21 May Royal Decree – Law 6/2019

On March 7, Royal Decree-Law 6/2019, of March 1, on urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in employment and occupation, which has entered into the BOE, was published in the BOE. in effect on March 8, except for some provisions (such as the extension of paternity leave). These are some of the main measures:

 

1. EQUALITY PLANS

 

Article 1 proposes the modification of the Organic Law 3/2007 of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men, and aims essentially to extend the requirement of drafting the equality plans to companies of 50 or more workers, creating the obligation to register them in the registry that will be developed by regulation.

 

Section 2 is modified and three new sections 4, 5 and 6 are added to article 46 of Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men. The equality plans will contain an ordered set of evaluable measures aimed at removing the obstacles that impede or hinder the effective equality of women and men.

 

In advance, a negotiated diagnosis will be drawn up, where appropriate, with the legal representation of the workers, which will contain at least the following subjects:

 

1. Selection and contracting process.
2. Professional classification.
3. Professional promotion.
4. Working conditions, including the salary audit between women and men.
5. Co-responsible exercise of the rights of personal, family and work life.
6. Underrepresentation of women.
7. Prevention of sexual harassment and because of sex.

 

The diagnosis will be made within the Equality Plan Negotiating Committee, for which the company management will provide all the data and information necessary to elaborate the same in relation to the matters listed in this section, as well as Registry data regulated in article 28, paragraph 2 of the Workers’ Statute.

 

A Register of Equality Plans of Companies is created, as part of the Registries of Collective Labor Agreements and Agreements under the General Directorate of Labor of the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security and of the Labor Authorities of the Autonomous Communities.

 

Companies are required to register their equality plans in the aforementioned registry.

 

 

In the RD-Law it is established that the diagnosis, contents, subjects, salary audits, systems of monitoring and evaluation of equality plans will be developed; as well as the Registration of Equality Plans, regarding its constitution, characteristics and conditions for registration and access.

 

The gradual application of articles 45 and 46 is established in the wording of Royal Decree-Law 6/2019, of March 1, on urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for women and men in employment and the occupation.

 

Especially, we must bear in mind the following:

 

2. Companies with between 151 and 250 workers: they will have a period of one year to approve the Equality Plan.
3. Companies with between 101 and 150 workers: they will have a period of 2 years to approve the Equality Plan
4. Companies with 50 to 100 employees: they will have 3 years to approve the Equality Plan.
5. MODIFICATIONS OF WORKER STATUS: Contract validity

 

A new art. 9.3 of the Statute of Workers which states:

 

 

“In the event of nullity due to wage discrimination based on sex, the worker shall be entitled to the payment corresponding to equal work or work of equal value”.

 

Training contracts (in practice and for training): gender violence will interrupt the calculation of the duration of the contract.

 

– New wording art 11.1.b (internship contract)

 

Situations of temporary disability, birth, adoption, custody for adoption, fostering, risk during pregnancy, risk during breastfeeding and gender violence will interrupt the calculation of the duration of the contract.

 

– New wording art 11.2b (contract for training and learning)

 

Situations of temporary disability, birth, adoption, custody for adoption, fostering, risk during pregnancy, risk during breastfeeding and gender violence will interrupt the calculation of the duration of the contract.

 

Part-time workers

 

 

It is amending the art. 12.4.d of the ET, which happens to have the following wording: Part-time workers will have the same rights as full-time workers. When applicable according to their nature, such rights will be recognized in the legal provisions and regulations and in collective agreements in a proportional manner, depending on the time worked, and in any case, the absence of discrimination, both direct and indirect, among women must be guaranteed and men.

 

Nullity of termination of a pregnant woman’s contract during the trial period.

 

Art. 14 (trial period) in sections 2 and 3.

 

The new wording expressly states:

 

2. During the trial period, the worker will have the rights and obligations corresponding to the job he / she performs as if it were a template, except those derived from the termination of the employment relationship, which may occur at the request of any of the parties during its course.

 

The resolution at the employer’s request will be null in the case of the workers due to pregnancy, from the date of the beginning of the pregnancy until the beginning of the period of suspension referred to in Article 48.4, or maternity, unless there are reasons not related to pregnancy or maternity.

 

3. Once the trial period has elapsed without the withdrawal has occurred, the contract will produce full effects, calculating the time of the services rendered in the seniority of the worker in the company. Situations of temporary disability, birth, adoption, custody for adoption, foster care, risk during pregnancy, risk during breastfeeding and gender violence, that affect the worker during the trial period interrupt the calculation of the same provided that there is agreement between both parties.

 

Professional groups

 

It is amending the art. 22.3:

 

The definition of the professional groups will be adjusted to criteria and systems that, based on a correlational analysis between gender biases, jobs, framing criteria and rewards, aim to guarantee the absence of discrimination, both direct and indirect, among women and men. These criteria and systems, in any case, will comply with the provisions of article 28.1. of the ET.

 

Equal pay for sex

 

It is amending the art.28 of the Statute of Workers:

 

The employer is obliged to pay for the performance of a job of equal value the same remuneration, paid directly or indirectly, and whatever the nature thereof, salary or extrasalarial, without any discrimination may occur because of sex in any of the elements or conditions of that.

 

A job will have the same value as another when the nature of the functions or tasks effectively entrusted, the educational, professional or training conditions required for its exercise, the factors strictly related to its performance and the working conditions in which said activities are carried out. Really, they are equivalent.

 

 

Registration with average values of wages

 

The employer is obliged to keep a record with the average values of salaries, salary supplements and extra-salary perceptions of their workforce, disaggregated by sex and distributed by professional groups, professional categories or equal or equal value jobs.

 

Working people have the right to access, through the legal representation of workers in the company, the salary record of their company.

 

Justification of wages when there is a diference of more than 25%

 

When in a company with at least 50 workers, the average remuneration for workers of one sex is higher than the other by 25% or more, taking the whole of the wage bill or the average of the perceptions paid, the The employer must include in the salary register a justification that said difference responds to reasons not related to the sex of the workers.

 

In matters of labor conciliation

 

Modification of art. 34.8 of the Statute of Workers:

 

Workers have the right to request adaptations of the duration and distribution of the working day, in the organization of working time and in the form of benefit, including the provision of their work at a distance, to enforce their right to Conciliation of work and family life. These adaptations must be reasonable and proportionate in relation to the needs of the worker and the organizational or productive needs of the company.

 

In the case of having children, the workers have the right to make such request until the children reach twelve years of age.

 

In collective bargaining, the terms of its exercise will be agreed, which will be adjusted to criteria and systems that guarantee the absence of discrimination, both direct and indirect, between working people of both sexes. In his absence, the company, before the request for adjustment of working hours, will open a negotiation process with the worker for a maximum period of 30 days.

 

After the same, the company, in writing, will communicate the acceptance of the request, will propose an

 

alternative proposal that makes possible the conciliation needs of the worker or will express the refusal to exercise it. In the latter case, the objective reasons on which the decision is based will be indicated.

 

 

The worker shall have the right to request a return to his or her previous contractual period or work once the agreed period has expired or when the change of circumstances justifies it, even if the foreseen period had not elapsed.

 

Elimination of the permission for the birth of a child

 

 

The permission for the birth of a child is eliminated (two or four days in case of displacement). The art.

 

37.3.b happens to have the following wording:

 

 

Two days due to death, accident or serious illness, hospitalization or surgery without hospitalization requiring home-based residency, of relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. When for that reason the working person needs to make a displacement to the effect, the term will be of four days.

 

Extension of the lactation permit

 

 

Regarding the lactation permit, it is constituted as an individual right of the workers that both parents will enjoy, being able to extend up to 12 months with the corresponding proportional reduction of the salary as of the fulfillment of the 9 months.

 

Expansion of paternity leave

 

 

From April 1 to December 31, 2019.

 

 

In the case of birth, the other parent will have a total suspension period of eight weeks, of which the first two, must enjoy them uninterrupted immediately after delivery.

 

The biological mother may assign to the other parent a period of up to four weeks of their period of suspension of non-compulsory enjoyment. The enjoyment of this period by the other parent, as well as that of the remaining six weeks, will be adapted to the provisions of article 48.4.

 

In the case of adoption, custody for adoption or foster care, each parent will have a period of suspension of six weeks to enjoy full-time compulsory and uninterrupted immediately after the court decision by which the adoption is constituted or of the administrative decision of guardianship for the purpose of adoption or fostering.

 

Together with the six weeks of obligatory enjoyment, the parents will have a total of 12 weeks of voluntary enjoyment that they will have to enjoy uninterruptedly within the twelve months following the judicial decision by which the adoption is constituted or to the administrative decision of guardianship for the purpose of adoption or foster care, in accordance with the provisions of article 48.5.

 

Each parent may individually enjoy a maximum of ten weeks over the total of twelve weeks of voluntary enjoyment, with the remaining over the total of twelve weeks remaining at the disposal of the other parent.

 

 

When the two parents who exercise this right work for the same company, it may limit the simultaneous enjoyment of the twelve voluntary weeks for well-founded and objective reasons, duly motivated in writing.

 

 

From January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2020

 

As of January 1, 2020, in the case of birth, the other parent will have a period of total suspension of 12 weeks, of which the first four must enjoy them uninterrupted immediately after delivery. The biological mother may assign to the other parent a period of up to two weeks of their period of suspension of non-compulsory enjoyment The enjoyment of this period by the other parent, as well as that of the remaining eight weeks, shall be adapted to the provisions of the article 48.4.

 

In addition, from January 1, 2020, in the case of adoption, save for adoption or foster care, each parent will have a period of suspension of six weeks to enjoy full-time compulsory and uninterrupted immediately after the judicial decision by which the adoption is constituted or of the administrative decision of guard for the purpose of adoption or foster care.

 

Together with the six weeks of obligatory enjoyment, the parents will have a total of sixteen weeks of voluntary enjoyment that they will have to enjoy uninterruptedly within the twelve months following the judicial decision by which the adoption is constituted or to the administrative decision of guardianship for the purpose of adoption or foster care, in accordance with the provisions of article 48.5.

 

Each parent may individually enjoy a maximum of ten weeks over the total of sixteen weeks of voluntary enjoyment, with the remainder over the total of sixteen weeks at the disposal of the other parent.

 

When the two parents who exercise this right work for the same company, it may limit the simultaneous enjoyment of the sixteen voluntary weeks for well-founded and objective reasons, duly motivated in writing.

 

 

As of January 1, 2021

 

 

As of January 1, 2021, each parent will enjoy the same period of suspension of the employment contract, including six weeks of compulsory leave for each of them.

 

Protection of the worker in the objective dismissal

 

 

New wording of art. 53.4 of ET

 

1. That of working persons during periods of suspension of the employment contract by birth, adoption, custody for adoption, fostering, risk during pregnancy or risk during breastfeeding referred to in Article 45.1.d) e ), or for diseases caused by pregnancy, childbirth or natural breastfeeding, or the one notified on a date such that the period of notice given ends within said periods.
2. That of pregnant workers, from the date of the beginning of pregnancy until the beginning of the period of suspension referred to in letter a); that of workers who have applied for one of the permits referred to in articles 37.4, 5 and 6, or are enjoying them, or have requested or are enjoying the leave provided for in Article 46.3; and that of the workers who are victims of gender violence because of the exercise of their right to effective judicial protection or of the rights recognized in this law to effectively protect them or their right to comprehensive social assistance.
3. That of the workers after they have returned to work at the end of the periods of suspension of the contract by birth, adoption, custody for the purpose of adoption or foster care, referred to in article 45.1.d), provided that they had not elapsed more than 12 months from the date of birth, adoption, custody for adoption or fostering.

 

The provisions of the preceding letters shall apply, unless, in such cases, the validity of the termination decision is declared for reasons unrelated to the pregnancy or with the exercise of the right to the above-mentioned permits and leave. To be considered appropriate, it must be sufficiently substantiated that the objective cause underlying the dismissal specifically requires the termination of the contract of the referred person.

 

The extinctive decision will be considered valid when the concurrence of the cause on which the extinctive decision was based and the requirements established in section 1 of this article have been met. Otherwise, it will be considered inadmissible.

 

However, the non-granting of notice or excusable error in the calculation of compensation will not determine the dismissal dismissal, without prejudice to the obligation of the employer to pay the salaries corresponding to that period or the payment of compensation in the correct amount , regardless of the other effects that may come. ”

 

New wording Disciplinary dismissal art. 55.a and 55.c ET

 

 

«A) That of working person during the periods of suspension of the employment contract by birth, adoption, custody for the purpose of adoption, fostering, risk during pregnancy or risk during breastfeeding referred to in Article 45.1.d) and e), or for diseases caused by pregnancy, childbirth or natural breastfeeding, or the one notified on a date such that the period of notice given ends within said periods.

 

 

1. That of the workers after they have returned to work at the end of the periods of suspension of the contract by birth, adoption, custody for the purpose of adoption or fostering, as referred to in article 45.1.d), provided that they had not elapsed more than 12 months from the date of birth, adoption, custody for adoption or fostering.

 

2. Calculation of compensation in some cases of reduced working hours
3. In the cases of reduction of working hours contemplated in article 37.4 in its final paragraph, as well as in sections 5, 6 and 8, the salary to be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the compensation provided for in this law shall be the one it would have corresponded to the worker without considering the reduction of the workday, provided that the maximum period legally established for such a reduction had not elapsed.
4. Likewise, the provisions of the previous paragraph shall apply in the cases of part-time exercise of the rights as established in the seventh paragraph of article 48.4 and in the second paragraph of article 48.5.

 

3. MODIFICATIONS OF THE LAW OF THE BASIC STATUS OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE

 

 

Article 3 develops the modification of the revised text of the Basic Statute for Public Employees Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of October 30 and is a reflection in the public sector of the measures set out above for the rest of the workers and the workers.

 

Articles 2 and 3 of this royal decree-law equate, in their respective fields of application, the duration of the permits for the birth of a son or daughter of both parents. This comparison responds to the existence of a clear will and social demand. The public authorities can not ignore this demand, which, on the other hand, is a requirement derived from articles 9.2 and 14 of the Constitution; of articles 2 and 3.2 of the Treaty on European Union; and of articles 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In this way, an important step is taken in the achievement of real and effective equality between men and women, in the promotion of the reconciliation of personal and family life, and in the principle of co-responsibility between both parents, both essential elements for the compliance with the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between men and women in all areas. This comparison is carried out progressively, in the terms provided in the transitional provisions of the Statute of Workers and the Basic Statute of Public Employees introduced by this royal decree-law.

 

4. ADAPTATION IN THE SOCIAL SECURITY REGULATIONS

 

 

Article 4 contemplates the adaptation of Social Security regulations to the measures provided for in labor regulations, redefining benefits in the light of new rights. Similarly, a new provision for co-responsible exercise of nursing care in accordance with the innovations introduced both created the Workers ‘Stature and the Basic Statute of Public Employees. For its part, Article 7 contains the necessary adaptations to

 

include these benefits in the protective action of the Special Scheme for Self-Employed or Autonomous Social Security Workers.

 

To the extent that the redefinition of benefits implies an increase in spending, the expansion of protective action will be met when necessary with funds from the State to maintain the sustainability of the Social Security system.

 

Likewise, this royal decree-law includes a measure of social protection of an extraordinary and urgent nature, such as the recovery of the financing of the fees of the special agreement of the non-professional carers of the dependent persons in charge of the General Administration. of the State. In this way, the figure of the non-professional caregiver of people in situations of dependency is put in value, who in many cases is forced to abandon his job, and therefore to interrupt his social security contribution career, to take care of the dependent person. This measure, given its particular nature, requires urgent action, and no doubt necessary for this group, which is formed to a greater extent by women.

 

5. MODIFICATION IN THE DISP. SIXTEENTH BUDGETS 2009

 

 

The Article 5 contains a modification of the sixty – first provision of Law 2/2008 of 23 December, of General State Budget for 2009 on the Fund support for the promotion and development of infrastructure and services and Autonomy System Attention to the Dependency and Social Services.

 

6 AND 7. MODIFICATION OF LAW INFRACTIONS AND SANCTIONS AND STATUTE OF SELF-EMPLOYED WORK

 

Articles 6 and 7, as already indicated, modify the revised text of the Law of Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, of August 4, and Law 20/2007, of July 11, of the Statute of Autonomous work.