Labor Mobility and Contract Termination in Spain: A Comprehensive Guide
Labor Mobility
Functional Mobility
- In-professional group or equivalent professional categories: Law does not require cause for this mobility.
- Out-professional group or between categories that are not equivalent: There must be technical or organizational reasons, produced by essential time. If the time is inferior, unpredictable reasons are required.
- Outstanding mobility: Carried out under the procedure established for substantial modifications of the conditions of the contract or agreement between parties.
Geographical Mobility
- Transfer: Definitive transfer of a worker to another job center requiring a change of residence. For economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons. The company must inform the worker and their legal representatives. Notice of transfer is 30 days. A collective consultation period with legal representatives may be previously opened.
- Employee Options:
- a) Accept the transfer, with compensation that includes proper expenses for the worker and their family.
- b) Refuse the transfer and take the employer’s decision to court.
- c) Terminate the contract, with compensation of 20 days’ salary for each year of service, with a maximum of 12 monthly payments.
- Travel: Temporary transfer to another workplace. The company must communicate the travel well in advance, not less than 5 days if the displacement is greater than 3 months.
- Employee Options:
- a) Accept the displacement, receiving travel costs and allowed diets. Right to 4 working days at their home every 3 months of each shift.
- b) Refuse the displacement and explore the same options as with a transfer.
Substantial Changes in Working Conditions
Modifications affecting: workday hours, shift work regime, compensation systems, work systems, and performance. Reasons must be economic, technical, organizational, or production-related. The worker can terminate the contract with compensation of 20 days’ salary for each year of service, up to 9 monthly payments.
Suspension of Contract
Obligations of the contract are interrupted: the employer does not pay and the employee does not work.
Causes of Suspension:
- Agreement between parties.
- Contained in the contract.
- Temporary disability.
- Maternity, risk during pregnancy, fostering, and adoption of children under 6 years old (maternity: 16 weeks; adoption or foster care: duration equal to maternity leave).
- Holding any public office (forced leave).
- Imprisonment (unless there is a conviction).
- Suspension of salary and employment (disciplinary).
- Force majeure (economic cause).
- Right to strike.
- Breach of notice.
Leave of Absence (Excedencia)
Suspension of the contract. The workplace is reserved, but in most cases, leave of absence does not guarantee reservation. Types:
Forced Leave of Absence
Due to appointment or election to public office that precludes work attendance, or to exercise trade union/representative functions for the duration of the exercise. This period counts towards seniority and job reservation.
Voluntary Leave of Absence
Requested by the worker voluntarily. The employee must have been with the company for at least one year and the leave must be for a period of not less than 2 years nor more than 5. The employee can return to exercise these rights if it has been 4 years. The company reserves the right to not guarantee the workplace.
Family Leave of Absence
To take care of each child, whether biological or adopted, or to care for a second-degree family member. Children must be up to 3 years old from birth, adoption, or foster care. The leave period cannot exceed 2 years. This period counts towards seniority. The employee has the right to assistance in vocational training courses during the second year. The company reserves the right to offer a position within the same professional group.
Termination of Contract
The contract ceases to exist, definitively ending the obligations of the parties. Causes:
Compliance with its Duration
Contract duration = 1 year or more, 15 days’ notice.
Termination at the Will of the Worker
- Resignation: Worker gives notice of their intention to cease working. It does not need to be based on any specific reason. Notice period is fixed in advance according to the agreement or local custom. The contract ends without triggering the right to compensation.
- Abandonment: Worker quits going to work, with the intention of ending the contract, without giving notice. The employer may request damages.
- Grave breaches by the employer: Changes resulting in substantial damage to the worker’s training, lack of or delay in payment of wages, or serious breach of obligations by the employer. Compensation: 45 days’ salary for each year of service, with a maximum of 42 monthly payments.
Termination at the Will of the Employer
- Disciplinary Dismissal: Breaches by the worker that do not entitle them to compensation. Causes: Repeated and unwarranted mistakes, indiscipline, verbal or physical offenses to the employer, company, or other workers, abuse of confidence in the performance of work, decreased job performance and voluntary continuation, drunkenness or drug addiction that adversely affects the job. Requirements: Must be notified in writing, stating the facts, which must be serious and specific. Incompliances must be culpable. The worker can resort to social courts.
- Courts:
- Dismissal is justified: Becomes definitive.
- Dismissal is unjustified: Not properly approved or readmitted due to breach not being culpable. The employer must compensate the employee with 45 days’ salary for each year of service, with a maximum of 42 monthly payments.
- Dismissal is null: The true cause of dismissal is discrimination prohibited by law or a violation of rights.
- Dismissal for Objective Reasons: Unbiased concurrence of circumstances that make keeping the terms of the contract harmful to the employer. Causes: Ineptitude of the employee, lack of adaptation to changes in the workplace, absenteeism, need to reduce jobs for economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons. Requirements: Provide the employee with a dismissal letter (30 days’ notice). Compensation: 20 days’ salary for each year of service, up to 12 monthly payments. Existence of accredited objective circumstances that permit dismissal.
- Collective Dismissal for Force Majeure:
- Collective Dismissal: For economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons.
- Dismissal by Force Majeure: Done involuntarily, due to unpredictable or unavoidable circumstances that affect the company and prevent the employee from working (e.g., fires).
Procedure for Collective Dismissal
Application dossier processed by the labor authority to regulate employment, with simultaneous opening of a consultation period.
Compensation for Collective Dismissal
20 days’ salary for each year of service, with a limit of 12 monthly payments.
Other Causes of Termination
Death, retirement, or disability of the worker or employer. In case of death, retirement, or disability of the employer, the worker is entitled to compensation of 30 days’ wages.
Settlement
Document that the employer must submit to the employee when first communicating the termination of the contract or notice of extinction. By signing the document, the worker declares the contract extinct.