The Supreme Court has agreed that companies may not dismiss workers for disciplinary reasons. without opening a prior hearingthat is, without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves against the charges or accusations on which the dismissal is based.
In a judgment dated November 13, the plenary session of the Social Chamber of the High Court unanimously upheld an appeal by the Foundation for Higher Studies in Music and Performing Arts of the Spanish universities. Balearic Islands (FERMAE-IB) against a February 2023 ruling of the Superior Court of Justice. of that autonomous community.
Thus, before proceeding to dismissal, the magistrates point out, the worker has to be able to defend himself against the irregularities attributed to him.This decision is based on the need to directly apply Article 7 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention, which has been in force since 1982. of Convention No. 158 of that organization.
Thus the Court has now modified its own doctrine, established in the 1980s. The Supreme Court justifies this change by “the changes that have taken place in our legal system during all this time”, such as the law of International Treaties, the constitutional doctrine, the qualification of the dismissal itself, or the inapplicability of the most favorable rule globally.
The ILO Convention thus requires such a hearing prior to dismissal “unless it cannot reasonably be requested of the employer” as in the case under analysis, in which the company was protected by case law. which, having remained in time and in relation to that same provision, freed it from such requirement.
Therefore, the present doctrine is only enforceable for new dismissalss, those occurring after the judgment has been made public, the ruling adds.