The Supreme Court rejects a judicial increase in the 33-day compensation for unfair dismissal

The Supreme Court (TS) has rejected that the compensation for unlawful dismissal, set at 33 days per year worked, can be increased by judicial means “by other amounts that meet the specific circumstances of the case”.

In a ruling issued on Thursday and communicated today, the plenary meeting of the Fourth Chamber of the TS unanimously concludes that this compensation, enshrined in Article 56 of the Workers’ Statute, does not violate Article 10 of Convention 158 of the International Labor Organization. Organization of Labor, which only indicates that compensation must be sufficient.

The ruling also emphasizes that in this specific case there is unfair dismissal Article 24 of the European Social Charter cannot be applied revised because it was not yet in force.

So according to the ruling compensation is “adequate” in accordance with legislation. The Supreme Court’s own case law explains that the compensation system for disciplinary dismissal is different from the civil law system and that “it is not necessary to prove damages, but they are uniformly assumed and quantified by the legislature.”

The Social Chamber also provides an explanation of Article 10 of the Workers’ Statute uses generic conceptswhich preclude its direct application to each case, in addition to the fact that the ILO Convention itself, when establishing parameters for the calculation of compensation for contractual termination, refers to salary and seniority, in accordance with Article 56 of the Statute.

The ruling emphasizes that “other different reparations, established for other situations or qualifications of dismissal, are not called into question, nor that the agreements or other collective or individual pacts are obviously can improve legally established”.

The Supreme Court maintains that the legal formula provides this legal certainty and uniformity for all employees who, in the event of loss of the same job, are compensated on equal terms.

In fact, the Ministry of Labor has announced a dismissal reform with the aim of ensuring that compensation in the event of inadmissibility is sufficient and dissuasive, thus deterring companies from this practice. “on a whim”.

This government intention is in line with the ruling of the European Committee for Social Rights, which has examined this matter irregular the Spanish system of compensation for unfair dismissal, by setting a predetermined limit that is practically insurmountable.

The committee ruled in response to a lawsuit filed by UGTin which the union claimed that unfair dismissal does not make it possible to obtain sufficient compensation to cover all damages suffered and that it does not have a deterrent effect on companies.