agreement itself is almost never the problem. The friction lies in the administrative execution: a miscounted withdrawal period, an indemnity below the legal minimum, a request filed too early. The concrete result is a file rejected by the DREETS, a termination that slips by several weeks, and an end-of-contract date that becomes uncertain for both parties. This article explains how to run the procedure on TéléRC without triggering those blockages.

Direct answer. TéléRC is the French Ministry of Labour's official online service to complete, sign and file an individual mutual termination. The path follows five non-compressible steps: complete the form (Cerfa 14598*01), sign the agreement and hand a copy to the employee, observe 15 calendar days of withdrawal from the day after signature, submit the approval request, then allow the DREETS 15 working days to review. Administrative silence at the end of that period amounts to approval.

Two routes coexist for the individual mutual termination of a non-protected employee: the paper Cerfa 14598*01 form sent to the DREETS, or the TéléRC online service. Both carry the same legal value.

Our reading. For an SME without a dedicated HR team, TéléRC is clearly preferable. The service computes an indicative minimum amount, checks date consistency and prevents certain entry errors. Above all, it time-stamps the steps: the signature date and the end of the withdrawal period are tracked, which reduces the number-one risk, namely submitting the approval request one day too early. Paper remains useful in two cases: a protected employee (termination then requires authorisation from the labour inspectorate, not DREETS approval) or a situation where connection is impossible.

The underestimated risk. TéléRC secures the timeline, but it does not check substance. It verifies neither the applicable collective agreement, nor the reality of consent, nor the quality of the reference salary entered. The minimum amount displayed by the tool is only indicative: if the collective agreement provides a more favourable calculation, that one prevails. The tool does not know it. This is precisely where a professional's analysis adds value.

1. Complete the online form#

The form mirrors Cerfa 14598*01. You must enter the parties' full identity, the applicable collective agreement, seniority, the reference salary and the amount of the specific indemnity. The planned termination date must be later than the end of the DREETS review.

In practice. Before opening the form, prepare three items: the payslips for the last twelve months (to rebuild the most favourable reference salary), the collective agreement (to check any derogatory scale), and the desired end-of-contract date. Entering these on the fly is the surest way to produce a wrong amount.

2. Sign the agreement and hand over a copy#

The generated agreement is printed and signed by both parties. A copy is handed to the employee on the day of signature. This is not a formality: the Court of Cassation has made it a validity condition. The absence of proof that a copy was handed to the employee can, on its own, void the termination before the labour court.

3. Observe the 15 calendar-day withdrawal period#

This is the most frequently mishandled step. From the day after signature, each party has 15 calendar days to withdraw, weekends and public holidays included (Article L1237-13 of the Labour Code).

Classic error. Counting the 15 days from the signature day (D) instead of the next day (D+1). This brings the filing forward by one day and causes the systematic return of the file by the DREETS. TéléRC limits this risk by blocking early submission, but a paper filing does not forgive the error.

4. Submit the approval request#

After the withdrawal period, the approval request is validated on TéléRC (or sent by post to the DREETS for a paper filing). The administration has 15 working days to review. It checks the freedom of consent, compliance with the procedure, the indemnity amount and the absence of fraud against the employee's rights. DREETS silence at the end of the period amounts to tacit approval.

5. Keep the acknowledgements and issue the exit payroll#

Once approval is obtained, the termination takes effect on the agreed date. Keep the TéléRC acknowledgement and the approval decision: these are your evidence in case of dispute. Then issue the final payroll, the final settlement, the work certificate and the certificate for France Travail. The detail of the calculation is covered in our dedicated article on the calculation of the specific mutual termination indemnity. To estimate an amount upstream, you can use our mutual termination simulator.

A new point deserves the attention of employers and employees alike in 2026. Law no. 2026-470 of 11 June 2026, which transposes amendment no. 3 of 25 February 2026 to the unemployment insurance agreement, changes the maximum duration of benefits for people leaving their job through an individual mutual termination.

According to the meaning of the text, this maximum duration would be reduced to 15 months for jobseekers under 55 (versus 18 months for a dismissal), 20.5 months for those aged 55 and over, and 30 months in the overseas territories. In other words, all else being equal, a mutual termination would open a shorter benefit period than a dismissal.

What to keep in mind, and what remains to be verified. The law and its direction are confirmed by Légifrance and the legislative file. However, the entry-into-force date of this reduction is not set by the law itself: the text refers its application to a decree or to the approval of the amendment. As at the update date of this article, no official source (Légifrance, Unédic) confirms a precise application date. We therefore deliberately set aside any date circulated elsewhere until the timetable is published. Before negotiating a departure, check the exact state of the scheme on the Unédic or France Travail website, or review it with us.

Our reading. If this duration reduction is confirmed on application, the trade-off between mutual termination and other forms of termination changes for the employee: post-departure financial security will weigh more heavily in the decision. For the employer, this may make a negotiation more delicate, with the employee demanding a higher indemnity to offset shorter unemployment cover. It is a parameter to factor in from the framing stage, not after signature. The trade-off between economic dismissal and mutual termination is directly affected.

In the exit files we support, the most common blockage scenario is nothing exotic. The agreement is signed on a Friday. The employer, eager to move forward, submits the approval request before the real end of the withdrawal period, counting 15 days from the signature day. The DREETS returns the file for premature submission. The procedure starts again, the end-of-contract date slips by two to three weeks, and the already-prepared exit payroll has to be recalculated.

The remedy fits in one sentence: a shared calendar between management and the firm, with three dates locked from signature (day after signature, D+15, D+16). It is trivial, and yet it is the most widespread pitfall.

• Collective agreement checked (indemnity scale possibly more favourable than the legal one).
• Reference salary rebuilt over the last 12 months and the last 3 months, most favourable base retained.
• Indemnity amount at least equal to the legal minimum, costed to the cent.
• Agreement signed by both parties, copy handed to the employee on the day of signature.
• Three dates locked: day after signature, D+15, D+16.
• Approval request submitted no earlier than D+16.
• TéléRC acknowledgement and approval decision archived.
• Exit payroll, final settlement, work certificate and France Travail certificate issued on the termination date.