Press Room

When a future employee accepts a job offer (unilateral declaration of the company showing its intent to sign a contract with the future employee including all essential elements of a contract) an employment contract has been formed. In this case, the offer had the essential elements (commencement date, type of contract, working time, salary, workplace, etc.) and it had been accepted by the future employee because the latter asked the company to send him a related e-mail, so he was able to ask for an unpaid leave to his previous employer. The company withdrew the job offer, which represented a breach of contract that triggered a damages compensation in favor of the future employee amounting to EUR 6,408.01 (salaries that would have been paid without the breach and the final settlement of wages, calculated at the foreseen termination of the temporary contract). Appellate Court of Galicia, May 20, 2022.

Null and void termination of a screenwriter of the Spanish National TV for having included the following lower third: “Leonor leaves Spain, like her grandfather”. Company breached employee’s freedom of speech because the latter did not go beyond his right because i) the lower third was not offensive to the Princess (although it was inappropriate and rude), ii) it was published during a talk-show involving celebrities (not in the news, which are more serious), iii) the employment contract does not prevent employees from using their freedom of speech, and iv) there was a chyron that clarified the lower third. The termination is disproportional because a) the employee was not even a journalist, b) he only worked for 5 months, c) he had no supervisors, d) it was the first time he was being reprimanded, and e) he did not receive any training to this regard. Company is also sentenced to pay the employee EUR 10,000 in damages for the fundamental right breach. Appellate Court of Madrid - June 17, 2022

Linking the payment of an earned bonus to the fact that the employee shall remain in the company at the time of the payment is null and void if such condition was not part of the objectives to be achieved in order to earn the bonus because, otherwise, it would be an unjust enrichment of the company because it is not paying an already earned bonus. Spanish Supreme Court 4/5/22.