The Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, yesterday opened the melon of the regulation of compensation for dismissal by stating her intention to “modernize” it and “take it to what is being done in Europe”. As the minister explained at the end of her speech in the Labor Commission of the Council of Ministers, the intention of her team is to open the debate –with an eye on the drafting of the next Labor Statute of the 21st century– on how to design compensation for dismissal that dissuades the employer from terminating the contract and, at the same time, repairs the damage to the worker.
As they explained from Labor, it would be a matter of not establishing a fixed amount of compensation – although a minimum – but applying other criteria that make this compensation deterrent and remedial. Thus, they gave as an example that the compensation could be higher than the rest, in the case of a 58-year-old woman with a short contribution career. This higher compensation would dissuade the employer from firing her and, if she still did, the compensation for the damage to the worker would be greater. Although this was only an example, they insisted.
However, before coming to this debate, Díaz announced that two laws in his field will be ready in the coming days or weeks: the new regulation of domestic workers, which will establish the collection of unemployment benefit “and it will go much further there in rights”, said Díaz; and the Scholarship Holder Statute, which will set the paid internships and the Social Security contribution of young people who join the labor market through this route.
For something later, specifically the month of September, Díaz announced that his Department will begin the negotiation of two other laws: the one on the use of time and the one on institutional participation. The first of them, will “totally” reformulate the working hours and, above all, the work permits of the current article 37 of the Workers’ Statute.
Among the modifications proposed by the head of Labor, in adaptation of a community directive, is creating bags of days or hours off for specific care that arises on a daily basis; as well as establishing training permits for workers. As for the second norm, it will regulate the participation of workers in the boards of directors of companies, depending on the size and in a similar way to what is done in Germany and 18 other countries.
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