Spanish labour law tends to come down on the side of the worker but that is only true if you know what your rights are and when they have been trampled on.
Take one boss I know of who happily agreed to a Spanish worker taking some vacation time. Off the employee went to spend two glorious weeks with family on the mainland only to come back and find she had been fired for not turning up to work. Because the employee did not have a signed letter stating the vacation period she could not prove that the boss’s permission had been given for the time off. Her non-appearance at her place of work was just cause for firing her and the company did not have to give her any severance pay (finiquito).
The same boss later called a British worker into his office and asked him to sign a paper. The document written entirely in Spanish was notification of dismissal and included a clause which stated that the man was being fired because he was slacking off. In signing it, the worker was ‘admitting’ to this fabricated transgression and therefore blew any chance he may have had at receiving severance pay (finiquito).
This employer, whom we shall call The Joker for his predilection at playing tricks on his employees, is a wily old bird. He juggles employees between companies, holds back salaries to afford materials for production and is currently conducting a manufacturing business in a place that is unsafe to work.
You have to wonder why The Joker has not been denounced yet. I can only guess that the staff he mistreats are afraid of not finding any other jobs in this current economic climate. Is it better, to work for pay that will come late than not to be working at all?
I know that the company in question provides services for some of Spain’s major tourist attractions – including several here on Tenerife. Would they still give the work to The Joker if they knew how shoddily he treated his staff? Sadly, I guess the answer to that question is yes. I am sure The Joker is undercutting his rivals to the bone and if the marketing department of the large tourist companies can save a few thousand euros on production who cares how The Joker manages to keep his prices so low, right?
As an expat in Tenerife or Spain, you should be aware that it is not a good idea to sign any document that you do not understand.
If you feel you have been unfairly treated, wrongfully dismissed or had unlawful deductions made to your salary you do have 20 days to take the case before the labour courts (Magistratura de Trabajo) but your rights may be seriously affected if you have signed any document that would allow your employer wriggle out of his obligations.
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Good points and the Joker is not alone. Always think twice before signing anything like that document
I’m not sure if I, as a ‘boss’, qualify as a ‘joker’, but whilst I felt a great deal of empathy and sadness at the exploitation of many employees here in Tenerife, I feel a great need to tell you of two recent experiences with (once highly trusted and valued) employees:
The first involved a technical man I employed on an ‘indefinido’ contract (€1,250 per month for a 20 hour week!), plus some additional, ‘black’ cash (€750). My business started to suffer from the recession in late 2007 and in June of 2008 I had to make the chap redundant, but could not afford the more than €4,000 redundancy pay. I offered him a deal to pay this off over the following 5 months, but he took me to an Industrial Tribunal, told them he knew nothing about his redundancy and also showed the court some internal information about his ‘black’ money. The court awarded him €17,000!!!
The second case involved a sales woman whom I paid €2,500+ each month to (Nomina €1,000, the balance ‘black’). When the business started to collapse, I asked her to accept €1,500 per month. She went off on holiday and never came back – claiming to be ’sick’ with stress. I received a call from her lawyer saying she ‘wanted nothing more to do with me and could I please make her redundant’!!! I chose not to do this and the next thing I knew The Department of Employment arrived in my office with a case for sexual harassment (eventually not proved). I made the woman redundant after she had been off ’sick’ for 6 months. I must add at this point that the woman in question had walked out of her job in january, only to come back a few weeks later asking for it back – to which I (foolishly, in hindsight) agreed. She signed a new contract and recommenced her duties.
As mentioned, I made the woman redundant, paying her compensation (based on the final contract and her ‘white’ money) into the court. I then received a summons to appear at an Industrial Tribunal where she claimed she had never left the company, but simply decided to work from home for the 6 week period!) and produced evidence about her true earnings, claiming also that she believed I was paying all her taxes!!
Of course, the court agreed with her every word and I received a ’sentence’ whereby I had to offer the woman her old job back (on the ‘correct’ terms, or pay her nearly €20,000. Since I had no money, I offered her her job back and 5 days later, the ‘Sick Notes’ have started again.
Incidentally, the total cost of employing this woman on these terms is nearly €4,000 per month!!!
Advice please?