Companies cannot carry out disciplinary dismissals without first hearing the worker, according to the Supreme Court

The Social Chamber of the Supreme Court has unanimously resolved this Monday that the employer must offer the worker the possibility of defending himself against the charges made against him before adopting the termination of the employment contract due to disciplinary dismissal. This decision is based on the need to directly apply art. 7 of Convention No. 158 of the ILO (International Labor Organization) of 1982 (in force in Spain since 1986).

The Court modifies its own doctrine, established in the decade of the eighties, which it justifies by “the changes that have occurred in our system during all this time” and refers in this sense to the law of International Treaties and the constitutional doctrine, among others. .

The International Labor Organization Convention requires such a hearing prior to dismissal “unless it cannot reasonably be requested of the employer.” The Chamber establishes this doctrine from now on, that is, for new dismissals, so it does not have retroactive effects.