Introduction to Labour Law

Labour Law Introduction

• Law is a set of rules for coexistence
• Public law governs state-individual relations (administrative, procedural, criminal, taxation)
• Private law governs individual-individual relations (civil, commercial, international)
• Labour law is a set of social relationships arising from service for others
• It applies when:
  • The service is voluntary
  • The service is paid
  • It is a dependent relationship (under organisation, management)
  • The service is rendered on behalf of another
  • The service is based on personal qualifications

Labour Law Branches

• Trade union law: Trade unions negotiate with the government on workers' rights via collective bargaining agreements (CBAs)

Scope of Labour Law Throughout History

• Ancient times: Manual labour, worker = slave, only duties imposed by master, no rights, no salary
• Roman empire: Difference between labour (hard work) and work (creative), contracts between employer and free men (locatio conductio operis/operarum)
• Middle Ages: Workers were slaves, freemen, or serfs, feudalism (protection and land in exchange for a % of harvest)
• Pre-capitalism: Building of cities, artisanal trades, self-employed, guilds (protected members, set working conditions—compulsory membership)
• Capitalism (Industrial Revolution): Growth of factories, emigration from countryside to cities, political/economic liberalism, exploitation of workers, social unrest, need for social peace

Factors Determining Genesis of Labour Law

• Sociological factor: Changes in work organization and working population (workers/capital owners).
• Legal factor: Liberal individualistic law and its dysfunction (freedom of contract/unionism prohibition).
• Social factor: Labour movement (workers' collective actions/associations).

State Intervention in Labour Relations

• Birth of labour laws: limitation of working hours and breaks
• Interest of public authorities, employers, workers
• Judicial power/jurisdiction: power to resolve any conflict, Labour and social jurisdiction (misdeals, non-payments, fines, breach of contracts)
• Social Labour courts -Superior Court of Justice (CCAA) (resolves court appeals of social labour courts) -Social Chamber of Supreme Court (AN) (resolves collective disputes)

Sources of Labour Law

• Generic and specific rules: Shared with other legal systems (e.g., law, custom). Unique to labour system via CBA or employment contract
• General rules and sector rules: Worker's statute sets minimum conditions in employment contracts to avoid worsening conditions.
• National and international rules:
  • National: Spanish Constitution, statutes, collective agreements, employment contract customs, general principles of law
  • International: Regulations and directives (EU); Conventions and recommendations (ILO); international treaties; international jurisprudence.

Spanish Constitution

• Principles of the legal system (social and democratic rule of law; freedom, equality, justice)
• Recognition of trade unions and employers' associations as representatives of collective interests.
• Fundamental rights
  • Labour rights
  • Rights of citizenship
  • Social and economic policy principles
  • International treaties
  • The international labour organization (ILO)
  • International/ multilateral agreements
  • European Union legislation (e.g., EU laws)

Employment Contract

• Elements: Voluntarily undertaken services, subordination/dependency relationship, on behalf of others, worker remuneration.
• Standard: Governed by labour laws and CBA.
• Onerous: Exchange of interests between employer and employee (salary, profit).
• Consensual: Both parties give consent.
• Probation Period: Agreed time frame for termination without prior notice or compensation (max durations vary).

Employment Contract Types

• Training contracts: For practice in alternating positions.
• Temporary contracts: Due to production circumstances (substituting other workers).
• Indefinite contracts: No specific time limit
• Part-time contracts: Working hours are less than a standard full-time employee
• Distance work (telework): Working remotely within a 3-month period.

Labour Legislation

• Mandatory periods of notice for termination.
• Collective Dismissal: affects groups of workers
• Objective Dismissal: For reasons of economic, technical, or organizational nature.
• Disciplinary Dismissal: For workers' misconduct.
• Force Majeure: For extraordinary conditions beyond worker/employer control.

Working Day, Hours, Holidays, Overtime, and Salaries

• Essential conditions of the employment relationship define the work performance.
• Limits work to a number of hours under CBA (40hours per week or according to the contract).
• Overtime pay applies for work exceeding contracted hours.
• Vacation time and holidays are specified in contracts and CBAs.
• Salary is the total compensation for services rendered (in cash or in kind).
• Minimum wage* set by government periodically

Functional Mobility

• It's the employer's ability to assign different tasks to an employee.
• Horizontal movement: Within the same professional group (no reason needed)
• Vertical movement: To another job classification/ professional group (reason must be given)
• Geographic mobility: Change the location of a worker's workplace.

Company Succession

• The transfer of an organisation and ownership, e.g., a new employer takes over the obligations/relationships associated with a previous employer.
• By Inter Vivos: Change of ownership during the previous owner's lifetime (e.g., sale, mergers).
• By Mortis Causa: Change after the previous owner's death (e.g., inherited).
• Required elements
  • Subjective element: Substitution of the company's proprietor (physical or legal).
  • Objective element: Transfer of all the essential aspects of the company (employees, assets, obligations).

Workers' Representatives and Information Duties

• Guarantees of worker representation: Worker's rights to be informed and consulted.
• Labour authorities: Labor authorities have to be informed of the results of the consultation for the period if the consultation.

Liability

• Joint liability for salaries and other obligations/responsibilities following the succession of companies (the old AND the new).

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• Alternative to traditional lawsuits
• Negotiation, conciliation, and mediation techniques.
• Various methods to resolve disputes.

Means of Labour Pressure

• Strike: Disruption of work to put pressure on the company
• Lockout: Closure of the company by the employer

This quiz provides an overview of Labour Law, covering the fundamental principles governing the relationship between workers and employers. Explore the branches of Labour Law, such as trade union law, and learn about its historical development from ancient times to the modern era.