Labor and Employment Newsletter - March 2025
Formalities of Dismissal and Prior Hearing
Federico Durán
A recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling has created a high level of legal uncertainty regarding the prior hearing procedure in disciplinary dismissals, raising numerous legal questions.
News
The contribution order for 2025 is published
The order establishes the maximum and minimum bases and contribution rates as of 1 January 2025, which are updated in accordance with the minimum interprofessional wage for 2025. The maximum contribution base is set at 4,909.50 euros per month.
Published the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) for 2025
The Royal Decree, effective from January 1st, increases the MIW (SMI) by 4.41%, to 1,184 euros per month.
The law restores some of the labor and social security measures already provided for in Royal Decree-Law 9/2024 after its repeal on 22 January 2025.
Basic equality and diversity obligations at a glance
The proliferation of equality and diversity regulations has meant that companies need to remain attentive to a whole set of obligations.
With this document, we seek to offer a schematic overview of the key issues that companies need to bear in mind to properly comply with the legislation on equality and diversity.
On the radar
- Government approves draft bill to reduce working hours
- Changes in Labor Court procedures from April
Judgments
- The company's own collective agreement is not affected by a subsequent sectoral agreement
- Dismissal for making fraudulent returns detected by video surveillance cameras is justified
- Delivering the objective dismissal letter to the employees’ legal representatives after its notification to the employee does not affect its validity and effects
- Disciplinary dismissal for spending time on social media during working hours is justified
- Confirmation of suspension of employment and salary for a union delegate who made offensive comments on social media
Labor and Sustainable
The challenge of parity in senior management for family businesses
On 2nd August 2024, the so-called Parity Law was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), which establishes the obligation of companies included in its scope of application to ensure that senior management has a composition that ensures the presence of at least 40% of the under-represented sex. We reflect on how this legal obligation should be addressed in family businesses.
Garrigues Sustainable Newsletter - January 2025
In this newsletter we compile the most relevant legal news on ESG matters in Spain, published by Garrigues and G-advisory.
Latin America
Artificial Intelligence in the Latin American Labor Market
The adoption of technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI), also known as emerging technologies, is showing an upward trend globally, and countries like Peru and Colombia are already advancing in the creation of regulations for the use and implementation of AI. In our Latin American Labor Newsletter, we analyze this and other issues in the field of labor law that are of interest to the region.
Chile: A New Obligation for Employers Regarding Complaints of Harassment and Workplace Violence
The new law stipulates that employers must inform the respective managing body of the employee’s accident insurance and professional illness insurance when they receive a complaint of sexual harassment, workplace harassment, or violence at work.
8M in Peru: These Are the Labor Rights That Protect Women in the Workplace
March 8th marks International Women's Day, a date that not only represents an opportunity to reflect on advances in gender equality but also to remind us of the labor rights that protect women in the workplace.
Mexico: INFONAVIT Law and Federal Labor Law amended to include new obligations for employers
On February 21, 2025, the reform that amends and repeals various provisions of the Law of the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT) and the Federal Labor Law was published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) to include new obligations for employers in socially oriented housing.
Chile: Adjustment of the Monthly Minimum Wage Starting January 2025
On Thursday, February 6th, 2025, the Official Journal of Chile published Decree No. 3 from the Ministry of Finance, which determines the value of the Monthly Minimum Wage (IMM), setting it at $510,636, effective retroactively from January 1st, 2025.
We detail the most relevant points to consider regarding the electronic boxes implemented by the Labor Authority for administrative act notifications.
Chile: Implications and Considerations for Employers of the Recently Approved Pension Reform
The Chilean Legislative Branch approved the bill colloquially known as the Pension Reform, which includes the most significant changes to the pension system since its creation in 1981.
Labor and Employment Blog
The improvements introduced in recent years in rights of work-life balance consisting of reducing or adapting the working day have created interpretative doubts about their application and possible scope. Conflicts have arisen when, for example, the company considers that the case on which the person is relying is not accredited, or when there is no balance between the right of the person requesting the measure and the organizational needs of the company. In these cases, the courts and tribunals are giving a key role to the good faith that must exist between both parties.
The urban legend of the ‘digital nomad’
Legend has it that in Spain there are ‘digital nomads’ who can work from here for foreign companies from outside the European Union. But this legend does not explain what employment legislation is applicable and what social security system covers them. We will see below that there is no regulatory answer to these doubts because Spain has only regulated a visa and a residence permit.
‘Riders’ law’ and platform work directive: challenges ahead
On November 11, 2024, Directive (EU) 2024/2831 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on improving working conditions in platform work was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Its transposition by the Member States (which deadline is December 2, 2026) will bring with it new and important obligations for digital platforms.
Vade mecum of the main paid leaves in Spain
What kind of leave can employees take? How? When? In this post we present a basic guide to the main paid leaves regulated in the Workers’ Statute. These leaves can be developed, extended or enhanced through the collective bargaining agreement applicable to each company.
In the press
The Supreme Court Settles the Debate on the Hierarchy of Agreements After the 2021 Labor Reform
In this opinion piece published in Expansión, our partner Carlos García Barcala discusses the Supreme Court ruling that confirms the 2021 labor reform did not grant priority application to sectoral agreements over company agreements. The general rule regarding the concurrency of agreements remains the one that gives preference to the earlier agreement. The appeal to the Supreme Court was filed by a company advised by Garrigues. In the same vein, this article has also been published in La Voz de Galicia.
The Use of Artificial Intelligence Is Gaining Ground in Collective Agreements
Little by little, clauses related to artificial intelligence (AI) are making their way into collective agreements in Spain. As our partner Ángel Olmedo Jiménez points out in this article published in Cinco Días, the way AI is regulated in these agreements depends on the sector or company, although the main points are often the same.
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