Labor Law: Relations, Sources, and Principles

Posted on Jan 10, 2025 in Law & Jurisprudence

Labor Law

It is a body of law governing relations that are created on the occasion of unpaid voluntary work and paid dependent employment.

The Relations

For a relationship to be considered work, it must have the following characteristics:

  • Voluntary: The contract is signed freely.
  • For an employee: The fruits of the work belong to the employer.
  • Paid: Workers must receive compensation.
  • Personal nature: The work must be performed personally by the worker, not a person on his behalf.
  • Value-dependent: The worker is subject to the power of organization and discipline of the employer.

Special Labor Relations

These are regulated by specific legislation that applies only to the status of workers, in those areas not covered by their own standard.

  • Senior management
  • Domestic servants
  • Convicts in penitentiary institutions
  • Professional sportsmen
  • Artists in public performances
  • People involved in business operations without taking the risk of operations.

Relationships Excluded

  • Public officials
  • Mandatory personal performance
  • Activity counselor or member of the governing bodies of companies
  • Work-friendly or neighborly
  • Family work, unless it shows the condition of the wage of those who play it
  • Activity of persons involved in commercial operations; they are obliged to answer for the success of the operation
  • Activity of independent carriers with their own vehicle

Rights and Duties of the Employment Relationship

Rights

  • Right to self-organize, create, or join unions.
  • The right to collective bargaining is the right to negotiate collective agreements.
  • The right to strike, work stoppage to vindicate the rights of workers.
  • The right of assembly, the right to meet to discuss issues affecting the employer.
  • The right to promotion and training.
  • Freedom from discrimination (equality).
  • The right to physical integrity and proper health and safety policy.
  • Right to timely perfection of wages.

Duties

  • Comply with the obligations of his job with diligence and good faith.
  • Observe the safety and health measures.
  • Meet the orders of their employer.
  • Do not compete with the employer for which you work.

The Sources of Labor Law

Source means the origin and birth of the law.

The sources of employment law are:

A) Legislation and regulations of the state:

  1. Spanish Constitution of 1978: It is the supreme law and source of all legislation.
  2. Laws: Acts created by ordinary law in parliament.
  3. Rules with the force of law: Actual legislative decrees. From the government’s parliamentary delegation.
  4. Regulations: Royal decrees come from the government and have lower status than laws.

B) Convention: Collective agreement between the representatives of workers and employers, establishing the working conditions of workers within its scope.

C) Work Agreement

D) Uses and work habits: These are rules created by the repetition of facts and behaviors on an ongoing basis by a community. They are applicable only in the absence of conventional laws or contractual provisions and when they have a specific reference.

Principles of Labor Law Application

On the coexistence of different types of rules in labor law, problems may arise when applying the appropriate standard. Therefore, we have established the following principles for implementation and interpretation.

Principle of Hierarchy

Senior standards prevail over those of lower rank.

Hierarchy: CE, Law/Real Legislative Decree, regulations, collective agreement, employment contract, uses, and work habits.

More Favorable Standards

If a case can be applied to two or more rules, the one most conducive to the employee is applied as a whole.

Principles of Minimum Standards

Hierarchically superior norms are set above the minimum content of those that follow in rank, so that a lower standard cannot worsen what is provided in the upper range but can improve it.

Principles “In Dubio Pro Operario” or Pro-Worker

When a rule allows different interpretations, the one most favorable to the worker is applied.

The Principle of Inalienability and Right

Workers cannot waive the rights they have under the rules.