On 18 November 2024, the Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) handed down a landmark ruling in an extraordinary appeal procedure (recurso de casación) for the unification of case law in labour and employment law matters.

That is the big question of 2024. Almost a year ago, the Spanish government announced a staggered reduction of the maximum weekly worktime from 40 to 37.5 hours as one of the upcoming changes for 2024. However, there is still no clarity on the moment of coming into force of this measure and its applicability.

The Spanish employment law landscape has seen quite some turmoil in these summer weeks. A “technical” error in the new Law on Equality (Ley de Paridad) has eliminated two grounds for the objective, or automatic, nullity of dismissals. According to the Ministry of Equality, this error will be corrected as soon as possible, but what happens with the dismissals that may occur in the meantime, until the law is effectively rectified?

In Spain, employment law, specifically article 18 of the Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de Trabajadores, ET), regulates the search of employees’ lockers and personal belongings.

2024 has barely begun and yet it already promises to become quite an eventful year, at least in Spain. The following legal projects are planned for this year:

Remote working has established itself: this reality is as undisputed as the attractiveness of Spain for remote workers.

Spain’s new Organic Law 1/2023, of 28 February 2023, which amends Organic Law 2/2010, of 3 March 2010, on Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy, has just come into force and has amended arts. 169, 172 and 173 of the General Law on Social Security (LGSS), approved by Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, of 30 October 2015.

Spain is a very attractive destination for workers of foreign companies. Accordingly, on 23 December 2022, Law 28/2022, of 21 December, on the promotion of the ecosystem of emerging companies (the “Startup Law”) entered into force, updating Law 14/2013, of 27 September, on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation (the “Entrepreneurs’ Law”), by including a new labour migratory phenomenon in the regulation: international remote work.

In Spain, the answer is yes. Despite a surprising lack of coverage in the media regarding this topic, any person working in Spain and registered with the Spanish Social Security (including the self-employed) must become familiar with a new concept as of 1 January 2023: the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (Mecanismo de Equidad Intergeneracional or “MEI”).

Answering this question requires a reference to Articles 53.4 and 55.5 of Spanish “Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of 23 October, which approves the revised text of the Workers’ Statute Law.” The Workers’ Statute regulates employer-employee relationships in Spain and determines inter alia when a dismissal is null and void, as summarised in the following:

With the approval and entry into force of Royal Decree 286/2022, of 19 April, which modifies the obligation to use masks during the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the use of masks for people over six years of age will only be obligatory for the following persons in these places or situations:

The Supreme Court issues a warning in relation to companies’ unilateral abolition of the ever-so-popular tip as it could imply, depending on the case, a substantial modification in working conditions (“MSCT”).

The approval of Law 10/2021, of 9 July, on remote working (BOE 11 July 2021), modified the First Final Provision, Article 40 of Royal Legislative-Decree 5/2000 of 4 August, which approves the consolidated text of the Law on Infractions and Penalties in Labour Matters (Ley sobre Infracciones y Sanciones en el Orden Social or “LISOS”) in such a way that the amounts of the penalties indicated below shall increase as of 1 October 2021 as follows:

ERTEs due to force majeure based on causes related to COVID-19 and ERTEs due to impediments to and/or limitations on activity as a consequence of the pandemic have been extended for the fifth time.

In this article, we will consider whether, pursuant to current legislation and case law, it would be easy to go from an ERTE ETOP to a Collective Dismissal Procedure (ERE) ETOP. For this purpose, we will examine ruling number 63, handed down by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia on 3 December 2020.

On 28 March 2020, in the midst of the state of alarm in Spain, Royal Decree-Law 9/2020 of 27 March entered into force. It adopts complementary measures in the context of employment to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. These regulations include, inter alia, in Article 2, the “prohibition” to dismiss when it is due to force majeure or economic, technical, organisational or production-related causes (ETOP) governed in Articles 22 and 23 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of 17 March.

If you have not heard of it yet, surely you will soon: it is none other than Ruling no. 323/2020 of 18 November, handed down by Labour Court no. 33 of Madrid. From November? Yes, despite its “age,” it has been generating discussion of late due to dismissals of workers over 50. This can be summarised in two simple and terrifying words for companies: null and void.

In labour regulations, the causes for a disciplinary dismissal are listed in the applicable collective bargaining agreement, as well as in Art. 54 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of 23 October, which approves the consolidated text of the Law on the Workers’ Statute.

At the peak of the third wave, in which mainly the restaurant and trade sectors are again being hit hard by the restrictions imposed by the Autonomous Communities to try to contain the rapid expansion of the virus, and in light of the fact that currently there are more than 700,000 people in ERTEs (collective procedures for the temporary suspension of employment), the government and labour representatives/organisations passed the IV Labour Agreement in Defence of Employment on 19 January 2021.

It certainly seems that way: Royal Decree-Law 28/2020, of 22 September, on remote work, has been approved. This regulation is intended to govern more completely this manner of working which until now has scarcely been governed in Article 13 of the Workers’ Statute. The passing of this regulation was prompted, despite the already existing EU regulation in this respect, by nothing less than COVID-19

Remote working: these are the key points of the new law passed by the government