Understanding Labor Relationships and Contract Types
Before the Labor Reform
Fixed-Term Contracts
- Apprenticeship Contracts: Used to increase the skills of young people, alternating with academic activities of their FP. If it isn’t notified, it will become indefinite. Between 16 and 25 years old.
- Training Contract: The purpose is that the employee gets the professional practice according to their studies. The remuneration can’t be lower than 60% of the normal salary during the 1st year, and 75% during the second one.
If a determined term contract isn’t justified, it will be considered an indefinite contract.
Chaining of Contracts: Employees that within 30 days have been hired for at least 24 months will be considered as having an indefinite-term contract.
Structural Temporary Contracts
Temporary replacement of an employee who has the right to come back. It is a full-time contract, except if it refers to a part-time job. The duration will be meanwhile the other employee doesn’t come back to his position. It will be considered indefinite if it is not in writing, isn’t communicated to the Social Authority, etc.
Modifications on the Labor Relationship
I. Task Modifications
- Within the same professional category: The employer can change the tasks given if they belong to the same category.
- Outside the same professional category: The mobility must be limited in time and have a cause.
II. Geographic Modifications
- Transfer (Traslado): It is permanent, and the decision must be notified 30 days in advance. The employee will have 3 options: accept, rescind the contract receiving compensation, or appeal the decision to the judge.
- Displacement (Desplazamiento): It is temporary. If it implies the employee changing its domicile, there must be a valid cause, and the employer has to assume the travel costs and diets.
III. Substantial Modifications
To be valid, there must be a justified cause. Depending on the number of employees affected, it will be considered individual or collective.
- Working time, work shifts and distribution of the time, salary, tasks, working system
Contract Suspension
Suspension Causes on Behalf of the Employee
- Temporary disability of the employee: It can last for one year and a half (max). Then there are 3 options: return to work, permanent disability, or extinction of the contract.
- Maternity leave: 16 weeks. The last 10 weeks are at the disposal of the mother. Both parents have the same weeks available, but the other progenitor has the 16 weeks after the birth.
- Work leave (Excedencia): After having worked for some time in a company, you can stop working without getting paid but without losing your job.
- Voluntary: The employee must have been working 1 year and has the right to go for a minimum of 4 months and a maximum of 5 years.
- Forced: To take care of children. It will be of less than 3 years per child.
Suspension Causes on Behalf of the Employer
- Voluntary: For economic, technical, organizational, or production causes.
- Force majeure: Collective suspension.
Employment Contract Extinction
Inexistence of one part, retirement, willing of both parts (voluntary extinction or causes expressed in the contract).
- Willing of the employee:
- Resignation (Dimisión): The employer can’t oppose.
- For justified causes: The employee can ask a judge to finish the contract.
- Willing of the employer: It always needs a justified cause, and it implies an economic compensation. The worker can appeal this decision in 20 days, and it is obliged to follow more formalities.
- Collective dismissal
- Force majeure dismissal: Needs labor authority permission. Same procedure as collective dismissal.
- Disciplinary dismissal: Serious and voluntary (unjustified absence, gross disobedience, etc.)
- Objective dismissal: Compensation of 20 days per year worked. It has to be communicated in writing and saying the cause + prior notice of 15 days.
- Worker inaptitude
- Lack of adaptation to changes: If after training, the employee is unable to do the job.
- Economic causes: As collective dismissal, but the employees affected fall below the threshold.
- Absence from work: The worker was unable to work during 20% of the last 2 months, or 25% of the working days in 4 discontinued months.
- Insufficient budget
The Salary
The salary is the economic remuneration corresponding to the services rendered. The salary in kind can’t be higher than 30% of the whole salary. The minimum interprofessional salary must be paid in cash.
It is also the amount on which the social security compensations are calculated. It is protected by law.
Not part of the salary: Money to cover, pensions and social security compensations, compensations.
Social Security
These elements won’t count for the social security contribution base: allowance for accommodation, compensations, overtime hours (part of the salary but not social security base). Social security benefits:
- Professional contingencies: Job-related disability of the employee
- Common contingencies: Overtime hours not included.
Structure
- Base salary: Compulsory for all employees.
- Complementary salary: Remuneration depending on the circumstances and personal conditions of the employee.
- Extra pays: The employee has the right to receive 2 bonuses per year. The amount will be indicated in the collective agreement, and the extra pay can be prorated.
The salary must be paid in the place and time agreed, and in case it is not paid in time, the annual delay interest will be 10%.
MIPS: Minimum Interprofessional Salary
It is decided every year, and it must be given in cash. It has a non-sizeable nature.
FOGASA: Fondo de Garantía Salarial
It is an autonomous organism that guarantees the salaries for employees not paid due to the bankruptcy situation of the employer. It won’t assume the whole salary, but once it has paid the amount, FOGASA will acquire all the rights.