Press Room

A post-contractual non-compete clause that provides the possibility for the company not to apply it when the contract is terminated or within a few days after its termination, is a valid clause because i) its enforcement is not being left to the discretion of one of the contracting parties (art. 1256 of the Spanish Civil Code); the company is choosing the option not to apply it in accordance with the contract (furthermore it is reasonable that the company decides to do so, at the time of termination on the basis of the commercial damage that the employee's further activity could cause to the company at that time) and ii) it is not abusive because the employee also voluntarily left the company. Appellate Court of Madrid 25/4/2022.

Health check-ups at work must be done during working hours or, if performed at another time, they must be considered as effective working time because the company has the obligation to ensure the periodic monitoring of employees’ health and cannot allocate the cost of complying with this obligation to the employee. Spanish Supreme Court 11/5/22.

NULL termination of a pregnant domestic worker who was dismissed by notice of termination, complying with all legal requirements, because the RD-Law 6/2019, of March 1, extends the protection of pregnant employees to any type of employment contract termination. The domestic worker requested the declaration of unfairness of her termination and a severance pay equivalent to the lost wages (she did NOT request the reinstatement), but the court denied it, and the employer was ordered to reinstate the employee in his home because it is not possible to put a price on the dignity of women, as it would be against public order. Appellate Court of Andalusia 7/14/22

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