Spain: The Supreme Court declares that a prior hearing is necessary in disciplinary dismissals

The Plenary of the Supreme Court has declared in its ruling of 18 November 2024 that the employer must offer the worker the possibility to defend himself against the charges brought against him prior to the termination of the employment contract by disciplinary dismissal.

This decision is based on the need to apply, directly, Article 7 of Convention No. 158 of the International Labour Organisation of 1982 and modifies its own doctrine, which it justifies by ‘the changes that have taken place in our legal system during all this time’.

The Court concludes that the International Labour Organisation Convention requires such a hearing prior to dismissal ‘unless it cannot reasonably be requested of the employer’, as was the case in this instance, given that the company was covered by a case law criterion which, having remained in force overtime and in relation to that same provision, freed it from that requirement. This exception is only valid for dismissals occurring before the publication of the aforementioned Supreme Court ruling.