December 2019

 
     
 

LABOUR LAW

LEGISLATIVE AND CASE LAW DEVELOPMENTS

 
     
 

1. MEASURES ON TAXATION, CADASTRE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Royal Decree-Law 18/2019 of 27 December adopting measures on taxation, cadastre and social security

Royal Decree-Law 18/2019 establishes provisional social security measures that will take effect from 1 January 2020 relating to (i) the increase of state pensions and other benefits; (ii) social security contributions; and (iii) base amounts and limits on social security contributions of specific groups.

2. MATERNITY PENSION SUPPLEMENT CONTRARY TO THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL TREATMENT BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN MATTERS OF SOCIAL SECURITY

Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 12 December 2019

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a Spanish law that establishes that women who are mothers of at least two children and are receiving a contributory permanent incapacity pension have the right to a pension supplement, unlike men who are in an identical situation, is contrary to Council Directive 79/7/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security.

3. TEMPORARY employment agency WORKERS ARE ENTITLED TO have THE USER UNDERTAKING’s equality plan applied to them

Judgment of the Labour Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court of 13 November 2019

The Supreme Court has held that, pursuant to article 11 of the Temporary Employment Agencies Law, temporary employment agency workers are entitled to have the equality plan of their user undertaking applied to them, as the purpose of article 11 is to guarantee the principle of equal treatment between temporary agency workers and employees of user undertakings. The Supreme Court also pointed out that the temporary employment agency’s equality plan and the user undertaking’s equality plan can both be applied.

4. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT clause REGULATING An employment CONTRACT WITH VARIABLE WORKING HOURS NULL AND VOID

Judgment of the Labour Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court of 29 November 2019

The Supreme Court has held that the clause of a collective bargaining agreement that regulated employment contracts and allowed companies to impose variable working hours was null and void. The Supreme Court found that the clause allowed the company to modify, at its discretion, the employees’ schedule and the duration of their working day, which is contrary to the regulation on part-time employment contracts (article 12 of the Statute of Workers) and to the regulation on substantial modifications of working conditions (article 41 of the Statute of Workers).

5. EMPLOYMENT ABSENCES FOR HOLIDAYS AND OTHER REST-RELATED LEAVE DO NOT justify the USE OF TEMPORARY CONTRACTS

Judgment of the Labour Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court of 30 October 2019

The Supreme Court has ruled that employees taking holiday and other rest periods does not justify the employer’s use of interim temporary employment contracts (as these rests do not entail a right to a job position reservation) nor does it justify the use of a temporary contract due to production needs, as these rest periods cannot be considered an unforeseeable circumstance.

6. SUBSTANTIAL MODIFICATIONs OF WORKING CONDITIONS NEGOTIATED WITH ENTIRE WORKFORCE are valid and applicable to all the employees

Judgment of the Labour Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court of 10 October 2019

The Supreme Court has held that the collective substantial modification of working conditions by a company that does not have employee representatives, further to an agreement negotiated directly with all of its staff (who had chosen not to appoint an ad hoc committee pursuant to article 41 of the Statute of Workers), is valid and applicable to all the employees, even those who voted against it.

7. COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT permitting a WORKING TIME REGISTER to be modified to account for breaks DOES NOT CHANGE THE WORKING TIME provisions OF THE APPLICABLE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

Judgment of the Labour Chamber of the Spanish National Court of 29 October 2019

The Spanish National Court has ruled that a provision of a company’s collective agreement pursuant to which two hours are deducted by default from its full-time staff’s recorded daily working time to cover all rest periods (including lunch breaks) is lawful as it does not in practice preclude those employees from reducing their lunch break to one hour (and for this to be reflected in the working time register). The court found that the company’s collective agreement does not modify the working time provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

8. HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE OF MADRID changes criteria AND CONFIRMS glovo’s riders are EMPLOYees

Judgment of the full Labour Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Madrid of 27 November 2019

The Labour Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Madrid (sitting in plenary session) has ruled that its approach will now be the reverse of that taken by section 4 of the Labour Chamber in a judgment of 19 September 2019, which held that Glovo's riders were self-employed workers. The High Court has concluded, as the High Court of Asturias did in its ruling of 25 July 2019, that the essential elements of an employment relationship (dependence on a third party, the employer) are present in the relationship between Glovo and its riders.

 

 
   
 

In case of any doubts or comments, please do not hesitate to contact

           
 

Mario Barros
mario.barros@uria.com


 

Juan Reyes
juan.reyes@uria.com

 

Ana Alos
ana.alos@uria.com

           
 

Jorge Gorostegui
jorge.gorostegui@uria.com


 

Raúl Boo
raul.boo@uria.com

 


 
     
 

The information contained in this Newsletter is of a general nature and does not constitute legal advice

MORE NEWSLETTERS