At a glance
- The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that severance pay for unfair dismissal cannot be increased based on individual case circumstances.
- This ruling does not breach Article 10 of ILO Convention No.158 (Convention).
The Plenary of the Supreme Court, has unanimously ruled that the severance pay for unfair dismissal established in the Workers' Statute cannot be judicially increased by other amounts taking into account the specific circumstances of the case. This does not violate Article 10 of the Convention, which states that in cases of unfair dismissal, if reinstatement is not possible, the bodies deciding on the dismissal should "order the payment of adequate compensation or other appropriate relief".
It is important to note that the ruling emphasises that it cannot address the scope of Article 24 of the revised European Social Charter, published in the Spanish Official Gazette on 11 June 2021, due to the date of the dismissal under consideration.
The main reasons for this ruling are as follows:
- The Constitutional doctrine has established that the fixed compensation established by Spanish legislation is adequate compensation.
- Previous case law has established that the compensation system for unfair dismissal is different from general damages: It is not necessary to prove these damages, as they are presumed and uniformly quantified by the law.
- Article 10 of the Convention uses general concepts that prevent its direct application to each case, and Article 12 establishes parameters for calculating compensation based on salary and seniority, in accordance with Spanish law.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court finds that the legal framework in Spanish law ensures legal certainty and uniformity for all workers, providing consistent compensation conditions when they lose the same job.
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