At-will dismissal already exists in Spain: severance pay is the key
Fair dismissal in Spain costs 20 days' pay per year of service, capped at one year's salary. What could change if the right wins power.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
At-will dismissal: the fine print of a recurring antiestéticar
At-will dismissal already exists in Spain. What does not exist is cost-free dismissal, and that is the core of the debate.
Whenever a shift to the right in government is speculated about, the ghost of collapsing severance payments resurfaces. The discussion, however, starts from a premise few people qualify: today it is already possible to dismiss with justification by paying 20 days' wages per year worked, capped at one year's salary. In other words, employers are free to terminate the contract, but not to do so at no cost. The word "free" frightens; the word "cost-free" is what really matters.
The unease goes beyond labour reform. Promises of tax cuts, reduced rights and pension adjustments are floating around. And above all, cases of alleged personal spending by senior officials, such as that of a high-ranking official accused of spending 1,500 euros a day on prostitution services, deepen distrust of the official narrative.
What would happen if the right governed? The likely outcome is an attempt to make dismissal gradually cheaper, not to abolish it altogether: the political cost of abrupt change would be high. But public distrust, fuelled by perceived corruption, turns any prediction into an act of faith.
At-will dismissal already exists in Spain. What does not exist is cost-free dismissal, and that is the core of the debate.
Whenever a shift to the right in government is speculated about, the ghost of collapsing severance payments resurfaces. The discussion, however, starts from a premise few people qualify: today it is already possible to dismiss with justification by paying 20 days' wages per year worked, capped at one year's salary. In other words, employers are free to terminate the contract, but not to do so at no cost. The word "free" frightens; the word "cost-free" is what really matters.
The unease goes beyond labour reform. Promises of tax cuts, reduced rights and pension adjustments are floating around. And above all, cases of alleged personal spending by senior officials, such as that of a high-ranking official accused of spending 1,500 euros a day on prostitution services, deepen distrust of the official narrative.
What would happen if the right governed? The likely outcome is an attempt to make dismissal gradually cheaper, not to abolish it altogether: the political cost of abrupt change would be high. But public distrust, fuelled by perceived corruption, turns any prediction into an act of faith.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (38 replies).
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