Employment - Legislative and case law developments

1. Regulatory development of the RED Mechanism for Employment Stability and Flexibility and obligation to notify labour authorities of collective redundancies

Royal Decree 608/2023 of 11 July introduces the regulatory development of the RED Mechanism for Employment Stability and Flexibility provided for in article 47 bis Statute of Workers. It also introduces the obligation for companies to give the labour authorities six months’ notice of a collective redundancy process when it will involve 50 or more employees and the company’s closure.

2.  Royal Decree-Law 5/2023: new measures, leave and the reform of the Labour Offences and Sanctions Law (LISOS)

Royal Decree-Law 5/2023 has added new types of leave to those regulated in the Statute of Workers and improved the conditions of others in order to help workers achieve a better work-life balance. Two new  offences have also been included in the LISOS.

3. New social security incentives as of 1 September 2023

Social security incentives to encourage permanent employment entered into force on 1 September 2023.

4. Tax relief for irregular income applicable to severance pay for senior executives who are also directors

The Supreme Court has held that the 30% tax relief for irregular income can be applied to severance payments made to senior executives who are also directors provided that the other statutory requirements to apply the relief are met.

5. Dismissal on objective grounds upheld despite employee representatives being informed several days afterwards

The Supreme Court has held that the legal requirements to carry out a dismissal on objective grounds are fulfilled provided that the employee representatives receive a copy of the dismissal letter within a reasonable period of time after the dismissal date.

6. Right to digital disconnection is not breached if workers receive on-call pay

On-call pay remunerates workers for being available to work outside their normal working hours. The High Court of Justice of Madrid has held that a company that pays its employees this type of remuneration had not infringed their right to digital disconnection by contacting them during those “on-call” hours.

7. Reviewing employee's WhatsApp messages sent from a company mobile does not violate the right to privacy

The High Court of Justice of Madrid has held that even though an employer did not establish criteria for its employees’ use of work devices, checking their WhatsApp messages did not violate an employee’s privacy since the messages were strictly work-related.