Management of temporary employment under debate at Pérez-Llorca’s ‘Labour Law Update’

Pérez-Llorca’s Employment practice area held a new Pérez-Llorca ‘Labour Law Update’ session. This seminar was attended by Employment partners Daniel Cifuentes and Isabel Moya, and Employment associate Marta Salamanca. They addressed the main trends that will affect the employment market in the coming months and discussed the management of temporary employment following the approval of the employment reform law.

The session started with Daniel Cifuentes explaining the trends in the employment law sector. Among other matters, Cifuentes analysed issues such as the validation of the employment reform law, the negotiation of the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) and the possibility of establishing a European Minimum Wage, as well as the recent approval of the Strategic Plan for the Labour and Social Security Inspection Authorities for 2021-2023.

Cifuentes then summarised the most significant rulings handed down by the Spanish and European courts in relation to various matters such as collective dismissals, temporary workforce restructuring plans (“ERTEs”), fixed-discontinuous contracts (a special type of permanent contract designed for seasonal work), the Equality Plan and remote working. As usual for ‘Labour Law Update’ sessions, the Pérez-Llorca partner presented the top three most significant judgments in employment law matters from recent months.

Firstly, Cifuentes highlighted Constitutional Court ruling no. 153/2021 in which the court validated the change of position of a pregnant worker and ruled that the employer’s decision was not contrary to the right to equality and did not involve discrimination on grounds of sex as there were objective reasons to justify the change.

Subsequently, Daniel Cifuentes highlighted the Supreme Court ruling of 1 December 2021 on post-contractual non-competition covenants. Specifically, and in relation to the penalty to be paid by the worker in the event of non-compliance, the Supreme Court considered that a penalty of double the compensation received is abusive and disproportionate.

Lastly, the Pérez-Llorca partner explained the Supreme Court ruling of 11 January 2022 on dismissals, which establishes that the dismissal of a pregnant domestic employee is null and void, even if the employer is unaware of her condition. For Cifuentes, this is a very important ruling, as it is the first time that the interpretation of the law from a gender perspective has been clearly and manifestly accepted.

Isabel Moya and Marta Salamanca closed the session with an analysis of the management of temporary employment following the employment reform and the different alternatives that companies now have. Both lawyers stressed the importance of making use of alternative tools available to companies, such as probationary periods, part-time and supplementary hours, irregular distribution and collective bargaining.