Category: Legislative developments

Dismissal based on absenteeism: chronicle of a death foretold
law on grounds of urgency and need, even though it had existed for forty years. This post analyzes the dying days of dismissal for absenteeism and the arduous battle to defend productivity. Since the publication of the Constitutional Court judgment of October 16, 2019, which upheld the constitutionality of section d) of article 52 of […]

National appellate court looks into time recording, beyond the coffee break
The Labor Chamber at Spain’s Appellate Court has delivered a widely reported judgment (December 10, 2019), underlining that it is valid to deduct smoking, breakfast or coffee breaks from actual working hours. Beyond this issue, however, two other no less important topics went unnoticed: how to compute the actual working hours of employees who travel […]

Towards a green work model: 10 initiatives in the working environment
Companies can promote small changes in the working environment which contribute to environmental conservation: from arranging buses or company routes to teleworking, including the creation of the necessary jobs to monitor sustainable development. The connection between environmental issues and those of the world of work may seem remote, since they are of such a different […]

The negotiation of the equality plan when there are no workers’ representatives requires caution
The new obligation to implement equality plans in companies with more than 50 employees has caused an increase in the number of cases in which there are no workers’ legal representatives with whom to negotiate them. This situation raises certain doubts which must be resolved by future regulations or case law. The latest changes made […]

Entrepreneurship needs a new labor framework
Spain does not currently have employment and Social Security legislation which has adapted to the needs of the new initiatives and businesses of startups. From October 2 to 4 the annual gathering is being held in Madrid of the South Summit, a platform created by Spain Startup together with the IE Business School in 2012, […]

Companies with 50 or more workers must set up an internal whistleblower channel
The “whistleblowing” directive requires companies to adopt the necessary measures to prohibit any form of retaliation against employees who report infringements within the company. At the beginning of this year, a proposal for a Commission directive on the protection of persons reporting on breach of Union law was being processed for approval by the European […]