Employment Contracts and Labor Practices
Indefinite Contracts
Regular Indefinite Contracts
These contracts are for life and have no particular requirements except that they must be in writing.
Indefinite Contracts for the Promotion of Permanent Contracts
These contracts encourage employers to hire permanently from specific groups:
- Workers with disabilities
- Unemployed youth aged 16 to 30
- Individuals over 45
- Women in under-represented areas (low female employment rate)
- Collectively, socially excluded individuals
These contracts must be in writing. If the employer dismisses the employee due to objective or unfair dismissal reasons and doesn’t rehire them, the compensation is 33 days per year worked, not the typical 45 days. The maximum compensation is capped at 48 months.
Stationary Discontinuous Contracts
Regulated in Article 15.8 of the Workers’ Statute (ET), these contracts are indefinite, involve work that is not continuous, and are not repeated on specific dates (e.g., sales). The peculiarity is that workers must finalize their employment at the end of each season. Appeals are used to establish conventions (e.g., years of service). If an appeal is considered a dismissal, there’s a 20-day deadline to claim, starting from the appeal date.
Part-Time Contracts
Salary is proportional to the hours worked. Vacation time is the same as full-time contracts but is paid at 15 days for 30 days worked. Overtime is not permitted, but additional hours beyond the contracted hours can be agreed upon, as long as the total hours worked remain part-time. These contracts must be in writing, have a duration of one calendar year, and are only available to workers with a permanent contract. A maximum of 15% additional hours can be added to the normal working hours. Collective agreements can increase this to 60%, provided the work remains part-time. Equal pay is received for at least one hour of work. The employee is obligated to work these additional hours with 15 days’ notice from the employer.
Item 5: Membership in the Company
Direct Placement
The worker and employer connect directly without involving a third party.
Indirect Placement
A third party is involved in the hiring process:
Informal Intermediary
The third party could be a friend, neighbor, relative, etc.
Formal Intermediary
Governed by employment regulations, formal intermediaries can be public offices like INEM, private employment agencies (non-profit), or other companies and institutions like unions or temporary employment agencies. Their primary activity involves temporarily transferring labor to another company.
Functions of INEM
- Manages public employment offices
- Prepares statistics on the labor market situation (market research)
- Helps businesses find skilled labor and advises on suitable contract types
- Assists workers in finding jobs
- Provides vocational and continuing training for unemployed individuals
- Manages unemployment benefits
Obligations of Employers and Workers
Employers’ Obligations to INEM
- Inform the public employment office of any new hires (regardless of the contract type)
- Submit a basic copy of the contract
- Communicate any contract extensions or terminations
Employers have 10 working days to submit this information.
Probation
Regulated in Article 14 of the ET, probation is a condition that can be included in worker contracts.
- Must be stipulated in the contract
- Can be fixed in the collective agreement
- If nothing is mentioned, the ET applies
Duration
- Maximum of 6 months for technical workers
- Maximum of 2-3 months for other workers
During the probationary period, both the worker and employer can terminate the contract without cause (business desistance or voluntary redundancy). If the contract is not terminated during the probationary period, the notice period before leaving the job is:
- One day in advance for contracts less than one year
- Fifteen days’ notice for contracts longer than one year
There is no right to compensation if the contract is terminated during the probationary period.
Occupational Classification
: Within the groups are divided into job categories, sometimes also specified which is the provision of each category. Pq is divided into groups exist functional mobility. which means that other tasks can be given to workers. The employer can change whenever you want to perform the functions with their employees, whenever within the same occupational group. (Horizontal functional Mov., Art 39ET). The limit is that the worker has the requisite qualifications for the task and go on top of their training and career development.