New ‘Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update’ Session

The firm held the third Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update session of 2019, which addressed the possible labour law counter-reform and the registration of working hours, among other issues

Daniel Cifuentes, Fernando Ruiz and Laura Pérez, partners in the Employment practice, participated in the third seminar of the year, which discussed the latest case law developments in labour law, as well as the various issues which have arisen in relation to the recent introduction of the registration of working hours.

The session started with Daniel Cifuentes explaining the current trends in the labour law sector.

Among other matters, Cifuentes spoke about the Government’s current position in relation to the possible “counter-reform of labour law” and the removal of the changes introduced in 2012. In addition, Cifuentes briefly explained the report issued by the Bank of Spain on the urgent need to reform the current pension system.

On the other hand, in relation to the recent case of workplace harassment suffered by an employee following the circulation of an intimate video, Daniel Cifuentes explained how the Constitutional Court recently ruled that a test of constitutionality must be applied to this type of workplace harassment. The test should be used to analyse whether certain behaviour violated an employee’s fundamental right to moral integrity.

As is customary at the Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update sessions, Cifuentes then presented a summary of the twenty most significant rulings handed down by the Supreme Court and by the National High Court relating to various subjects, such as recruitment, fundamental rights, dismissals, temporary employment agencies, collective bargaining, substantial changes to working conditions, additional social security benefits, workers’ representatives, wages, business successions and privacy.

Fernando Ruiz also presented the Pérez-Llorca “Top 3”, which ranks the three most important labour rulings from the past few months.

He first highlighted the ruling handed down by the Supreme Court on 19 March 2019 in relation to how attending business-related events outside of working hours counts towards an employee’s effective working time, and the minimum rest period of twelve hours between working days must always be respected.

Secondly, Ruiz discussed the Supreme Court ruling of 15 January 2019 on security cameras. This ruling confirmed that clearly signposting the use of security cameras is sufficient for controlling thefts and crimes, but established that in order to use them to control work obligations, the worker would need to be expressly informed in advance of the existence of these devices.

He also highlighted the Supreme Court judgment of 13 March 2019, which established that temporary workers have no right to compensation if their contract is terminated.

The partners ended the session with a discussion on the registration of the working day, which is obligatory for all companies since 12 May. Daniel Cifuentes, Fernando Ruiz and Laura Pérez provided a number of recommendations and solutions to ensure companies can comply with this duty.

These included recording meetings held between management and the legal representatives of the workers (or an ad hoc commission) where the system to be put in place is agreed. They also noted that, rather than automatically matching the registration of the working day with a worker’s official schedule, each worker should indicate the actual time they arrive and leave. It must also be accessible to all the company’s workers, and the company must make it available immediately when requested.

All the speakers emphasised that it must not be possible for the employer to modify the register, and the employer must keep track of the information the workers are recording.

They also noted that although it is obligatory for all the workers of the company to register their working hours, with the exception of top executives, remuneration agreements could be established which could justify extending the working day.

In this way, receiving a high salary and the motivation that this provides could mean a greater commitment to the company, and thus workers may be more inclined to work longer hours.