The relationship between companies and their employees, the main topic at the first Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update session of 2018

The firm resumed its ‘Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update’ sessions which aim to give the partners and lawyers in this practice area a chance to follow up on the major developments in labour law legislation and case law throughout the year.

Partners Daniel Cifuentes and Fernando Ruiz, and senior lawyer María Eugenia de la Cera participated in the first ‘Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update’ seminar of 2018, which analysed some of the major issues affecting labour relationships in Spain.

Daniel Cifuentes opened the session with a discussion on six key areas: temporary employment, recording the working day, dismissals during temporary incapacity periods, the collaborative economy, the subrogation of contractors in the public sector and equal pay. Cifuentes then reviewed the latest case law and summarised the twenty most significant rulings.

Next, Fernando Ruiz presented the now traditional Pérez-Llorca “Top 3”, which ranks the three most important rulings from the past few months. First place was given to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which establishes that video recordings made by companies are null and void if the workers were not previously informed of the installation of the cameras. In second place was a Supreme Court ruling which recognises that the infringement of a fundamental right automatically generates a non-material damage which must be repaired. Finally, in third place, Fernando Ruiz mentioned another Supreme Court decision which states that the time taken to travel to attend special business events on Sundays should be compensated with rest time.

María Eugenia de la Cera, a senior lawyer in the Labour practice, ended the session with a presentation on company policies. De la Cera emphasised that these policies can be an excellent opportunity for companies, as they provide flexibility and allow them to establish behavioural guidelines and recognise workers’ rights. She explained the key factors to consider when developing these policies and presented numerous practical examples of how to implement them.