Category: Case law / legal theory
The prohibition on competition must be in line with the duration of the employment contract
A Catalonia High Court judgment has deemed that the post-contractual noncompete undertaking cannot exceed the duration of the employee’s contract. The ban on employees competing with their employers during the term of their employment relationship is imposed by law. However, it is also possible to limit competition following the termination of the employment contract. To […]
Japan restricts monthly overtime to 100 hours, while Spain approves daily monitoring of working time
This April new regulations approved by the Japanese parliament will come into force containing a work/life balance measure that will restrict the number of overtime hours of Japanese workers. 236 deaths caused by Karoshi (death from overwork) and 208 suicides caused by Karojisatsu (mental health problems arising at the workplace) have raised the alarm within […]
When are tips considered part of a worker’s wages?
If the tip is a direct transfer between the customer and the worker without the company’s involvement, it will not form part of the worker’s wages. The lack of labor regulations governing tips in many business sectors (with some exceptions, such as the casino sector which does regulate them) leaves us with myriad questions regarding […]
Could the inequality between paternity leave and maternity leave be unconstitutional?
A father has managed to have an appeal admitted by the Constitutional Court, in which he claims that the inequality between paternity leave and maternity leave is a form of discrimination. Last May the Constitutional Court (CT) admitted an appeal for the protection of constitutional rights filed by a father who had been denied the […]
No protection from employers for breastfeeding working mothers could be discrimination on grounds of sex
Equality between female and male employees at the workplace is very topical at the moment and over recent months a completely new movement has appeared in Spain seeking to stamp out any discrimination against female workers on grounds of sex. Still a source of conflict is the protection of women who are pregnant, have recently […]
Withdrawal of driving license could place job at risk
Where a valid driving license is needed for workers to perform the duties attached to their jobs the question to be asked is what happens if a worker’s driving license is withdrawn as a result of a traffic offense. In those cases, can the company interrupt or terminate the employment relationship? The Supreme Court shed […]