April 2016

LABOUR LAW


1. CIVIL LIABILITY IMPOSED ON A STRIKER FOR PERSONAL injury AND property DAMAGE CAUSED TO A THIRD PARTY DURING A STRIKE REQUIRES PROOF OF DIRECT involvement

The Constitutional Court set aside a judgment declaring a picket leader responsible for the personal injury that other picketers had caused to the owner of a bar during a general strike. The Constitutional Court held that imposing civil liability merely on the grounds of leading the picket infringed the right to strike.

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2. EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVE positions CEASE TO EXIST when a workplace CLOSES AND THE ACTIVITY is moved TO OTHER COMPANY WORKPLACES

The Constitutional Court held that when a workplace is closed and the employees are transferred to different workplaces of the same company, the employee representative positions of the closed workplace cease to exist. Consequently, they lose their entitlement to paid time off to carry out such duties (which was the main matter under dispute in this case).

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3. enhancing COMPANY competitiveness by IMPLEMENTing A LOW-COST POLICY DOES NOT IN ITSELF JUSTIFY wage REDUCTIONS

The Supreme Court held that the implementation of a low-cost policy in a company in the attempt to enhance its competitiveness, did not justify a substantial modification of collective employment conditions when no economic causes applied.

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4. EXTRA salary PAYment CANNOT BE UNILATERALLY SPLIT INTO INSTALMENTS BY A COMPANY EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS LOSSES

The National Court held that a company could not unilaterally split an extra salary payment into instalments, even if splitting it was due to the company’s negative economic situation.

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5. ABSENCE FROM WORK DOES NOT ALWAYS mean A RESIGNATION

The High Court of Justice of the Basque Country held that a prolonged absence from work did not automatically mean a resignation. Resignation only takes place when the intention to resign is clearly expressed.

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6. ABSENCE FROM WORK IS NOT A VALID CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINARY DISMISsAL WHEN TOLERATED BY OWNER OF A FAMILY BUSINESS

The High Court of Justice of Galicia held that an employee who would be absent from his post owing to working flexible hours since the beginning of his employment relationship, could not be dismissed on the grounds of such absences. This was because the employer had not taken any steps to discontinue this established practice.

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7. nulLity of a tacit collective redundancy

The High Court of Justice of Madrid held that the tacit collective redundancy carried out by two Spanish companies (which were subsidiaries of an international group) that were intentionally decapitalised was void.

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