Introduction to Recent Legal Developments
Spain’s Social Court in the National Court has issued a ruling to clarify how to count the five days of leave for various illness, accident, or family hospitalization scenarios that were approved under Royal Decree-law 5/2023. The court determined that these days should be treated as business days rather than calendar days. The same rule applies to the two days of leave granted after a family member’s death.
The decision, reported by USO, partially upholds a union challenge to the sector’s collective agreement for contact centers, which had previously set these days as natural days. It also invalidates a later agreement signed by the sector’s joint committee with the CC.OO., UGT, and employer associations.
Leaves may be requested by a spouse or domestic partner, by relatives up to the second degree by blood or affinity, including a blood relative of a domestic partner, and even by someone else who shares the same home and who genuinely requires the care of the employee.
Government Measures
Yolanda Díaz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, announced that a law will bar companies from automatically and validly terminating an employee due to a new permanent disability. This was disclosed at a day-long event organized by the UGT union on the future of work. Under the new law, a dismissal grounded in an employee’s health would be declared void by the courts, forcing the employer to readmit the worker and pay all owed salaries and compensation.
Díaz has asked to remove this provision in the framework of reforms to Article 49 of the Constitution, aimed at changing the language used to refer to people with disabilities. In Spain, around 685,300 workers hold a recognized disability, according to the latest data from INE.
Currently, Spanish law allows a company to justify a justified and objective dismissal of a worker who has acquired a disability after being hired. This scenario is outlined in Article 49.1 of the Workers’ Statute, which permits the termination of an employment relationship due to death, serious disability, or total or absolute permanent disability of the worker.
A spokesperson stated that many workers who suffer different levels of permanent disability experience automatic contract termination. The government plans a legislative change to ensure that permanent disability that is already regulated does not lead to automatic dismissal, a move framed as a matter of social justice.
New Job-Leave Provisions
The Workers’ Statute, often referred to as the handbook of labor law, lists several paid leaves that allow employees to be away from work for valid reasons without losing pay. One leave that may be less familiar is the training leave, which enables workers to pursue professional development while continuing to receive pay. This training leave is regulated by Article 23.3 of the Workers’ Statute and amounts to 20 hours per year. The actual use may be higher because it can be accumulated over a period of up to five years, allowing a maximum of 100 hours in total.
Details about how to request this leave and other related aspects are not exhaustively specified by the statute. It notes that, in the absence of a provision in a collective agreement, the method for enjoying the leave should be decided by mutual agreement between the worker and the employer.