Spanish Labor Law: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Oct 9, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Internal Sources of Law (Lower than the Constitution)

Ley Real

Rules with the force of legislative decree, revised text of the Law on Status of Workers.

Principles of Labor Application

Standard Statement of Principles

  • In dubio pro operario principle
  • Pro-favorable principle
  • Mas beneficios principle
  • Principle of the irrenunciability of rights

Hierarchy of Labor Standards

  1. Directly applicable Community rules
  2. Spanish Constitution
  3. ILO Conventions and bilateral or multilateral agreements
  4. Organic Law
  5. Laws and common law rules with range
  6. Council Regulation
  7. Collective Bargaining Agreements
  8. Working Agreements
  9. Labor Custom

Work Inspection

Serves as information, advice, and proposes penalties to the authority.

Acts of Violation

Issued for a breach of legislation.

Minutes of Liquidation

Issued when there is no membership or registration of workers to Social Security.

Organizational Structure of the Labor Jurisdiction

  • Social Judge
  • Social Chambers of the Superior Court of Justice of Autonomous Communities
  • National Social Chamber
  • Social Hearing of the Supreme Court

Provincial jurisdiction within the territorial scope of the national territory. Headquarters in Madrid, with jurisdiction and venue throughout Spain.

Worker’s Rights (Examples)

  1. Right to strike
  2. Right to organize freely
  3. Right to collective bargaining

Duties of Workers (Examples)

  1. Watch the safety and health
  2. Do not make unfair competition with the company
  3. Contribute to productivity improvement

Powers and Duties of the Employer

Power Steering/Authority (Regular)

  1. Authority to decide the organizational structure of the company
  2. Power to issue orders and instructions for compliance with the provision of work provided for in the employment contract
  3. Authority to control the implementation of the provision of work

Social History of Labor

Social Figures and Employment Status

  • Slaves (Ancient Times): Conducted most of the work. Were considered property, not people.
  • Servants (Middle Ages): Worked the land of feudal lords and were linked to it. The lord could transfer them with the land or flog them, but not kill them.
  • Guild Members (Late Middle Ages): Unions appeared in medieval cities. These were closed groups of artisans and merchants organized into:
    1. Masters: Few in number, owned the workshop, means of production, and final product.
    2. Officials: Worked dawn to dusk for meager wages.
    3. Apprentices: Began very young, with no right to wages.
  • Workers (17th Century Industrial Revolution): Appearance of large factories and technological innovations. The proletariat owned only their hands and their children. Industrialization brought the disappearance of guilds and accelerated the growth of cities.

The Labor Situation During the Industrial Revolution

Labor-management relations were governed by the lease of services, based on free availability. The worker had no choice but to accept the conditions imposed by the employer. There was a strong hand and a weak hand.

  • Child Labor: Children as young as 5 worked.
  • Long Working Hours: 12 to 19 hours of work daily.
  • Low Wages: Families were obliged to make their children work.
  • No Vacations or Rest: Work every day.
  • No Social Protection: The worker simply earned cash for the day they worked.
  • No Safety and Hygiene Standards
  • No Unions: It was considered a crime for workers to unite to defend their interests.
  • No Right to Strike: Striking was a crime.

Birth of Labor Law

As a result of these working conditions, there was a high mortality rate, various diseases, and physical malformations. During the 19th century, the labor movement arose to protest against this situation, giving rise to class struggle. The state had to intervene, leading to the birth of Labor Law, which governs labor relations to protect the weaker party: the worker.

Employment Relationship

Labor relations are governed by labor law. These are relationships that involve work.

Characteristics of the Provision of Work

  • Personal Delivery: Must be carried out by the employee, not another person.
  • Voluntary: The work cannot be forced.
  • For Another’s Account: The fruits of labor belong to the employer, not the worker.
  • Retributed: The worker must be paid for their work.
  • Dependent: The worker is submitted to the power of organization and discipline of the employer.

Special Labor Relations

Some relationships, while meeting all the features of the supply of labor from an employment relationship, have their own rules.

Examples of special labor relations:

  1. Domestic servants
  2. Professional athletes
  3. People with disabilities

Non-Labor Relations

Some relationships do not fall under labor law, either because they lack some characteristics of employment or because they are governed by their own rules outside of Labor Law.

Examples of non-labor relations:

  1. Civil servants
  2. Public officials
  3. Self-employed transporters

Law

The set of legal principles and rules that govern human relations in every society, whose individuals can be forced to comply with it.

General Sources of Law

To determine the applicable law in a particular case, three questions must be answered:

Who creates the law (formal sources of law)?

  1. Legislative branch (Congress and Senate): The law
  2. Executive branch (Government): Regulations
  3. Lower-level administrative bodies: Administrative provisions

Labor Law

The branch of law governing individual and collective relationships in the professional field, originating from work provided personally, voluntarily, for another’s account, paid, and dependent on the employer.

Community Regulations

Law applied to all member states.

EU Directives

Law applied to all member states, but requires an internal standard for entry into force.