The legal provisions laying down the basis for collective dismissals for economic reasons, as they were defined in the Spanish Workers’ Statute, infringe European Directive 98/59/CE and have undergone a change. Now, only the workplace that is affected by restructuring is regarded as the basis for individual and collective dismissals.
The aim of business succession regulation is to reinforce the guarantees of workers facing ownership changes, improve information resources and consultation, and increase participatory rights. A business owner must duly seek advice since he or she must take responsibility for pension commitments that workers have in accordance with specific regulations, as well as the various forms of supplementary social protections that the workers have may been endowed with (policies for civil responsibility, life, work-related accidents, temporary disability, help, etc.)
Article 12 of the Worker’s Statute regulates the completion of complimentary hours in Spain. Complimentary hours are those that surpass the ordinary working hours and are previously agreed to by the company and employee in writing, either at the signing of the part-time contract or afterwards.
The new applicable labour regulation in Spain considers overtime hours carried out by part-time workers illegal, unless unforeseen circumstances justify their execution.
According to the General Law on rights of persons with disabilities and their social integration, companies in Spain with 50 or more employees are required to hire at least 2% of workers with disabilities.
The recent judgments of the Spanish National High Court stress the established obligation of companies in Spain to keep track of the daily work hours of their employees, regardless of the company’s size. Only with this prior monitoring may companies certify the performance of overtime.
Business succession in Spain must be achieved with a certain degree of care in order to respect all the legal aspects of the acquired company and ensure a peaceful future for the acquiring company. In this way, the social guarantees that are enumerated in Article 44 of the Workers’ Statute should not be forgotten.
Dismissal is the unilateral termination of a work contract by the employer. Disciplinary dismissal occurs when a company believes that a worker has seriously breached and failed to comply with his or her duties. Upon proof of a breach, the labour relationship is terminated and the worker loses the right to any compensation.
One of the factors to bear in mind when calculating the compensation for unfair dismissal in Spain is the seniority of the worker within the company. For contracts signed after 12 February 2012, the compensation is 33 days’ worth of salary for each year worked. For contracts entered before this date, the compensation is calculated in two instalments.
The new legislation for companies whose habitual activity deals with minors requires companies to have a special certificate that accredits that none of its workers has committed sexual offences.
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