Labor Newsletter - January 2024
The labor measures of Law 4/2023 and their enforceability
Federico Durán
There is considerable uncertainty about the obligation to have protocols under Law 4/2023. It is not possible to conclude from the law whether this obligation will be effective as of 2 March 2024 or whether it is pending regulatory development.
News update
Published the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) for 2024
The Royal Decree, effective 1st January, increases the SMI by 5%, to 1,134 euros per month.
The contribution order for 2024 is published
The order establishes the maximum and minimum bases and contribution rates as of 1 January 2024. The maximum contribution base is set at 4,720.50 euros per month.
During parental leave, contributions must be paid on a minimum basis
The “Boletín de Noticias Red” publishes the criteria of the Directorate General for Social Security Organisation regarding registration and contribution obligations during the eight-week parental leave.
Royal Decree-Law 7/2023, which modified the breastfeeding regime, unemployment and the priority application of regional collective agreements, has been repealed as it has not been validated in the Congress of Deputies. At the same time, the increase of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) for 2024 has been announced.
Among other measures, the SMI, the partial retirement scheme and the provisions on redundancies resulting from the increase in the cost of energy are extended, the contribution bases are updated and the contribution for paid and unpaid traineeships is regulated.
On the radar
- The Ministry of Labour presents the lines of action of the legislature
- Negotiations on working time reduction begin
- The term "handicapped" is removed from the Spanish Constitution
Judgements
- The provision of "calendar days" in the collective agreement to regulate sick leave or hospitalization is null and void
- An objective dismissal is declared admissible irrespective of whether there are subsequent hires
- Invalid dismissal does not necessarily imply the imposition of damages
- Disciplinary dismissal for misuse of the company telephone during temporary incapacity is permissible
- The Court of Justice of the European Union declares that an employer is not obliged to postpone the holiday leave of a worker who was quarantined for COVID-19
- The use of an online map’s app to monitor the time required to attend medical appointments does not entail a substantial modification of working conditions
Labor and Sustainable
This proposal transposes into Spanish law the European directive on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies and related measures, although it is more demanding in its scope than the provisions in the EU act.
OJEU publishes the first set of sustainability reporting standards (ESRS)
They will apply for fiscal years starting on or after January 1, 2024.
Takeaways from COP28 from a European perspective
Following the conclusion of the Climate Summit, we analyze the agreements reached and the challenges that the goals it set raise at the European level, in a new edition of 'Garrigues Sustainable dialogs'.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, a step closer to final approval
The Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on the future directive on corporate sustainability due diligence.
Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the legislation being prepared by the European Union in this area and, more specifically, the proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, has been analyzed in a new edition of the Garrigues Sustainable Dialogs, featuring the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs and experts from Garrigues.
And also…
2024: main new legislation needing to be considered by companies in Spain
Professionals in the various practice areas at Garrigues take a look, from all angles of business law, at the main new legislation that companies will face in the coming year.
Labor and Employment Law Blog
Dividends will increase the contribution for self-employed business owners
Self-employed business owners are entitled to compute the income resulting from participation in equity capital for the calculation of annual income, which, in practice, it implies an increase in the self-employed business owner’s contribution, under the new contribution system applicable to them in force since 2023.
Force majeure temporary layoff in Spain: labor solution before a cyberattack?
A judgment by the National High Court opened up the possibility of applying a temporary layoff file as a company is compromised by a hack and cannot go on with its activity as usual.
The dismissed workers’ legal representative loses this status as the judgment is being resolved
A judgment handed down by the Labor Chamber of the Supreme Court has declared that the status of workers’ representative cannot be exercised from the time of the disciplinary dismissal until the court ruling is handed down. This does not violate the provisions of article 67.3 of the Workers’ Statute regarding the duration of the mandate of the workers’ legal representatives.
This is how the breastfeeding leave will be after the entry into force of Royal Decree-law 7/2023
The recently approved regulation eliminates the need of a collective bargaining or individual agreement with the company when approving the accumulation of breastfeeding leave but does not change anything in terms of the duration of this leave.
Must the company pay the overtime claimed if there is no record of working hours?
The majority opinion of the labor courts determines that the employer’s breach to comply with the obligation to record working hours presume the performance of overtime if evidence is provided by the employee.
Infringement of the right to digital disconnection does not justify any additional compensation
The Labor Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia has determined that subduing an employee to very long working days and untimely working time, thus compromising his right to rest and digital disconnection, entitles the employee to the right to extinguish the contractual relationship, but not to be awarded any compensation associated with the breaching of fundamental rights.
Press
In this article from El Confidencial, we analyze the job outlook for 2024, with the help of our partner Eloy Castañer. Labor restructuring is expected to continue to cope with rising labor costs and stagnant economic growth.
In this article in El Mundo, Eloy Castañer, partner in Garrigues' Labor and Employment practice, assesses the extent to which uncertainty can affect collective bargaining processes and business decisions, both in terms of investment and internal organization.
The collective dismissals have affected more than 15,000 workers this year
Braulio Molina, a partner in Garrigues' Labor and Employment Department, told EFE that, in recent months, there has been an "upward trend in the volume of open collective dismissal procedures (ERE) and in the number of workers affected."
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