Newsletter Labor and Employment | Q2 2024

Work-life balance

• The acknowledgment by law of the right to accumulate breastfeeding leave in full working days, with no general provision or individual agreement with the employer being required, extends the possibilities of workers to ensure a work-life balance.

Digital disconnection

• The Spanish Court of Appeals has declared that companies can unilaterally develop internal digital disconnection policies as long as the workers’ legal representatives have been consulted in the process.

Due diligence

• Directive 2024/1760, on Due Diligence, has been published, setting obligations regarding impacts on the environment and human rights for business chain of activities on companies with (i) over 1,000 employees, and (ii) an annual turnover of more than €450 million; and non-EU companies with a turnover in the EU of more than €450 million.

 Termination of employment agreement

• The Spanish Court of Appeals has ruled that voluntary resignation of workers assigned as employees to other companies of the same commercial group will be calculated for the purpose of the thresholds determining the obligation to implement a collective dismissal procedure, as terminations by mutual agreement resulting from a company initiative, entailing more demanding requirements for companies wishing to restructure their workforce.

• The Supreme Court has declared that permanent disability, absolute disability, or serious permanent incapacity are incompatible with the ability to work, which calls into question the enforceability of having to make adjustments or adaptations to the job position. 

Collective bargaining

• Labor unions with standing in the autonomous regions may choose to apply the regional collective bargaining agreement over the sector-specific collective bargaining agreement, as long as the former is more favorable. State-level collective bargaining agreements cannot exclude or overlook this possibility.

 Gender equality plans

• The Supreme Court has ruled that companies can unilaterally adopt a gender equality plan if there are no workers’ representatives and no trade union committee has been constituted owing to the trade unions’ failure to appear. This gives greater flexibility to companies that are legally obliged to draw up a gender equality plan.
• Applications for registration of equality plans will be considered to be tacitly approved if the administration does not reply within three months from receiving them, which will expedite the administrative procedure and prevent legal uncertainty of companies submitting their equality plan.

 Remuneration

• With regard to the chemical industry, the Spanish Court of Appeals has ruled on how to apply the adjustments made to the sector’s collective bargaining agreement concerning the bias in consumer price indexes from those established.

 Social security

• As regards training and academic internships outside of the company, a special agreement has been regulated with the Spanish Social Security to calculate contributions from previous training periods.

 What is expected in the second half of 2024

• We expect many major labor developments during the second half of the year, such as the limits on maximum working time; the development of the guidelines and specific instructions for the elaboration and approval of LGTBI plans and protocols for the prevention of harassment and violence against LGTBI people in the workplace; modification of the rules for terminating employment; and sustainable mobility. Companies are advised to be aware of them and to be prepared to address them with due diligence and proper guidance.