The European Committee of Social Rights accepts the complaint of CC.OO. due to the low cost of unfair dismissal

He European Committee for Social Rights received the collective request that he submitted in the procedure CC.OO. in November of last year to denounce Spain’s non-compliance European Social Charter on the protection that must be provided to workers against unfair dismissal, i.e. without a valid reason. This is the second complaint received by the European Committee on this matter, after the one it submitted in March 2022 UGT. After the CC.OO complaint has been received for processing, The Spanish government has until September 15 present claims.

According to Carlos Gutiérrez, Secretary of Studies and Trade Union Training CC.OO., «It is crucial to strengthen the deterrent and corrective function of the compensation system in case of unjustified dismissal and reinstatement as a means of compensation”. In order to do this, the union is asking the European Committee of Social Rights to check Spain’s violation of Article 24 of the European Social Charter.

Therefore, in order to comply with these guarantees given by the European Social Charter, Comisiones Obreras requires renewal payroll processingsuppressed by the 2012 labor reform, and the possibility that judges can impose mandatory readmission as appropriate compensation in certain cases of abuse or fraudulent dismissal.

“In our legislation, the alternative of returning to work in cases of unfair dismissal is residual, which together with the low amount of compensation creates a panorama of impunity for illegal dismissal,” condemns the trade union Unai Sordo.

At the same time, CC.OO. believes that recognition is a indemnity suffered which is not limited to the payment of 33 days per year of service established in the labor legislation, especially when, due to the short service of the employee, the legal compensation does not have a sufficiently deterrent character that the company does not initiate dismissal without reason or when the employer has experienced repeated abuses during temporary employment, whether in the public or private sector. For this reason, the union’s complaint also calls for setting a minimum compensation amount to guarantee adequate compensation for workers on very short-term contracts and to strengthen the “essential deterrent function which every compensation system must have against unjustified dismissals”.

For CC.OO., these are obligations that are fully enforceable under Spanish law after the entry into force of the revised European Social Charter. “We are waiting for the declaration of this international body, which builds on the judicial doctrine of our country, and is decisive in correcting the regulatory framework of unfair dismissal,” the union points out.

The government defends the existing system, despite having been pushing for its reform for months

In the submissions made by the Government prior to the request made by the UGT at the time for the same reason, the executive ensures that the Spanish system of protection for workers who have been unlawfully dismissed is in accordance with the provisions of Article 24 of the revised European Social Charter, as it provides the worker with “adequate compensation” and, in addition, articulates an “adequate compensation mechanism” to compensate for the damage caused and discourages the employer from resorting to dismissal. route.

The government also cited the impact labor reformagreed with employers and employers, on job stability and reduced temporary employment, with internal flexibility mechanisms to avoid layoffs.

The UGT claimed in the lawsuit before the commission that when determining the amount of severance pay, the personal and/or family circumstances of the dismissed person are taken into account (such as age, gender, family situation or insufficient education), realizing that the damage caused by dismissal is greater when the worker belongs to particularly vulnerable groups, which find it difficult to find a new job.

In its accusations, the government responded that this would “affect the hiring decisions of companies, which would try to minimize the risk of facing higher fees by choosing to hire groups that are not associated with these higher costs.” “In short, associating higher firing costs with certain groups compared to others creates a greater problem of employment difficulties for groups that already suffer in their own right, creating or reinforcing, where appropriate, problems of discrimination. Precisely in order not to be biased in companies’ hiring decisions, in Spain they decide to grant greater protection against unemployment to people who are part of these most vulnerable groups,” explained the Government.

Some arguments which, however, are in conflict with the statements of the second vice-president and acting minister of labour, Yolanda Diazwhich in the final months of the legislation pushed for legal reform to establish variable severance pay based on the personal circumstances of the affected worker.

On its part, CEOthrough the International Organization of Employers (IEO), asserted in their submissions regarding the UGT claim that Spanish legislation is already a sufficient deterrent in the case of unfair dismissal and argued that it is “incomprehensible” to consider that Spain is not complying with Article 24 of the European Social Charter.