July 2020

 
     
 

LABOUR LAW

LEGISLATIVE AND CASE LAW DEVELOPMENTS

 
     
 

1. AN EMPLOYEE WHOSE DISMISSAL IS DECLARED unfair IS ENTITLED TO ANNUAL PAID LEAVE ACCRUED FROM THE TERMINATION OF HIS EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT UNTIL HIS REINSTATEMENT

The Court of Justice of the European Union considers that Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 on the organisation of working time overrides national legislation which deprives an employee who has been unfairly dismissed and subsequently reinstated of the annual paid leave accrued between his dismissal and reinstatement (or the equivalent financial remuneration). The Court, applying mutatis mutandis its case law on cases where employees are unable to take their annual paid leave because of illness, considers that the period between the date of dismissal and the reinstatement of an employee must be treated as a period of actual effective work for the purposes of determining his or her entitlement to annual paid leave, as the employee has been unable to render services for unforeseeable reasons.

2. TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES WHO ARE IRREGULARLY EMPLOYED BY A STATE-OWNED COMPANY ARE NOT FIXED PERMANENT EMPLOYEES

The Plenary of the Supreme Court has concluded that the category of ‘non-fixed permanent employee’, which is an employee who has the right to occupy a post until it is filled according to the appropriate procedure for civil servant positions, exists not only in public authorities and public law entities, but also in state-owned companies. This safeguards the fulfilment of the principles of equality, merit and capacity that apply to appointments to public posts.

3. EMPLOYEES OF MULTISERVICE COMPANIES CARRYING OUT A SINGLE ACTIVITY IN A CLIENT COMPANY MUST BE GOVERNED BY THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR THAT ACTIVITY

The Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court has held that, in those cases in which multiservice companies do not have their own collective bargaining agreement, the criterion that prevails to determine the collective bargaining agreement applicable to their employees is that of the 'real and true activity' carried out by them in the client company, especially when they perform a single activity.

However, as the Supreme Court has held in previous cases, where employees of a multiservice company provide various services in the client company and these services could fall under the scope of several collective bargaining agreements, the applicable collective bargaining agreement is that of the main activity performed by the multiservice company.

4. TEMPORAry increases in WORKING hours MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT to calculate remuneration during THE ANNUAL PAID LEAVE OF A PART-TIME EMPLOYEE

The Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court has held that, when part-time employees renew their contracts and their hours are temporarily increased, their remuneration during periods of annual paid leave must reflect the periods of higher pay. Thus, the remuneration paid to part-time employees while they are on annual leave must reflect their average remuneration over the previous 11 months (including periods of higher remuneration because of longer working hours), even if the employees’ working hours have been reduced again when they actually take the leave.

5. publishing details of a SUBSTANTIAL modification of WORKING CONDITIONS on a company’s intranet is not sufficient to meet EMPLOYEE notification requirements

The Supreme Court has stressed that the procedure set out in article 41 of the Statute of Workers must be followed to make substantial modifications to working conditions and, in this regard, paragraph 3 of that provision requires that modifications be notified to the employees concerned and their representatives. Publishing the modification on the company's intranet does not meet this requirement.

6. THE SECTORAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT MUST BE CONSIDERED IN A TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKING situation EVEN IF THERE IS An applicable regional or company COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

The Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court has held that, pursuant to article 84.3 of the Statute of Workers, and unless provided otherwise, a sectoral collective bargaining agreement takes precedence owing to its general nature and role in unifying working conditions. Consequently, the provisions on transfers of undertakings in regional or company-specific collective bargaining agreements must be read in conjunction with and be supplemented by those of the applicable national collective bargaining agreement for the sector.

 
   
 

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

 

Jesús R. Mercader
jesus.mercader@uria.com

 
     
 

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

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