The Supreme Court declares that it is not possible to increase compensation for unfair dismissal through the courts

As reported on the website of the Judiciary, the Plenary of the Supreme Court has ruled that it is not appropriate to pay additional compensation to that already provided for in our legislation for unjustified dismissals.

Among other reasons, it is based on the fact that (i) the doctrine of the Constitutional Court considers it to be adequate compensation, (ii) the labour law is different from the civil regulation, (iii) Convention No. 158 uses generic concepts that prevent its direct application to each case and (iv) article 12 of the ILO Convention itself refers to salary and seniority when it establishes parameters for calculating compensation for contractual termination. It also states that the legal formula has been offering legal certainty and uniformity for all workers who are compensated on the same terms.

The judgment points out that, due to the date on which the dismissal under examination took place, it cannot consider the scope of Article 24 of the European Social Charter (revised), which was published in the Official State Gazette of 11 June 2021. The judgment, however, has not yet been published.