unit one: labour law

F.O.L. BILINGÜE-UNIT ONE 2010

1 Mª Isabel Pérez Ortega Página 1

LABOUR LAW

SUMMARY

1. - INTRODUCTION TO THE LABOUR LAW

1.1 Justice

1.2 Legal Security

1.3 The Common Good

2. - CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

2.1 Public Law and Private Law

3. - RULES: DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS

3.1 General rules or specialized rules

3.2 Rigid and Elastic Standards

4. - SOURCES OF THE LABOUR LAW: MATERIAL SOURCES AND FORMAL

SOURCES

5. - RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE WORKERS

6.-ORGANISMS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE FIELD OFLABOUR LAW:

JUDGES AND LABOUR INSPECTORS

UNIT 1



VOCABULARY

Labour laboral

Right derecho

Law Derecho

Duty deber

Work trabajo

Worker trabajador

Salary salario

Job trabajo

Rest descanso (to rest= descansar)

Employer empleador/empresario

Employee empleado

To gather recoger

A set of un conjunto de

To govern regular

To search investigar

The net la Red

Behaviour comportamiento

To impose imponer

Coercive manner comportamiento coercitivo

Force fuerza

Punishment castigo

To enforce obligar



To commit a crime cometer un crimen

Justice justicia

Common Good Bien Común

Unfair injusto

Own propio

Equality igualdad

Health salud

Rule norma

Regulation reglamento

To command ordenar

Citizen ciudadano

To fail fracasar

To allow permitir

To approve aprovar

By means of por medio de

Collective bargain Convenio Colectivo

International treaty Tratado Internacional

Organic Law Ley Orgánica

Ordinary Lay Ley Ordinaria

Decree-Law Decreto-Legislativo

Legislative Decree Decreto Ley

Collective Agreement Convenio Colectivo

Custom costumbre



General Principles of Law Principio Generales del Derecho

To reach alcanzar

To Choose elegir

To select seleccionar

Chamber Cámara

To ratify ratificar

To sanction sancionar

Supreme rule norma suprema

Agreement acuerdo

To sign firmar

To require requerir

To claim reclamar

Tip propina

Waiter camarero

Cook cocinero

Client cliente

To join unir

Trade Union Sindicato

To strike Ir a la huelga

To assemble reunirse

Wage salario

To comply with quejarse por

Judges and magistrates Jueces y magistrados



To deal with tartar con

Issues cuestiones

Redundancy despidos

Complaints quejas, reclamaciones

Appeals solicitud

Sentences sentencias

Decisions decisiones

Inspection inspección

Inspector inspector

1. - INTRODUCTION TO THE LABOUR LAW

Let´s talk about rights and Law.

You have rights and you have duties. For example, you have the right to work,

the right to be promoted, the right to have a salary for your job. You have the

right to have rests and you also have many duties related to your job (Ex. you

always have to obey the employers orders). All your labour rights and duties are

gathered in the Law.



The law is a set of rules that governs a society. If you search on the net you´ll

find lots of definitions about law. Let’s look at some of them:

- Law is a set of rules that regulate human being behaviours and their

relationships.

- The Law is a set of rules that a legitimate power imposes in a coercive manner.

These rules are imposed by force, which carries punishments if someone violates

them.

-Law is a set of systemized and structured rules, enforced in a coercive manner

that governs conduct in the external relations of people and their belongings.

The Law is a formal set of rules that are imposed by force. If you commit a

crime, you can be punished. Moral and ethical rules are not imposed by force and

do not carry a legal punishment, except in the mind of human beings. (Ex. In the

case of religion, they believe that there is something after life, a heaven or hell,

where they will pay for what they have done). This does not happen with legal

norms, where the punishment is immediate and it is legally written.

Individual right: The right to work

Law: A set of rights and duties



The Law is based on three main pillars or columns:

1. Justice

2. Legal Security

3. The Common Good

1.1 Justice

There is not a single way to define "Justice"; what is right for me may be

unfair to someone else or vice versa. The term Justice will always be defined by

our own values, our own principles and for these reasons we will not be able to

provide a single definition of justice.



1.2 Legal Security

Legal Security exists in any country where the law is enforced, without

discrimination. That is, when laws are observed and respected.

1.3 The Common Good

The Common Good is a set of principles and ethical values that a society

should respect: liberty, equality, health, education, etc.

2.-CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

We can study various classifications of Law; here we have the following:

2.1. - Public Law and Private Law

Private Law: a set of rules governing relationships between individuals, such

as civil law, commercial law and labour law.



Public Law: a set of rules governing the relationship between individuals and

the state; for example: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Tax Law, etc.

3.-RULES: DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS

Now that you know the meaning of Law and some classifications of it, let´s study

the meaning of a rule.

In Spanish Law, a rule, a regulation or a specific law are synonymous. A rule

has these two characteristics:

A) Imperative: rules command or prohibit certain actions.

B) Coercive: legal norms are respected because they have force; if the citizens

fail to do so they will be punished.

4. - SOURCES OF THE LABOUR LAW

In the field of Law, we distinguish “material sources” from “formal sources”.

In Law we can also say that the rules emanate from a place: from a specific

institution or a group of people.

In this case we are talking about the material sources of the law (Who can make

law).



We talk about material sources when we think of who is allowed to make the

laws. In these cases we ought to mention the following institutions:

- European Union

- The community/society (also as a formal source because it can approve important laws by

means of a referendum; for example the Spanish Constitution or the European Constitution).

- International Community

- Parliament (Congress of Deputies and the Senate).

- Government

- The representatives of employees and employers (collective bargaining).

- Employer and employee.

What do the Congress and the Government do related to the labour relationship?



Formal sources are the rules. For example, the following:

1- European Community legislation

2- Spanish Constitution

3- International Treaties

4- Organic law

5- Ordinary Law

6- Decree-Law

7- Legislative Decree

8- Decrees and Ministerial Orders

9- Collective Bargain/ Collective Agreement

10-Labour Contract



11- Custom

12- General Principles of Law

4.1. - European Community Legislation

4.1.1 European Directives

The member states of the EU are obliged to reach the results that are

stipulated in the Directives. The member states are free to choose the way and

the means used to reach those results. The European countries must get some

results, but they are free to select the way to do it. The directives are

obligatory norms for all the members of the EU.

4.2. - The Spanish Constitution

The Spanish Constitution (SC) was approved by the Spanish Legislative

Chambers (Cortes Generales) on October 31, 1978. It was ratified by national

referendum on December 6th, and sanctioned by the King on the 27th of

December. The Constitution contains the basic principles of the political system;

it is the supreme rule/law of the legal system.

4.3. - International Treaties

An international treaty is an agreement between the Spanish Government and

other foreign governments. These international agreements take effect in the

moment of their publication in the B.O.E.

4.4. - Organic Laws

Organic Laws are a specific type of Law. They are debated and passed in the

Congress and the Senate. This means that the Cortes Generales make Law. They

are different from Ordinary legislation in two ways:

- The Organic Law regulates important subjects: the exercise of fundamental

rights and public freedoms, the statutes of Autonomy and the general electoral

system. (Article 81.1 SC).

- Organic laws require an absolute majority (50% +1 of all members). This means

the law must be approved by the half and one of the members of the Chambers.



4.5. - Ordinary Law

They require a simple majority (50% +1 of all members present at the time) of

both the Congress and Senate.

4.6. - Decree Law

This is a kind of regulation/rule that the Government makes in extraordinary

and urgent situations, they are Law. They cannot affect basic institutions of the

State: rights and liberties of the citizen as regulated in Title I, the system of

the Autonomous Communities or the general electoral law.

4.7. - Legislative Decree

A Legislative Decree is a regulation of the Government. They are also treated as

law.

4.8. -Decrees and Ministerial orders

These are rules of a lower status. The Government makes Decrees and

Ministerial Orders.

4.9. -Collective Bargaining/ Collective Agreement

The Collective Agreement is an agreement between the legal representatives of

the workers, and the legal representatives of the employers.

4.10. -Labour Contracts

This is a bilateral agreement between a company and a worker. The worker must

do his/her job and the company will have to pay for that job.

4.11. - Uses and Customs

They are usually non-written rules. They do not come from the State, but from

society.



In Rosaleda´s, waiters and cooks share all the tips that are given by the clients, while in

Antonio´s Posada the tips are only shared by the waiters.

Do you think a cook that has been working in Antonio´s and afterwards decides

to work in Rosaleda´s may claim to share the tips?

Yes, the cook has the right to share any tips made at Rosaleda´s. It was

different at Antonio´s where the cooks did not receive tips, but now he is

working at a different restaurant with different labour uses.

The labour standards are ordered hierarchically:

- European Legislation / EU Law

- The Spanish Constitution

- International Treaties

- Law. The different types of law are classified as follows:

- Organic Law

- Ordinary Law

- Royal Decree Law

- Legislative Decree

- Regulations: Ministerial Orders and Decrees

- Collective Agreement

- Employment contract

- Uses and local customs and professional



5. - RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF WORKERS

http://www.cgt.es/spcgta/estatuto.htm#articulo4

The rights and duties of workers are listed in the Workers' Statute in Article

4:

The legislator makes a classification of these rights in two main sections:

1) "Basic workers’ rights:"

The right to work and to choose a profession or occupation

The employee has the right to freely join or not to join a Trade Union.

The right to sign a collective agreement for workers for better working

conditions in enterprises.

The right to take collective actions to defend the collective interests of the

workers

The right to strike

The right to assemble in the workplace

The right to be informed, to consult and to participate in the company

2) "Rights and duties arising from the employment contract:"

The right to have an effective occupation

The right to be promoted within the company

The right to vocational training at work,

The right not to be discriminated

The right to an adequate health and safety policy.

The right to respect worker´s personal privacy.

The right to receive wages at the time established in the work contract

The right of workers to go to court to defend their rights and interests

http://www.cgt.es/spcgta/estatuto.htm#articulo4



Duties of workers are also included in the Workers' Statute in Article 5. These

duties are:

The employee must comply with the specific obligations related to his/her

job

The employee must comply with health and safety measures

The employee must comply with the orders and instructions of the employer.

The worker should help improve company productivity

6. - BODIES AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE FIELD OF WORK

Here we refer to all judges and magistrates. They deal with labour issues and

matters related to social security for workers, redundancy, workers benefits,

labour penalties, etc.

El Juzgado de lo Social: Has the power to hear first, all complaints made

within their province.

La Sala de lo Social de la Comunidad Autónoma Andaluza: This Court is

composed of several judges and they hear appeals on the decisions/sentences of

Los Juzgados de lo Social.

La Sala Cuarta del Tribunal Supremo.

CHECK:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribunales_laborales_de_Espa% C3% B1a

There are other important institutions:

- Inspection work

- The INEM

- The General Treasury of Social Security

Documents

unit one: labour law