Employment - Legislative and case law developments

1. Provisional changes to pension rates and transitional rules on contributions

Royal Decree-Law 1/2025 provisionally changes pension rates until the General State Budget Law for 2025 is approved. It also establishes transitional rules on contributions such as determining the contribution to the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism and minimum increases to the contribution base.

2. Requirement for coherence between the conciliation letter and the claim made more flexible

The Supreme Court holds that a lack of consistency between the conciliation letter and the employee’s claim does not result in a denial of due process when this is caused by a change in the legal classification of the facts rather than the facts themselves.

3. Case law unification: video surveillance and the duty to report clearly unlawful acts

The Supreme Court unifies case law by holding that using video footage to confirm that an employee has committed an unlawful act does not violate an employee’s right to privacy and thus complies with the Basic Data Protection Law, if the cameras are installed in a visible place and are identified by a sign so that both the employees and their representatives are fully aware of their existence.

4. Consultation period agreement that sought to avoid company subrogation is null

The Supreme Court holds that the agreement reached during the consultation period for a collective redundancy is null because it circumvented the rules on company succession. A company’s decision to terminate an outsourcing contract early resulted in the subcontractor having to initiate a collective redundancy for production reasons. The Supreme Court found, however, that the production reasons were caused by the contracting company and therefore did not justify the subcontractor carrying out the collective redundancy. The court also found that the contracting company ended up hiring 15 of the dismissed employees after they returned their severance pay. All of this led the court to conclude that the collective redundancy agreement was fraudulent.

5. There can be no collective redundancy if, despite workplace closure, business continues and the minimum thresholds are not reached

The Supreme Court confirms that there can be no collective redundancy if the minimum thresholds set out in article 51 of the Statute of Workers are not reached, or the business activity ceases completely. The court justified its decision on the fact that despite the workplace closing, the company and some of its employees continued to be registered with the Social Security.

6. Penalties for obstructing a labour inspector’s work are only valid if the rights to information and defence are respected

The National Court holds that a penalty imposed for obstructing a labour inspector’s work is null because the company had not been properly informed about the reasons for the inspection, nor had it been given access to the case file when requested.