Understanding Labor Law: Principles and Regulations

Posted on Nov 22, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

1-LAW: General Notions

The law is the set of rules, norms, and principles governing social relations in human society. It is classified as Public Law and Private Law. Public law regulates the State and public bodies’ activities and their interactions with individuals acting officially. Private law governs individuals’ activities among themselves (family relations, labor, business) and with the State and Public Organizations when acting privately (e.g., a labor contract). Labor law is a mixed law, sharing aspects of both public and private law. It’s private because it involves individuals (employers and workers) and public due to state intervention to protect employees.

LABOR LAW: This legal specialty governs labor relations, including individual and group work, in dependent and dealer contexts.

3.1 Classes of Work

  • Productive work (economically gainful activity)
  • Voluntary work (unpaid economic activity, not covered by labor law)
  • Independent or self-employed work (not regulated by labor law as there is no employment contract)
  • Paid employment (worker provides services for remuneration, with risk borne by the employer)
  • Free and voluntary work (consensual employment contract)
  • Forced and compulsory labor (slave production system)

Labor law regulates employed labor, where the worker acts under the employer’s instructions through an employment contract.

3.2 Concept of Employment Law

Employment law is the set of rules and principles governing relationships created by productive work, freely and voluntarily given under conditions of dependency and dealer.

  • Personal work: The worker personally commits to the task without substitution.
  • Volunteer work: Refers to the voluntary act of the contract, not compromising work for life (Art. 1583, Civil Code).
  • Employee work: The worker’s utility is attributed to the employer.
  • Dependent work: The worker’s submission to the employer’s command.

Historically, labor relations were regulated through civil lease contracts. The emergence of labor law was due to the industrial revolution, worker reactions, and state intervention. Early state standards protected vulnerable groups like women and children, regulating working hours and hazardous work. In Spain, rules prohibiting child labor and establishing an 8-hour workday were introduced in 1873. The Ministry of Labor was created in 1920. The 1978 Constitution laid the foundation for the current industrial relations system, leading to the Workers’ Charter of 1980.

3.4 Current Status of Labor Law

Economic crises, globalization, and Spain’s EU membership have influenced changes in labor law. New regulations aim to improve business competitiveness and job creation through flexible working relationships and collective bargaining.

Source Material

  • Emanates: The state organ or social group issuing the rule.
  • Formal Source: The way the rule is expressed, the text containing the applicable standard.

The Spanish legal system includes Customary Law, General Principles of Law, and Law.

COMMON LAW

  • Adopted by the General Courts.
  • Requires a simple majority for approval.
  • Cannot regulate matters reserved for organic law.

ORGANIC LAW

  • Passed by Congress.
  • Requires an absolute majority for approval.
  • Regulates fundamental rights, civil liberties, Statute of Autonomy, and general election legal regime.
  • Habit: Repeated social behavior becoming a norm, applicable in the absence of law, not against morality or public order.
  • General Principles: Apply directly in the absence of law or custom.
  • Jurisprudence: Criteria used by the Supreme Court in its rulings, an additional source for interpretation.

4.3 Sources of Employment and Labor Law

The sources of employment are outlined in Article 3.1 of the Revised Text of the Workers’ Statute (TRLET):

  1. Laws and regulations of the State
  2. Collective agreements
  3. Willingness of the parties (work contract)
  4. Local usage and professional practice

The hierarchy of labor standards is:

  1. Constitution
  2. Community Regulations
  3. Treaties and International Agreements
  4. Laws (organic and ordinary)
  5. Standards issued by the executive with the force of law (Decree-laws, legislative decrees)
  6. Regulations
  7. Collective agreements
  8. Work contract
  9. Habit

Core Labor Standards

  1. Consolidated Text of the Law on the Statute of Workers (TRLET)
  2. Revised Law on termination of employment
  3. Organic Law on Freedom of Association

Principles of Labor Law

  • Most favorable rule: Conflicts between labor standards are resolved by applying the most favorable to the worker.
  • Inalienability of rights: Workers cannot waive their rights recognized by law or collective agreement.
  • More beneficial condition: Acquired rights remain even if subsequent rules create less favorable conditions.
  • Prooperario principle: When a rule has multiple interpretations, the one most beneficial to the worker is applied.