Labor Law and Employment Relations: A Historical Analysis

Posted on Mar 21, 2025 in Law & Jurisprudence

Labor Law: History and Evolution

Labor Law regulates the relations of voluntary, paid, and dependent work.

Stages of Work History

Before the Industrial Revolution

  • Ancient Age: Work was primarily done by slaves. This system was abolished in the 19th century.
  • Middle Ages:
    • Rural areas: Characterized by servitude, where individuals worked for the feudal lord.
    • Cities: Organized into craft guilds consisting of masters, journeymen, and apprentices.

Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th Centuries)

  • Agricultural Revolution: Implementation of machinery, fertilizers, and new cultivation methods.
  • Industrialization: Capitalists acquired the means of production, which no longer belonged to the artisans. Work was centralized in factories, leading to the emergence of a new class of worker: the proletariat.

Working Conditions of the Proletariat

  • Long working hours (up to 18 hours).
  • Lower wages for women and underage workers.
  • Very low wages, sometimes paid in kind.
  • Appalling safety and hygiene conditions.
  • No Social Security system.
  • Poor job security.
  • No holidays.

Ordinary Employment Relationships

An ordinary employment relationship involves a worker voluntarily and personally providing a service paid by an employer.

Key Features:

  • Voluntary
  • Employed
  • Compensated
  • Personal
  • Dependent

Special Labor Relations

Features:

  • Senior management staff.
  • Workers in family homes (gardening, babysitting, etc.).
  • Individuals serving jail or prison sentences.
  • Professional athletes.
  • Artists in public performances.
  • Trade representatives (Commercial agents).
  • Disabled workers.
  • Stevedores.

Excluded Industrial Relations

  • Public officials.
  • Mandatory personal services.
  • Advisors or board members of a company’s administration.
  • Work done out of friendship (unpaid).
  • Family work for spouses up to the second degree of consanguinity.
  • Sales representatives.
  • Carriers with their own administrative authorization and public service vehicles.

Principles of Labor Law Application

Principle of Hierarchy:

Legal sources are applied in the following order: Community law, the Constitution, international treaties signed and ratified by Spain, Organic Law, Law and Decree-Law, ordinary legislation, regulations, collective agreements, employment contracts, and local and professional customs.

  • Principle in dubio pro operario (for the worker): An unclear rule is interpreted in the way most favorable to the employee.
  • Principle of the Most Favorable Rule: For example, in cases of motherhood.
  • Principle of More Advantageous Conditions: As the name suggests, more advantageous conditions prevail.
  • Principle of Minimum Standards: One cannot provide less than what is established as a minimum.
  • Principle of Indispensability of Rights: Pay and vacations cannot be waived.

Courts with Jurisdiction over Labor Matters

  • Supreme Court (Social Chamber).
  • National Court (Social Chamber).
  • Superior Courts of Justice (Social Chambers).
  • Social Courts.