Royal Decree Law 4/2020, of February 18, is published, which repeals the objective dismissal for absences from work established in article 52.d) of the consolidated text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23.
A few weeks ago we published a blog post about the application, regime and limits of objective dismissal regulated in article 52.d) of the Workers' Statute, commonly known as "dismissal for absenteeism", whose application clearly confronts, on the one hand, the legitimate interest of the company to have the necessary workforce for the development of the business project without having to assume the costs derived from its absence and, on the other hand, the right of workers not to be penalized for personal circumstances for which they are not responsible, such as those related to illness.
Well, the Government has decided to grant greater guarantees to sick people since this type of dismissal placed them in a state of great professional, personal and social vulnerability, so on February 19, 2020, Royal Decree Law 4/2020 was published which repeals the aforementioned cause of termination, eliminating it definitively from our legal system.
Judicial pronouncements on the matter
The aforementioned legal provision has been the subject of several judicial pronouncements, including Constitutional Court Judgment 118/2019, of October 16, 2019, which established that Article 52(d) of the Workers' Statute was not contrary to the Spanish Constitution because it did not violate the right to physical integrity, the right to work, or the right to health protection. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that this type of ground for termination of employment under Spanish law is inappropriate, considering that its wording may constitute discrimination on the grounds of illness.
Given this legal situation, the Government has deemed it necessary to proceed immediately with the regulatory correction, repealing in its entirety the provision in question, in order to ensure the correct compliance with the doctrine issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Spain.
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A graduate in Law from the University of Barcelona, she also completed a Master's degree specializing in Labor Law and Social Security at the Barcelona Bar Association. She began her professional career as an intern while studying and later joined the Navarro Law Firm as an employment lawyer, advising companies nationwide on labor law matters and representing them before the Labor Courts, the Labor Inspectorate, in conciliation proceedings, etc. In February 2017, she joined Àmbit Jurídic i Econòmic as a professional partner after extensive experience as an employment lawyer.
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